Recollections Ten Women Photography 1979 Signed

📸 Recollections: Ten Women of Photography by Margaretta K. Mitchell (1979, Viking Press) — the first edition of a landmark survey profiling ten pioneering American women photographers whose work shaped 20th-century photography. This copy is signed by editor Margaretta K. Mitchell and featured photographer Barbara Morgan.

QUICK FACTS

• Editor: Margaretta K. Mitchell (b. 1935), photographer, writer, educator
• Publisher: The Viking Press (A Studio Book), New York
• Year: 1979 — First edition, first printing
• Format: Hardcover, black cloth boards, in dust jacket
• Pages: 206 | ISBN: 0-670-59078-9
• Condition: Very good or better — see full report below

THE STORY

Mitchell’s “Recollections” profiles ten women who established photography as both art and profession during the first half of the 20th century: Berenice Abbott, Ruth Bernhard, Carlotta M. Corpron, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Nell Dorr, Toni Frissell, Laura Gilpin, Lotte Jacobi, Consuelo Kanaga, and Barbara Morgan. Each chapter pairs Mitchell’s biographical interviews with the photographer’s own selected images — portraits, landscapes, still lifes, fashion, and documentary work — creating a collective portrait of women’s contributions to the medium during an era when photography was overwhelmingly male-dominated.

THIS EDITION

Published by Viking as “A Studio Book,” this first printing represents the book in its original form with jacket design by Carl T. T. Dillon and original $25.00 retail price on the front flap. The volume accompanied a traveling exhibition of the same name, which Mitchell organized and which introduced these photographers to a broader audience in the late 1970s.

COVER ART & DESIGN

The dust jacket features a clean, typographic design — cream background with “RECOLLECTIONS” in large dark serif type, the subtitle “TEN WOMEN OF PHOTOGRAPHY” below, followed by the ten photographers’ names in a neat column. The editor’s name appears at the bottom. The jacket back includes a biographical synopsis and a portrait of Mitchell photographed by Frances McLaughlin-Gill in 1979. The black cloth spine reads “MITCHELL / RECOLLECTIONS / VIKING” in white sans-serif capitals.

INTERIOR CONTENT

The book contains 206 pages with black-and-white photographic reproductions throughout, plus biographical notes. The photographs range from documentary journalism — including a powerful V2 rocket aftermath image from wartime London — to intimate studio portraits, surreal compositions, and carefully lit still lifes. Each photographer’s section includes her own selected images alongside Mitchell’s commentary based on personal interviews.

WHY IT MATTERS

• One of the first book-length studies to collectively profile women photographers as a group, published at a time when women’s contributions to photography were routinely overlooked in art history
• The traveling exhibition “Recollections: Ten Women of Photography” helped restore these photographers’ place in photographic history — several had been largely forgotten before Mitchell’s work
• Mitchell’s own career spans six decades; her work belongs to MoMA SF, the International Center of Photography, the Amon Carter Museum, and the Akron Art Museum

THIS COPY

Signed twice: once by Margaretta K. Mitchell on the front free endpaper, inscribed “For Robert Murdock with special thanks for your foresight and insight about the Exhibition. It was beautifully installed and the Opening has been wonderful. With great good wishes from Margaretta.” Also signed by Barbara Morgan (one of the ten featured photographers) in blue ink: “Margaretta K Mitchell With deep gratitude and Barbara Morgan — 1980 best wishes for the future.” The dual inscription ties this copy directly to the original exhibition installation.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? First edition, first printing, published 1979 by Viking Press (A Studio Book). ISBN 0-670-59078-9.

Is it signed? Yes — signed and inscribed by editor Margaretta K. Mitchell to Robert Murdock, plus signed by photographer Barbara Morgan, dated 1980.

What condition is the dust jacket? The jacket has a large loss at the back upper edge and smaller losses along edges, with surface rubbing front and back. Now protected in an archival mylar sleeve.

FOR COLLECTORS

The dual inscription — from both the editor and one of the featured photographers, tied to the original exhibition opening — makes this a unique association copy. The book remains a standard reference for women’s photography history and appears in institutional collections including the International Center of Photography.

This is a very good or better volume, with no significant flaws. Black cloth on boards shows some light sunning along edges.
Matching vintage dust wrapper has a large loss at the back upper edge, and some smaller losses along edges. Surface rubbing in places front and back. Now protected in a removable archival mylar sleeve for proper presentation.
See the accompanying images for full condition details.

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged, with tracking.

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