Lot 157: PHILIP JONES GRIFFITHS

PHILIP JONES GRIFFITHS
Vietnam Inc. New York and London: The Macmillan Company and Collier-Macmillan, 1971.

Quarto (280 x 205 mm). 266 black and white photographs. Original black cloth, spine lettered in silver (light soiling); original photo-illustrated dust-jacket (light wear and light soiling); cloth folding box. Provenance: Lee Jones (inscription from Jones Griffiths).

FIRST EDITION. AN EXCELLENT ASSOCIATION COPY OF THE RARE HARDCOVER ISSUE, INSCRIBED BY JONES GRIFFITHS TO LEE JONES, Magnum's New York Bureau Chief: "to Lee from Philip with sincere thanks". Lee Jones had contracted Jones Griffiths to cover the Vietnam War for Magnum. "In the finest book to come out of the Vietnam War, Jones Griffiths made his voice heard loud and clear, producing a great work of humanist documentary photography" (The Photobook). This rare hardcover issue is not recorded in any of the standard bibliographies. It is possible that this issue was hors-commerce; one theory suggests that a number of copies were distributed among members of Congress. The Open Book, pp.274-75; The Photobook, vol. II, pp.250-51.