URFORMEN DER KUNST : Photographische Pflanzenbilder ( Archetypes of Art : Photographic Plant Pictures ) by Karl Blossfeldt - 1935

Tubingen, Gemany: Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, 1948. 96pgs. Gilt spine titled cloth and decorated paper covered boards. Edges are tanned with a trace of wear to the extremities else near fine in edge tanned and light worn dustjacket lacking a few chips at the spine and fragment the top rear panel. Top front panel has a light circular stain else very good and appearing better than described here. A nice copy of this beautifully printed fourth edition of photographer Karl Blossfeldt's now renowned collection of photographs of plants. Scarce in any condition or edition, especially with a dustjacket in any condition. Text in German. Roth 101.. Fourth Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. Large Quarto.

Tübingen, 1948. Photographische Pflanzenbilder von Prof.karl Blossfeldt. Herausgegeben mit einer Einleitung von Karl Nierendorf Schutzhülle lädiert, ansonsten guter Zustand 4.Aufl. Ernst Wasmuth 4°. Hln. Kunst

Berlin: Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, nd. First edition. Hardcover. Text in German and with an introduction by Karl Nierendorf. Blossfeldt's first volume of photographs of plants with 120 pages of gravure prints. A clean near fine copy in green cloth boards with some light bumping to the top corner of the pages and some other very minor wear. No dust jacket. (Parr & Badger v1, 96, Roth 48-49) A very nice copy of this classic.

Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth A.G., 1929. Second edition. Hardcover. Very good+ to fine condition. Folio. XVII (I) Text, (1) 120 leaves (Plates). Original gilt-stamped green cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine and front cover. Publisher's device on title page. Second edition of the most famous work by German botanist and photographer, Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932). "His entire photographic output is devoted to plant parts: twig ends, seed pods, tendrils, leaf buds etc. These he meticulously arranged against stark backgrounds and photographed in magnification, so that unfamiliar shapes from the vegetal worlds are revealed as startling, elegant architectural forms. Since the first publication of his photographs in the late twenties (1928) his work is considered to be one of the aesthetic highlights of photo history." Originally published in 1928 when Blossfeldt was sixty-three and a professor of applied art at the Berliner Kunsthochschule, "Urformen der Kunst" quickly became an international… Read More

Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth, 1929. Second. hardcover. very good(-). Photographische Pflanzenbilder. Hrausgegeben mit Einer Einleitung von Karl Nierendorf. Illustrated with 120 photogravure plates. 4to, gilt-stamped green cloth boards. Berlin: Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, (1929)<br/><br/> A complete German second edition. Edited and with an Introduction by Karl Nierendorf. Missing dust jacket. Spine is slightly cocked, with wear to head and tail, some fraying at joints and corners, and small crack to front hinge. Binding is otherwise sound. Previous ownership signature on front end paper. Pages slightly toned.<br/><br/>

Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth A.G., 1928. Cloth. Near Fine. The 1928 true 1st edition, with its 120 sumptuous plates, beautifully printed in itaglio. Clean, solid and VG+ in its dark-green cloth, with bright gilt-titling along the front panel and rubbed titling at the spine. A touch of light spotting along the edges, minor foxing at the endsheets and pastedowns, one tiny nick (the size of a pinhead) at the spine. Tall quarto, wonderful, heavily-Art Deco period bookplate ("W. Schwintzer/W. Zehlendorf") at the front pastedown. Selected by Andrew Roth's "Book of 101 Books", among other lists (including Parr) of the most seminal photography books of the 20th century.