The history of photography as seen through the Spira collection by Spira S. F. and Eaton S. Lothrop Jr. Preface by Heinz K. Henisch, remembrance by Bernard Danis; edited by Jonathan B. Spira who also contributed the foreword - 2001

Offering: A rare example of the deluxe first edition, no. 26 of 30 in gilt morocco goatskin signed by three contributors including Fred Spira. An essential item in the photographic literature, the trade edition is widely collected and has been noted as, "one of the most important photo-history books of the last quarter century". [Gustavson] The deluxe issue is virtually unobtainable. Deluxe Issue: Full brown morocco goatskin, title on spine stamped with gold leaf, sewn with handmade Rives endpapers, sleeved in the publisher's mylar jacket without letters and the matching brown morocco goatskin slipcase; the justification leaf signed by Fed Spira, Jonathan Spira, and Eaton S. Lothrop Jr., each with different pen & ink, the example number handwritten. Condition: Pages: Fine, except four pages with tiny bottom corner crease, some chapter division pages with light spotting intrinsic to production. / Boards: light corner rub on lower side, foot of spine with light rubs, crown with trace rub. / Jacket: light soiling and wear. / Binding: solid and reliable with upper joint rubbing and first gathering with starting gutter separation. / Slipcase: spine with trace rubs at head and foot and an edge with slight rub, lower side with light edge rubs. Pagination: Complete; 234 pages with bibliography and index; profusely illustrated, each page with captioned color photograph reproductions, many reproductions presented in series layouts that display related photographic devices and gadgets, title and chapter division sheets illustrated with captioned double-page photographic spreads on black paper + [2] pp., the justification leaf for the deluxe issue. Size: 312 x 248 mm. Spira Collection: The work extensively documents for the first time Fred Spira's remarkable collection, acquired to demonstrate the complex technological development of photography and focusing on the design history from its beginnings to the early 1990s. The collection is renowned for its unparalleled 20,000+ items of photographica, images and photographic equipment, including historic cameras and viewing devices. Among the many important holdings are an 1840 daguerreotype of a country road, an 1858 image of a clock salesman's traveling case, believed the first use of photography in advertising, the Pistolgraph (1850s), a secret camera made to look like a pistol and the Praxinoscope (1880s), a coin-operated table-top device that played tunes synchronized with rotating images, to give the viewer a sense of motion. Siegfried Franklin Spira [1924-2007]: Fred Spira was the owner of Spiratone, an exceptionally influential photographic accessories business with unique production relationships with the Japanese photographic industry. He is credited with helping, "standardize modern camera equipment" through production and design of high quality accessories, including proprietary, interchangeable T-system lense mounts for 35mm SLR cameras [Hevesi, NY Times, Spira obituary] and "the first Through-the-Lens (TTL) metering system for still cameras" [David Goldes]. "Henry Ford did not invent the automobile and Fred Spira did not invent photography, yet both these men have had almost as much influence on their respective fields as the original inventors. What Ford did to our economy and culture with the concepts behind the Model A and Model T, Spira has done to photography with his accessory lenses, close-up attachments and processing machines."[Durniak, Popular Photography, 1979] Additional Images: by request.