Mid-American Chants & Midwest Photographs

Item Details

Highlands North Carolina:, Nantahala Foundation/Jonathan Williams,, 1964, Spiral-bound (Wire-O) pictorial stiff wrappers.

Limited Edition, Like New

This monumental photobook acts as a dialogue between the 'corn-fed mysticism' of Sherwood Anderson’s poetry and the sprawling, horizon-line photography of Art Sinsabaugh. Using a 12x20-inch 'banquet' camera, Sinsabaugh captured the American Midwest in a panoramic format that necessitated this massive, oblong publication.

Key Features:

• Visuals: Features 11 expansive panoramic plates by Art Sinsabaugh. The colophon notes these are reproduced by "1550 line half-tone screens in a duo-tone process, using two black inks; then varnished," resulting in deep, rich tonal quality.
• Content: Contains 6 Mid-American Chants by Sherwood Anderson, 11 Midwest Photographs by Sinsabaugh, a critical note by Edward Dahlberg, and the poem 'To Sherwood Anderson, in Heaven' by Frederick Eckman.
• Production: Designed by Hayward R. Blake. Published as Jargon 45 by The Nantahala Foundation.
• Binding: Distinctive  'Tampico Brown' Strathmore Beau Brilliant covers bound with a black Wire-O spiral.

Physical Specs:

• Date: Fall 1964 (First Edition, Limited to 1550 copies)
• Dimensions: Oblong folio; approximately 7.5 x 21.5 inches.
• Format: Spiral-bound (Wire-O) pictorial stiff wrappers.

Condition Report: Near Fine -- An exceptional copy of a book notorious for damage due to its extreme width. The spiral binding is sound with no crushed loops. The text block is crisp and flat. The covers are clean with sharp corners, showing only a faint area of sunning/toning on the rear wrapper. No bends or creases to the panoramic plates.

Historical Significant --
This volume is a high point of 1960s independent publishing and a landmark in American landscape photography. Art Sinsabaugh (1924–1983) re-imagined the 'Banquet Camera'—historically used for photographing large groups of people at dinners—to capture the flat, relentless horizon of the Midwest. 

By pairing these formalist, ultra-wide images with Anderson's earthy 1918 chants, Jonathan Williams created a multi-disciplinary masterpiece that bridged the gap between the literary Modernism of the 1920s and the visual Modernism of the 1960s. 'Jargon 45' is highly collected for its design, typography, and contribution to the history of the photobook.

Keywords: Art Sinsabaugh, Jargon Society, Jonathan Williams, Panorama Photography, Banquet Camera, Sherwood Anderson, Photobook History, Midwest Landscapes, Edward Dahlberg, Avant-Garde Publishing, 1960s Photography.

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