Arts, Architecture, Fine Press, and More from Marilyn Braiterman Rare Books
- by Michael Stillman
Photographs of a falling cat.
Item 41 is the memoirs of a very different French lady, Alice Ernestine Prin, better known by her adopted name of “Kiki,” or as the “Queen of Montparnasse.” The title is Kiki Souvenirs, published in 1929. Raised poor, Kiki found a lucrative calling in her teens as an artist's model, later becoming a singer, actress, and artist herself. She was the companion through much the 1920s of the noted photographer and artist Man Ray, though she had liaisons with many other artists, including Moise Kisling, who provided the portrait of Kiki. This copy is inscribed to Kisling by Kiki, as well as signed by four other artists, two of whom had also been her lovers. $6,000.
Item 5 is Les Dernieres Merveilles de la Science, by Daniel Bellet, published circa 1900. It is a book about science for older children, and it describes many of the wonders of this very inventive age. There are chapters on electricity and the electric light, electric railroads, the telephone, phonograph, moving images, and instantaneous photography. An example of the latter is seen in the series of images of a falling cat displayed on this page. $850.
