'Origins' Update

The book sale has concluded now, and the dust has settled. I'm happy to report that you bought 385 copies of The Origins of American Photography by Keith F. Davis.

Only eight books remain to be shipped; The first batch (around 180) were shipped out on 11/14. The second batch (around 197) were shipped out on 11/20. The last ones will be shipped this week. Media Mail was used so the shipments might not get to you quickly. If you haven't received yours within about 21 days from now, let me know by email and I'll pass your inquiry along to the Nelson-Atkins Museum Bookstore. (Or you can contact the Bookstore directly.) They do have copies left to replace lost packages.

The book's author, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Senior Photography Curator Keith Davis, sent me the following message to pass along to you:

"Please let your readers know how much I appreciate their interest in these publications. It is gratifying to get them into so many good hands and I do hope that they will be enjoyed. For anyone in the greater Midwest region, I am pleased to say that our big Dave Heath exhibition has recently opened here at the Nelson-Atkins Museum—and that it is a genuinely powerful and moving experience. I hope that some portion of your 'regulars' can find the time to see it on the walls here before it closes on March 19. Many sincere thanks."

I'm tapped out for travel funds, but I have to find a way to get to that. I've loved that book. Stay tuned on that score.

Mike
(Thanks to Keith, Brian, Abbey and everyone else at the Nelson-Atkins who helped, and to everyone who bought a copy!)

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Ernest Zarate: "Got the book a couple weeks ago. As with the dry plates to digital volume (which I also ordered through TOP), just looking at the marvelous selection of photographs was hours of enjoyment and edification.

"But I had the time to read the text in this one, as I had some time off and to myself (a rarity!). Hats off to Keith Davis! The text, as you claimed Mike, is accessible. But oh so much more—it is, for want of a better phrase, a real page turner. There have been many photo history books I've read in my time, but Keith's prose is enchanting. But, it is not superficial—I would read a portion and then put the book down to mull over his insightful posits and ideas. Then I was compelled to pick it up and read more. I can't think of higher praise for a writer.

"I'm so glad I did not read the contemporary volume first! Now, when I finish the origins book, I will delve into the contemporary volume with great anticipation.

"Thank you to Mike/TOP, to the museum, and especially to Keith. Great job, all! These are top-shelf books that I will return to over and over."

Nick Van Vanten: "We were in KC for the holiday and saw the Dave Heath exhibition. Very, very impressive and a remarkable viewing experience. You should definitely see this show. I don't believe I have ever been quite so moved by photographer's effort to portray emotion."

Comments

[Dan Gorman]

Ordered the book on the first day of the sale, and it arrived one day last week. It arrived in great shape, and looks fantastic. I justified the purchase as a Christmas gift for myself, so I had to promise I wouldn't actually dive in until the 25th (although I did sneak a peek or two!). Let's see, how many more days is that?

[MikeR]

Saw the exhibition when it was in Philly. Had the book first, Christmas present from my wife. Worth the effort, if you can make it.

Barnes Museum has a special exhibition going on now, French photographs largely from the Impressionist period. Also worth the trip. No specific catalog, though. The bookstore offers individual volumes of HCB, Brassai, Kertesz, et al, most of which I already had. First encounter with Ilse Bing's work - a find. Meanwhile, to make the trip to Philly more enticing, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has photography by Thomas Eakins, who I knew only as a painter.

[Bill Mitchell]

Is the "Hallmark" collection intact, or has it been broken up?

[Del Bomberger]

Just a shout-out to the staff at Nelson-Atkins. When I called and left a message concerning the delivery of my book, they called back very shortly and were genuinely concerned about it also. Turned out it was in the held mail the Post Office was saving for me while I was out of town. Great customer service! Much appreciated.

[Benjamin Marks]

Just want to say, I got my book over on Monday. The reproductions of the daguerreotypes are wonderful. So much detail and such Nineteenth Century faces! Really wonderful.

[Lindsay]

Got mine -- a lovely book!

[Darlene]

My book arrived on Monday. Big shout-out to Mike and the museum for helping me put quality material in my classroom. The packaging was superb and it arrived in stellar condition.

[Bruce Polin]

Just received mine and am blown away by the printing and binding.
A really beautiful book. Thank you for the tip, Mike.

[Michael Eckstein]

I keep telling myself that I need to replace my 2008 Mac Pro. It does everything I need it to do. It has 24gb of memory and 2 quad core Xenon server processors at 2.8ghz, 4 internal HDD's totaling 12 TB of memory, A PCIE SSD as the main system drive, a 1 GB video card. Runs all my programs relatively fast, and in fact I can have 10 or 15 open at a time. But still I keep looking at the 5K iMac's and tell myself I'll use the old Mac Pro as a server with all the drives still on board and then I'll really be happy. So far I decide I'd be happier not spending $2.5K!!!

[John Masters]

I'm proud to be one of the 385.
I'm grateful to you for getting us this incredible book deal.
I'm "knee deep" into "The Origins of American Photography" and am enjoying it very much.
Thank you again!

-- John Masters

[mike plews]

Just got the Dave Heath book and it is wonderful! Highly recommended to all TOP readers.