MARTIN (André). - Lot 207

MARTIN (André). The Dark Valleys of Repentance. A Contribution to the Study of the Magical-Religious Mentality in Southern Italy. Introductions by Danilo Dolci and François Laplantine. Texts by Michelle and André Martin. Paris, Éditions Entente, [circa 1980]. Large quarto, publisher’s black cloth binding, illustrated front cover. An important photographic monograph devoted to ritual practices and manifestations of popular religiosity in the Italian Mezzogiorno. In it, André Martin documents with remarkable intensity the pilgrimages, processions, scenes of penance, and collective ceremonies that bear witness to the enduring nature of magical-religious traditions in Southern Italy. The introductions by Danilo Dolci and François Laplantine situate these images within an anthropological reflection on the relationships between popular religion, collective memory, and rituals of penance. Illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographs reproduced as photogravures, the book stands out as much as an ethnographic record as it does as a photographic work of great expressive power. It is one of André Martin’s most accomplished works on Mediterranean folk practices. Condition: a fine copy in the publisher’s binding, with very slight signs of wear on the cloth cover; the interior is in fresh condition.