Songs of a Pagan
Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Inc., 1949.
First edition, first printing. Signed by Anne Brigman on the verso of the front free endpaper in brown ink, in California in the year of publication. 90 pp. Bound in publisher's buckram stamped in silver and black. Near Fine with faint foxing to edges and endpapers. In a Very Good+ unclipped, double-sided dust jacket with moderate wear at spine ends, light scuffing and toning to panels with modest spotting to rear cover, price crossed out at front flap in blue ink. An ethereal monograph from the visionary photographer, poet and critic Anne Brigman. Born in Hawaii, Brigman married a sea captain in 1894, left him in 1900 and went on to live a bohemian lifestyle in San Francisco where she became friends with Jack London and a fellow poet, Charles Keeler. Trained as a painter, Brigman turned to the art of photography in 1902. She is best known for her evocative portraits of nude female forms set amongst granite summits and ancient juniper trees of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Considered radical for the time, her unearthly portraits, thanks to careful manipulation in the dark room, caught the attention of domestic and European critics alike. Brigman went onto become one of the first members of the Photo-Secession movement founded by Alfred Stieglitz and hosted a solo show at Gump's Gallery in San Francisco and later at the Fine Arts Society of San Diego.
Price: $2,000