The Beautiful Book by Jack Smith

SMITH, Jack. The Beautiful Book. New York, The Plaster Foundation and Granary Books, 2001.

Limited second edition, a true facsimile of the original, of the only autonomous collection of Jack Smith’s photographs to appear during his lifetime.

Jack Smith (1932-1989) was an American filmmaker, actor, and photographer, widely regarded as a pioneer of underground cinema and performance art. In 1962, he published The Beautiful Book, a collection of pictures of New York artists, many taken during the winter of 1962 in Smith’s Lower East Side apartment. Nearly half of the photographs feature the artist and musician Marian Zazeela, who also provided the design for the book’s wrappers. The final photograph, a portrait of Smith on the steps beneath Brooklyn Bridge, was taken by the filmmaker Ken Jacobs.

This copy is numbered 187 out of a limited edition of 200, with only 140 available for purchase.

Octavo, pp. [20] with nineteen hand-tipped B/W contact prints (5,7 x 5,7 cm); in fine condition; saddle-stitched printed wrappers.