texture, sequencing, and presentation. Alterna-
tively, a book could serve as the original, sole man-
ifestation of an artist’s photography-based work. In
the seminal essayThe Work of Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction (1936), German critic
Walter Benjamin explored the theoretical implica-
tions of image reproduction on art and society.
In1900,whenacclaimedFrenchphotographerand
novelist Adrien Gaspard-Fe ́lix Tournachon, known
asNadar,publishedQuandj’etaisphotographe(When
I was a Photographer)(Paris: Flammarion), there
was already a well-established history of photo-
graphic images appearing in book form. In 1844,
London publisher Longman, Brown, Green, and
Longmans released the first volume of William
Henry Fox Talbot’sThe Pencil of Nature. Bound
with 24 original salted paper prints made from calo-
type negatives, it is widely considered the first com-
mercially sold photographic book. British botanist
and photographer Anna Atkins is credited as the
first person to publish a book consisting only of
photographic illustrations. Atkins self-published
the scientific reference workPhotographs of British
Algae: Cyanotype Impressionsin 1841.
The tradition of the fine art book became firmly
established in the early part of the century, fueled by
patrons specifically interested in handcrafted, lim-
ited editions. In the United States alone, the annual
tally of fine arts editions tripled, from nearly 200 in
1900 to about 600 in 1919. Print houses generally
produced each new book as an edition of 100, 250,
500, and sometimes 1000 copies. Whether a pub-
lisher limited the number of available copies or
released a short-run first edition, the value of each
book was greater than a mass-market version
because of its high-quality printing and inherent
scarcity. Limited edition art books also were usually
signed by the artist or author, which created an-
other layer of desirability around the work.
In America, Alfred Stieglitz began publishing his
renowned periodicalCamera Workin 1903, featur-
ing the work of photographers from around the
world as photogravure images. Though the last issue
ofCamera Workappeared in 1917, the journal was a
forerunner for similar publications, which focused
more on exposure to like-minded peers than profit-
ability. In 1919, Weyhe Gallery in New York,
headed by Carl Zigrosser, published The Weyhe
Portfolio: Twelve Prints by Contemporary Artists.
Considered a groundbreaking model of fine art pub-
lishing, the portfolio successfully promoted the ar-
tistsitfeaturedaswellasthegallery’sname.Edward
Weyhe’s press later went on to create the first Eu-
ge`ne Atget monograph,Atget Photographe de Paris
(1930), which was co-published in Paris and Leipzig
by Henri Jonquie`res.
A flurry of inventions in commercial printing that
made photomechanical reproduction possible had
begun after Richard M. Hoe of New York patented
the rotary press in 1847. Printers who acquired the
machinery were able to produce larger editions in a
more reliable, less labor-intensive way. In the early
1900s, art presses welcomed the mechanization of
photogravure production, which became known as
rotogravure. From its early stages, gravure printing
for photographic reproductions was more popular
in Europe than the United States. After esteemed
Los Angeles photo-book publisher Twin Palms and
Twelve Trees Press started business in 1980, gravure
printing for its new titles was outsourced to Nissha
Printing Company of Kyoto, Japan. Overall, the
photogravure exhibited seamlessness in tonal range
and compatibility with inks and papers that made it
a favorite among art presses, until the less expensive
letterpress halftone and photo-offset lithograph
competed for attention in the years to follow.
Across the Atlantic, small private presses in wes-
tern Europe also were experimenting with the pho-
tographic image in print. In London, a press known
as The Studio publishedColour Photography and
Other Recent Developments of the Art of the Camera
(1908), with simultaneous editions in Paris and New
York. Editor Charles Holme compiled 98 mono-
chrome and 18 color plates for the book, which
was regarded as the first color anthology of major
photographers. Contributors included Frances Al-
len, James Craig Annan, Alvin Langdon Coburn,
and Baron Adolph de Meyer. Holme selected multi-
colored plates for the work, which were reproduc-
tions of autochrome originals. The autochrome, a
three-color print process patented by Auguste and
Louis Lumie`re in 1904, gained popularity among
photographers as soon as it entered the marketplace
in 1907.
As photography began to saturate new magazines
and newspapers in America, the cultural cachet of
the fine art book became more publicly visible,
especially in large metropolitan areas. A burgeoning
interest in fine book buying sparked the establish-
ment of organizations such as the Limited Edition
Club in 1929. Exhibitions of books-as-art were held
at the New York Public Library in 1919, The Gro-
lier Club in 1921, and The Metropolitan Museum of
Art in 1924. Contemporary art museums also began
commissioning private presses to publish exhibition
catalogues, monographs, and art history books.
Legendary photographer Edward Steichen, then
director of the Museum of Modern Art’s photogra-FINE ARTS PRESSES