James Dean Fifty Years Ago Dennis Stock 1st Ed Signed

📸 James Dean: Fifty Years Ago by Dennis Stock (2005, Harry N. Abrams) — 125 black-and-white photographs capturing James Dean in the year before his death, from the Indiana farm where he grew up to the Times Square streets that made him iconic. First edition, signed by Stock on the half-title page.

QUICK FACTS

• Photographer: Dennis Stock (1928–2010), Magnum Photos
• Introduction: Joe Hyams
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York
• Year: 2005 (first printing, 25,000 copies)
• Format: Hardcover in dust jacket
• Pages: 128 | ISBN: 0-8109-5903-8
• Condition: Very good plus or better — full report below

THE STORY

In the winter of 1954–55, Dennis Stock met James Dean at a party thrown by director Nicholas Ray at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Dean was still a relative unknown — East of Eden had yet to be released. Over breakfast the next morning, as Dean spoke nostalgically about his upbringing in Fairmount, Indiana, where his aunt and uncle raised him after his mother’s death, Stock became determined to capture a portrait of a young man suspended between two worlds. He pitched a photo essay to LIFE magazine and got the green light.

The photographs Stock made in Fairmount, New York, and Hollywood paint a picture of a young man more comfortable in old farm clothes, playing bongo drums to cows, than on a red carpet. In a series of eerie photographs that seem to foretell his death in a car accident just eight months later, Dean hopped in and out of caskets at a local furniture store, asking Stock to take his picture. Stock’s iconic Times Square portrait — Dean walking through the rain in a long overcoat, cigarette between his teeth — became one of the most reproduced photographs of the 20th century.

THIS EDITION

Published in 2005, fifty years after the photographs were taken, this Abrams first edition presents Stock’s complete Dean portfolio in richly reproduced black-and-white printing. Editor Christopher Sweet and designer Ellen Nygaard assembled the images with Stock’s original accompanying text and a later introduction by Joe Hyams. The frontispiece shows Dean on the set of Rebel Without a Cause. Printed and bound in Singapore. Abrams was a subsidiary of La Martinière at the time of publication.

PHOTOGRAPHS & DESIGN

The 125 black-and-white photographs span three locations: Fairmount, Indiana, where Stock captured Dean with the Winslow family — his grandfather Charlie, uncle Marcus, aunt Ortense, grandmother Emma, and cousin Markie — seated around the dining-room table; New York City, including the rain-soaked Times Square portrait and street scenes with vintage cars, neon signs, and pedestrians in hats; and Hollywood studio lots. Stock’s composition favors natural light and candid moments over posed portraits, giving the images a documentary quality that has aged remarkably well. The dark matte hardcover with yellow-accented spine text echoes the monochrome palette inside.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Dennis Stock was a Magnum Photos member since 1954 and won first prize in LIFE‘s 1951 young photographers contest — his Dean portfolio established his career
• Stock died in 2010; this 2005 edition, published five years before his death, represents his own final curation of the Dean work
• Robert Pattinson portrayed Stock in the 2015 biographical film Life, directed by photographer Anton Corbijn
• Stock’s Times Square portrait of Dean is among the most recognized photographs in American popular culture

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? First printing, 2005, Harry N. Abrams, ISBN 0-8109-5903-8. 25,000-copy first printing.

What condition is it in? Very good plus or better — full report below.

Is it signed? Yes, Dennis Stock signed on the half-title page.

FOR COLLECTORS

Stock’s signed copies are scarce — he died in 2010 and signed very few of these during his lifetime. The Abrams first edition is the definitive modern presentation of the Dean photographs, with production values that surpass the 1978 Viking James Dean Revisited and the earlier Kadokawa Portrait of a Young Man.

“James Dean Fifty Years Ago” by Dennis Stock, published in 2005 by Abrams, profusely illustrated with richly reproduced black and white images of Mr. Dean, 128 pages.

First edition, signed by Mr. Stock on the half-title page. Only signed copy available online at the time of listing.

This is a “very good plus” or better vintage hardcover with a solid binding. No loose, torn or folded pages. Aside from the artist signature, no marks or writing. Super crisp.

Matching vintage dust wrapper has light edge and surface wear. Not price clipped, with publisher’s price inside front flap. No significant flaws, general minimal shelving wear.

See accompanying images for full condition details.

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

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