Moments Preserved by PENN Irving - 1960

1960. First Edition . Signed. PENN, Irving. Moments Preserved. New York: Simon and Schuster, (1960). Large quarto, original beige cloth, original dust jacket, original pictorial slipcase. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $6200.First edition of Penn’s first book, an especially scarce presentation/association copy warmly inscribed by him to the noted Swedish art critic and author who would become a longtime correspondent, ""For Ulf Hard af Segerstad, With all good wishes, Irving Penn, New York 1962."" Accompanying the book is Penn's autograph note, penned and signed by him on a card printed with his New York address: ""Oct. 1, 1962. Dr. Mr. Ulf Hard af Segerstad, I have just recently been looking at clippings of various reviews of my late book Moments Preserved [underlining in original]. My wife, who is Swedish, translated your review for me with great care. I don't wish to embarrass you, but I would like you to know that it was the only review written on either side of the Atlantic which understood my aim, and was generous enough to say that it had been in some measure achieved. With many thanks and good wishes, Sincerely yours, Irving Penn.""This very scarce presentation/association copy of Moments Preserved, Penn's groundbreaking first publication, is warmly inscribed by him to the noted Scandinavian art critic and author, Dr. Ulf Hard af Segerstad, who became a longtime friend and correspondent with the photographer, and would co-author a volume in tribute to Penn's wife, the renowned Swedish-born model, titled, Photographs: A Donation in Memory of Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn (1996). This memorable copy of Moments Preserved also includes a laid-in autograph note, penned and signed by Penn on the recto and verso of a card printed with his New York address. Dated October 1, 1962, Penn's signed autograph note likely signals the beginning of the friendship between the two men, with Penn clearly indicating his appreciation for Segerstad's review of Moments Preserved and affectionately mentioning his wife, Lise Fonssagrives-Penn, who translated Segerstad's review for Penn. Lise Fonssagrives-Penn, who married the photographer in 1950, remains heralded as ""one of the most elegant women ever to wear a dress. She was at the height of her career in 1949 when Time put her on its cover… She was also the apple of Irving Penn's eye"" (Vogue). To Alexander Liberman of Conde Nast Publications, publisher of Vogue, ""the Penns represented 'an extraordinary relationship between a photographer and a model. She was the inspiration and subject of some of Penn's greatest photographs'"" (New York Times). This wonderful inscribed first edition highlights not only Penn's appreciation for Segerstad's review, but also signals an important connection between the photographer, his wife, and Segerstad. Penn, one of his era's most accomplished photographers and a major contributor to Vogue, has been lauded for his ""imagery of extreme elegance"" (Blodgett, 101). ""An overview of an astonishingly busy career… Moments Preserved gathers Penn's vast variety of enthusiasms… Penn reinvented the classic daylight studio portrait for a more casual time, undercutting its formality but heightening its potential as a revealing performance"" (Roth, 158). Segerstad's own publications include: Scandinavian Design, Modern Finnish Design, and Modern Scandinavian Furniture. With an introduction by Alexander Liberman. A fine inscribed copy and laid-in signed autograph note.