FREUND (Gisèle) — RIVET (Paul) - Lot 132

Lot 132
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FREUND (Gisèle) — RIVET (Paul) - Lot 132
FREUND (Gisèle) — RIVET (Paul) PRE-COLUMBIAN MEXICO. Text by Paul Rivet. Photographs by Gisèle Freund. Neuchâtel and Paris, Éditions Ides et Calendes, 1954. In-4 (approx. 28 × 22 cm), softcover binding by the publisher with original photographic dust jacket, illustrated on both covers. [19] pp. of text and 80 photographic plates, with 80 black-and-white photographs by Gisèle Freund, reproduced as full-page heliogravures, including several double-page spreads. Text and captions in French, English, and German. Collection des Ides photographiques, No. 8. The bibliographic collation is confirmed by the Smithsonian. FIRST EDITION, printed in Geneva by Roto-Sadag under the direction of Jean-Jacques Frey, master heliogravure artist, as indicated in the book itself. A beautiful photographic album devoted to the art of pre-Columbian Mexico, combining text by the ethnologist Paul Rivet (1876–1958), founder of the Musée de l’Homme, with photographs by Gisèle Freund (1908–2000). The book features statuary, masks, ceramics, and artifacts from the major pre-Columbian civilizations—notably the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Toltec, and Aztec—in a particularly minimalist layout that allows the photographs to speak for themselves. The BnF does indeed list Freund as the photographer for this 1954 edition. The interest here is as much photographic as it is archaeological. Freund treats the objects as true portraits: black or neutral backgrounds, tight framing, interplay of light and shadow, and alternating full-page spreads. The book is also included in several specialized bibliographies devoted to the photographer. This copy is preserved in its original photographic dust jacket. The dust jacket shows scuffing, wear, and small tears at the top and bottom flaps, corners, and edges; there is a tear and a more noticeable loss at the upper corner of the back cover. The interior appears well-preserved. A good copy despite the flaws in the fragile dust jacket.
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