London and New York

London and New York.

London: The Folio Society, [2019]. 40 rare photogravures by a master of the art, in facsimile for the first time. Limited to 500 hand-numbered sets, out of which this is copy number 460.

New in Folio Society' original packaging, together with original box. The first three photos are of the actual item you will receive, while the last few photos are stock photos for illustrative purposes.

Two of the greatest metropolises of the early 20th century, each captured in 20 photogravures by the pictorialist genius Alvin Langdon Coburn. These facsimiles of two volumes of luminous and evocative images, first published in 1909 and 1910 respectively, convey the urban beauty of London and New York in the age of steam. The original introduction and foreword, by Hilaire Belloc for London and by H. G. Wells for New York, are included. The facsimiles are accompanied by a separate leaflet featuring a specially commissioned introduction by Geoff Dyer and a new essay by Rut Blees Luxemburg. 415 × 305 × 17–18 mm. 2 vols (see below). Printed by Smith Settle, with photographs by Pureprint, and bound by them in quarter dark brown goatskin leather with paper boards blocked in gold; pale grey endleaves. Grey-brown two-volume slip case titled (as above) in metallic blue. The edition statement reads in part ‘limited to five hundred numbered copies, and twenty lettered copies hors de commerce’. Coburn’s photographs are tipped in. The two volumes are as follows:

[1] London, by Alvin Langdon Coburn, with an introduction by Hilaire Belloc. Pp. [i–iv], [1–8] 9–21 [22–24]: [20] leaves of plates. Facsimile of the first edition published by Duckworth & Co. in 1909. Loosely inserted is an eight-page leaflet (380 × 280 × 1 mm) sewn with blue thread. It contains an introduction by Geoff Dyer and essay by Rut Blees Luxemburg.

[2] New York, by Alvin Langdon Coburn, with a foreword by H.G. Wells. Pp. [i–iv], [1–8] 9–10 [11–12]: [20] leaves of plates. Facsimile of the first edition published by Duckworth Co. in 1910.