ABBOTT (Berenice). — New York in the Thirties. - Lot 4

ABBOTT (Berenice). — New York in the Thirties. New York, Dover Publications, 1973. Large oblong quarto (approx. 29 × 25.5 cm), paperback, black-and-white photographic cover, 97 black-and-white photographs, accompanied by captions. Text by Elizabeth McCausland. 97 pp. ISBN 0-486-22967-X. First Dover edition, and first under this title, of one of the great books devoted to New York in the 1930s. This 1973 edition reprints *Changing New York*, originally published by E. P. Dutton in 1939, under the title *New York in the Thirties*. Bibliographic catalogs confirm the 1973 Dover edition and its ISBN. A major classic of American photography In the 1930s, Berenice Abbott undertook an extensive photographic documentation of New York City in the midst of transformation. The book brings together nearly a hundred images that have become iconic: Manhattan skyscrapers, the Bowery, Wall Street, Washington Square, bridges, docks, working-class apartment buildings, shops, and architecture destined to disappear. The photographs featured in your copy—notably *Canyon: Broadway and Exchange Place, 1936*—are among the most significant images in the *Changing New York* series. This photograph appears as plate 12 in the 1973 Dover edition, and period prints of this image are now major collector’s items. Bibliographically, however, it is important to be precise: this is not the original 1939 edition, but a significant reprint published 34 years later. A specialized bookseller accurately describes it as the “1973 Dover reissue” of *Changing New York* and as a “First Edition Thus.” Good to very good condition. Cover retains its sheen, with some slight rubbing and minor signs of wear; corners are slightly rounded. Interior appears very clean, and the photographs are crisp. Most importantly, I see no significant tears, missing pages, or spine damage.