Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Eyes on Russia. Bourke-White, Margaret. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1931.
Price: US$275.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Very good first edition book, no dust jacket. Gold buckram cloth covered boards with black lettering and symbol of hammer and cycle on front board panel and spine. Upper external page edges are red-tinted. Boards are clean. Light sunning to spine and extremities. Small bumps on upper fore-edge corners. Age-toning to external page edges. Signs of damp-staining to upper and lower external edge - see photo. Front and back end papers have faint stains along upper and lower edges of paste-downs and free-end papers. Text pages are lightly age-toned in the margins else book is internally clean. Text block is sound. Please use close-up options for best inspection and in support of condition descriptions. Additional photos available at your request. International sales to all countries other than the UK and Canada will require use of an alternative shipping company which will result in higher than the stated shipping costs. A signature upon receipt may also be required.
Seller: R & G Bliss Books, Excelsior, MN, U.S.A.
Price: US$322.07 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: With frontispiece & plates after Margaret Bourke-White. Spot of soiling to front free endpaper. Hinge back cover slightly cracked at top, but binding still tight. Slight wear & slight soiling to spine, covers & corners. ; "Eyes on Russia" by Margaret Bourke-White is a seminal photographic volume that captures the transformative period of the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. Through her lens, Bourke-White documents the industrialization under Stalin's Five-Year Plans, providing a rare and visually compelling insight into Soviet society. Her photographs focus on the massive changes wrought by these plans, including the construction of huge factories and the radical shift in daily lives of Soviet citizens. Bourke-Whites work is notable for its juxtaposition of the monumental scale of industrial projects with intimate portraits of the workers involved, offering a nuanced perspective on the eras optimism and harsh realities. This book is celebrated for its historical importance and its pioneering photojournalistic approach, shedding light on a closed society at a critical moment in its development. Margaret Bourke-White was an American photographer and photojournalist, one of the first to cover modern industry and the Great Depression. Bourke-White made history with her fearless reporting and breathtaking photographs. She was the first foreign photographer allowed to take pictures of the Soviet industry under the Soviet regime, the first female war correspondent during WWII, and the first woman photographer for Life magazine, where her work graced the cover of its first issue. Her photography is distinguished by a unique ability to reach the human side of her stories, whether covering the liberation of concentration camps or the struggles of labor workers. Her influential career set standards for 20th-century documentary photography, using her camera as an instrument for social change. "Eyes on Russia" was part of Chris Steele-Perkins extensive photography book collection. As a member of Magnum Photos, Steele-Perkins was deeply influenced by the pioneering work of photojournalists like Bourke-White. Her ability to capture profound socio-political changes through photography resonated with his own interest in documenting social landscapes and cultural identities. Steele-Perkins role in Magnum emphasized exploring personal and communal narratives within global contexts, making Bourke-Whites insightful depiction of Soviet life a valuable part of his collection. This book aligns with Steele-Perkins commitment to powerful storytelling and his respect for photographys role in historical documentation and social commentary.; 28.5 x 21 x 2.8 cms; 135 pages
Seller: Literary Cat Books, Machynlleth, Powys, WALES, United Kingdom
Price: US$360.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Bound in publisher's original tan cloth with cover and spine stamped in brown. Minor soiling to spine. Author's first book. Nice copy.
Seller: James & Mary Laurie, Booksellers A.B.A.A, Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.
Margaret Bourke - White. EYES ON RUSSIA. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1931.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 1st. Edition, 1st. Printing 1931, Light brown cloth hardcover with black letters to the cover and spine, ( lacking dust jacket ), 135 page book. Illustrated with black & white images by Margaret Bourke-White . A rare look at Communist Russia in the 20's on the first five year plan. This copy was signed by her on the first blank page and inscribed to Louis H. Ackerman. Condition : Very Good , no damaged pages corners are not bent pictures are complete . Size: 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall
Seller: Gibbs Books, Buffalo, NY, U.S.A.
Margaret Bourke-White. Eyes on Russia: Margaret Bourke-White (Signed). Simon and Schuster, 1931.
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Inscribed by the photographer on the front endpaper "Whose charming home it was a pleasure to photograph." No dust jacket. The tan/mustard cloth boards are darkened on the spine and at lower spine corners, some rubbing at the extremities and a touch of soiling at the edges. All orders packed with care, independent bookseller since 2011
Seller: Ivy Ridge Books/Scott Cranin, Fayetteville, NY, U.S.A.
Bourke-White, Margaret. Eyes on Russia. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1931.
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition, first printing. Signed by Margaret Bourke-White on the front free endpaper. Bound in publisher's yellow cloth with black stamping. Very Good. Toning to spine. Front inner hinge exposed and pages toned. The photographer's first book, a travelogue of a trip to the Soviet Union on behalf of Fortune magazine. This brought images of Stalinist Russia in its first five-year plan, a breakneck-pace race into industrialization, to Western readers for the first time.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Description: Hardcover book complete in its original printed dust jacket (unclipped). 29 cm. 135 pages. Monotone photographic illustrations throughout. This copy has been signed by Margaret Bourke-White directly on the front loose end page. The book is in fine condition. No other ownership marks/writing present within. Hinges tight, interior pages bright. Light edge wear/bumping to the cloth covers. Moderate edge wear/tear/chipping, rubbing, soiling to the dust jacket.
Seller: JNBookseller, Palm Harbor, FL, U.S.A.
BOURKE-WHITE, Margaret.. Eyes on Russia.. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1931, 1931.
Price: US$4508.92 + shipping
Description: First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Fred - one of the characters in this book. Without whom I might never have gotten into Russia at all, or succeeded in getting my films out again. Gratefully, Peggy". Frederick Kuh (1896-1978) was an American journalist who was instrumental to Bourke-White's entry into the Soviet Union, making her the first Western photographer to do so. Chapter III of Eyes on Russia recounts Bourke-White's experiences in Berlin waiting for a visa to enter the Soviet Union, six months after having applied for it. While awaiting word from Moscow, she writes of an (unnamed) American newspaper correspondent in Berlin, who can be identified as Frederick Kuh. Kuh's connections allowed Bourke-White to eventually obtain her Soviet visa. Considered one of America's most resourceful reporters during the Second World War, Kuh had a reputation for his insightful "scoops" in international news stories. In 1919, while in Europe reporting for The Liberator on the Hungarian Soviet Republic, he was hired by the London Daily Herald as their Balkan correspondent. He later joined United Press and became the chief of their Moscow bureau. After being transferred to Berlin, Kuh was forced out of Germany in 1933 and went to London, soon after reporting that the Nazis had set fire to the Reichstag building. One of the most important photographers of the 20th century, Bourke-White (1904-1971) was the first female photographer for Fortune and Life magazines, the first female US war correspondent, and the first woman to photograph combat zones during the Second World War. Her legacy was cemented in the 1930s, during which she carried out photo essay projects on Germany, the Dust Bowl, the impact of the Depression in the American Midwest, and, as reflected in the present book, the Soviet Union. In Chapter II, "Why I Went," she notes: "I did not go to the USSR to study it as a political and social experiment. Russia to me was a land of embryo industry". She identifies herself "neutrally" as simply an "industrial photographer". A later anti-Soviet "reaction" to this book, inscribed by a later unknown owner on the front panel of the dust jacket, asserts that the book is "paid propaganda". Large octavo. Original tan cloth, spine and front cover lettered in black. With dust jacket. With 38 plates. Cloth lightly rubbed, contents bright and clean, a very good copy in the scarce but tattered jacket, spine sunned, creased and rubbed in places, with some loss to spine and front panels.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom