THE ARCADES PROJECT by Benjamin, Walter (Translated by Howard Eiland And Kevin McLaughlin) - 1999

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 1073 pages. The author's unfinished masterpiece. One of the greatest books of the 20th century. The definitive critical study of the 19th century, it is widely regarded as "the greatest modern effort at historical comprehension". The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a very small and limited first print run as part of Harvard University's Complete Works of Walter Benjamin, a landmark publication in the history of modern thought and literary criticism, as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Walter Benjamin's "Das Passagen-Werk" in a felicitous English translation, and at 1073 pages, still an unfinished masterwork. "Conceived in Paris in 1927 and still in progress when Benjamin fled the Occupation in 1940, 'The Arcades Project' is a monumental ruin, meticulously constructed over the course of thirteen years: 'the theater of all my struggles and all my ideas'. Focussing on the arcades of nineteenth-century Paris - glass-roofed rows of shops that were early centers of consumerism - Benjamin presents a montage of quotations from, and reflections on, hundreds of published sources, arranging them in thirty-six categories with descriptive rubrics such as Fashion, Boredom, Dream City, Photography, Catacombs, Advertising, Prostitution, Baudelaire, and Theory of Progress" (Publisher's blurb). The genius - and achievement - of the book lies in Benjamin's prescient identification of the Paris Arcades as the microcosm of modern life, that is, the life we are living today, both "micro", and through the so-called global economy, "macro". About his ambitious project, this is what the author had to say: "To great writers, finished works weigh lighter than those fragments on which they labor their entire lives" (Walter Benjamin). Walter Benjamin's personal heroism wasn't just some idea he had about himself; he lived and then died as a hero: He committed suicide on September 26, 1940 at the French-Spanish border while trying to escape the Nazis with a group of fellow Jews. They were all arrested by the Spanish police (Franco was one of Hitler's closest allies). Instead of being sent back to Germany to face certain death, Benjamin shot himself (he was 38 years old). Moved and humbled by his desperate yet principled stand, the Spanish police, defying Franco's orders, allowed his fellow Jews to escape. An absolute "must-have" title for Walter Benjamin collectors. <b><i> This title is a great book. This is one of very few copies of the First American Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Beware: Almost all other copies available online are subsequent printings or have major flaws. Considering how rare this copy is in fine condition, this is attractively priced. A rare copy thus. </b></i>The greatest literary/cultural critic of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER WALTER BENJAMIN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 067404326X.