DOWN AT THERESA'S...CHICAGO BLUES: THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF MARC POKEMPNER

Munich, Germany: Prestel Verlag, 2000. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/As New Dust Jacket.. Munich, Germany: Prestel Verlag, 2000. Hardcover. As New/As New. First Edition/First Printing. 95 pages. The photographer's breakthrough debut collection. One of the finest photography books on music ever published. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only. According to the photographer himself, less than half of its full print run was completed. The First Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Marc PoKempner and Prestel Verlag: Oversize-volume format. Ribbed hard boards with red titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs by Marc PoKempner. Essay by Wolfgang Schorlau. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in Munich, Germany to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents Marc PoKempner's "Down At Theresa's...Chicago Blues". Evocative, riveting, and vibrant photographs that capture the people and atmosphere of Theresa's Lounge in Chicago, the world's most legendary venue for blues music. The images throb with the energy and vitality that characterized the Blues Era, when such legends as Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, and Jimmy Rogers, among others, performed at the lounge. As Wolfgang Schorlau writes, all popular music, especially rock n' roll, originated with the blues, which has not necessarily been surpassed, at least not according to aficionados like Schorlau and Luc Sante, the brilliant American writer who has written at length on the music ("Kill All Your Darlings"). Considering the number of great photography books on American music by talents as diverse as Ed van der Elsken, William Claxton, Lee Friedlander, and Bruce Weber, among others, Marc PoKempner has pulled off a neat triumph. But it would be a pity if his book were collected only by blues, jazz, or American music aficionados. Like the work of his predecessors, the best photographs in this collection are among the very best ever taken of an authentic art form invented in America (rather than borrowed from Europe) and as such, is expressive of American roots and ideals. An absolute "must-have" title for Marc PoKempner, music, and photography book collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed and inscribed in black pen-marker on the front free endpaper by the photographer: "Here's the nitty gritty from the Windy City. Inside views of Chicago blues! Marc PoKempner". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. There is no recipient named. This title is a contemporary photography classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is the single most beautiful signed copy we have ever seen. Please note: This copy comes directly from the photographer's personal collection. A rare signed copy thus. 72 duotone plates. One of the most brilliant photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO LUC SANTE'S "KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS" AND OTHER MARC POKEMPNER TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 3791323008.