I love illustrated books, as I mention constantly in my musings. And this includes photography, of course. Our book business has over 500 such items in inventory, and our personal library has many as well – items that I don’t want to pass on, as yet.
I do not collect magazines, but they are a treasure trove of art and photography, but I do have some books featuring the work of those magazines. Condé Nast publishes two of the greatest – Vogue and Vanity Fair. I have had 4 or 5 Vogue related books and only recently got one on Vanity Fair. It is one of the books currently on my bedside table. With the judicious use of pillows, I can read this large book measuring 14” by 11.5”, and weighing 10 pounds.
The covers of the American and European issues, pre-war, are spectacular – not photographs but drawn art. As far as content goes I found that Vogue has focused on royalty and the upper crust of society. What they wear, what they eat, who throws the best parties – it is haute cuisine, haute couture, haute this & that. I found that Vanity Fair focuses more on the famous, especially Hollywood, and the powerful.
Vanity Fair 100 Years; from the Jazz Age to Our Age; edited by Graydon Carter; Essays by Amy Fine Collins, David Friend, Sam Kashner, Nancy Schoenberger, Annie Leibovitz, and Jim Windolf; Abrams, New York, 2013.
In his introduction, Carter who at the time was editor, of Vanity Fair, explained how the magazine, started in 1913, went into hiatus in 1936, revived in 1983. During the first phase noted photographers were Edward Steichen and Cecil Beaton and in the second phase Annie Leibovitz, led the pack. And boy-oh-boy did she ever. You can look at a photo and say that’s Annie, she is so creative and distinctive, and she can talk almost anyone into leaving their clothes in a pile by the door.
When I started into the book, I thought this won’t take long to look at all the pictures, nope - I am reading much of the content – it is fascinating.
Enjoy a few of Vanity Fair’s illustrative treasures!
