Pleasures and Terrors

Item Details

Boston:, Little, Brown and Company, 1982., 1982, Hardcover with Dust Jacket

First Edition, First Printing., Near Fine

A significant association copy of the major retrospective devoted to Aaron Siskind, warmly inscribed by the photographer to publisher Ben Raeburn and his wife Pearl: 'To my precious friends, Pearl & Ben Raeburn, Aaron Siskind 4/26/83.' The inscription reflects a personal relationship between one of America's most influential photographic modernists and one of the central figures in postwar independent publishing.

Published near the culmination of Siskind's career, Pleasures and Terrors surveys five decades of work, tracing his evolution from socially engaged documentary photography to the abstract imagery that helped redefine photography's relationship to modern art.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Hardcover in dust jacket. Measures 9.5 x 11.25 inches; xii, 283 pages with notes, selected bibliography, and index. Extensively illustrated throughout with high-quality photographic reproductions. First Edition, First Printing.

Inscribed by Aaron Siskind on the front free endpaper:
'To my precious friends, Pearl & Ben Raeburn, Aaron Siskind 4/26/83.'

CONDITION: Near Fine - Near Fine. No flaws or blemishes beyond minimal shelf handling. The bindings are tight and square. Text is clean. The unclipped dust jacket remains exceptionally well preserved with only the slightest hint of toning to the white rear panel. Photographs remain crisp and richly reproduced. A near-fine example. 

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS
+++ Surveys Siskind's transition from documentary photography to abstraction
+++ Documents one of the defining careers in twentieth-century photography
+++ Explores the relationship between photography and Abstract Expressionism
+++ Includes critical essays, bibliography, and reference material
+++ Important association to publisher Ben Raeburn
+++ Published in association with the Center for Creative Photography
+++ Major retrospective spanning five decades of work

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE —
Aaron Siskind stands among the most important figures in American photographic modernism. Beginning with socially conscious documentary projects in the 1930s, he gradually moved toward increasingly abstract imagery, transforming weathered walls, torn posters, textures, and fragments into powerful visual compositions. His work paralleled developments in Abstract Expressionist painting and helped establish photography as an equal participant in the broader modernist movement.

By emphasizing form, gesture, and surface rather than straightforward representation, Siskind created a visual language that resonated with artists such as Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, and Robert Motherwell. Pleasures and Terrors remains one of the essential surveys of his achievement and influence.

ASSOCIATION & PROVENANCE —
The association with Ben and Pearl Raeburn is particularly significant. As founder of Horizon Press, Ben Raeburn helped shape the mid-century New York literary and artistic world, publishing important works by Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Siskind's warm inscription suggests a personal friendship extending beyond professional acquaintance, placing this volume within the cultural networks that linked photographers, artists, writers, and independent publishers in postwar America.

From the estate of Horizon Books publisher Ben Raeburn (1914–1997) that passed to his longtime partner Patricia ('Pat') Percey following the death of his wife Pearl Raeburn. Raeburn, founder of Horizon Press in New York, was a central figure in mid-century American publishing, issuing important works by Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Many volumes from his library bear inscriptions or association value reflecting his close editorial relationships and lifelong influence within New York's independent literary world.

SUBJECTS: Aaron Siskind, Ben Raeburn, Horizon Press, Modernist Photography, Abstract Art, Association Copy, Photography, Art Monograph, Abstract Expressionism, Photography, Art Monograph, Modernist Art, Association Copy.

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