“AMONG THE TRAGIC POETS OF THE WORLD”: LIMITED FIRST EDITION OF ROBERT FRANK’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN PHOTOS

FRANK, Robert. Lines of My Hand. (Tokyo: Yugensha, 1972). Folio, original black cloth, original slipcase with mounted cover photograph, original shipping carton. $7500.

Limited first edition of Frank’s autobiography in photographs, preceding the Lustrum publication of the same title.

Kerouac said Frank “sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the tragic poets of the world.” This candid book includes a number of images from Frank’s best-known work, Les Americains, a collection of documentary photographs of everyday American life during the 1950s, particularly among the Beats. Also contains photographs of Frank’s family, and images made during his travels abroad in Peru, Spain, England, France. “The publication in Japan was confirmation that the stream-of-consciousness style was the prevailing mode in Japanese photography” (Parr & Badger, 238). With 30-page caption booklet in Japanese, often missing, laid in. Open Book, 286-87.

A fine copy in original publisher’s wrapping and shipping box.