[Item #4849] The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition). Daniel J. Boorstin.
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)
The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)

The Discoverers (Deluxe Illustrated Edition)

New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991. First Edition Thus. Hardcovers. "My hero is Man the Discoverer. The world we now view from the literate West- the vistas of time, the land and the seas, the heavenly bodies and our own bodies, the plants and animals, history and human societies past and present- had to be opened for us by countless Columbuses. In the deep recesses of the past, they remain anonymous. As we come closer to the present they emerge into the light of history, a cast of characters as varied as human nature. Discoveries become episodes of biography, unpredictable as the new worlds the discoverers opened to us." (from "A Personal Note to the Reader," Vol. 1) A sweeping, global history of human discovery by Daniel J(oseph) Boorstin (1914-2002), the canonical, Pulitzer Prize-winning (for his The Americans: The Democratic Experience of 1973) American historian & academician who served as the Librarian of Congress during 1975-1987. First published as one volume in 1983, here is the deluxe illustrated edition of two volumes in slipcase, a beautiful & lavish production of the venerable Abrams art-book imprint published during 1991. As Boorstin wrote in his "Note to the Reader of the Illustrated Edition" in the first volume: "This edition responds to requests from readers of my Discoverers in many languages and makes the book a new adventure in pictorial discovery. Here we see the discoverers themselves, we share what they saw, and what they thought they were seeing. These pictures show what my words can only suggest. They need no translation." Two clothbound volumes in illustrated slipcase, first edition thus, first (& likely sole) printing with no reference to further printings. From the collection of George V. Buehler (1933-2020), who was a prominent real estate developer & collector in Massachusetts & Arizona. We found & have retained, between blank rear endpaper & paste-down of Vol. 2, four printed-out pages of documentation regarding Buehler's purchase of this item in June of 2015, folded & in very fine condition. A magnificent work of deep scholarly writing & exquisite images; a key Boorstin collectible in its rarest & most rewarding form (never mind that it would undoubtedly be slated for "cancellation" in today's neo-Jacobin cultural regime for his daring to refer to "Man" & "Columbus" as quoted above) & with distinguished provenance. Books in very fine condition with only mild fading to blue cloth at spine of Vol. 2; very slight loss of gilt lettering at spine of Vol. 1; otherwise both volumes substantially mint inside & out. Slipcase very fine with only a bit of rubbing, faint scratching to pasted, glossy illustrated paper front, back covers & spine; several small bump-creases at lower right spine/ lower left front cover that appear a slight flaw as issued; previous seller's (or quite possibly publisher's) ISBN- barcode sticker affixed near lower right corner of back cover, obscuring a small portion of illustration thereon. An extra handling fee will be added for shipping due to the weight of this bundle. Very Fine / (Slipcase) Very Fine. [Item #4849]

Price: $100.00