RIEFENSTAHL, Leni (1902-2003)

[Photobook] Schonheit im Olympischen Kampf [Beauty in the Olympic Games]

Berlin: Im Deutschen Verlag, 1937. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing of Riefenstahl's "lavish," controversial photobook, a "masterpiece of the propagandist's art." (Parr & Badger) Royal 8vo (309 x 234mm): 282,[2]pp, complete with 273 full-page gravure plates captioned in German, French, English, Spanish, and Italian. Publisher's burnt orange coarsely woven cloth, spine and upper cover stamped in gold, photographically illustrated white dust jacket printed in black and orange and unpriced (as issued). About Fine (bruise to upper right corner with resultant creases to tips of page corners, trivial flaking to spine gold); very minor professional restoration to jacket edge wear and gentle soiling to back panel. An excellent example, tightly bound and clean throughout with bright renditions of the plates. Without the extremely rare original glassine (almost always wanting). Auer, p. 255. Parr & Badger I, p.151. Roth (101 Books), p. 96-97. Fine / Near Fine+. Item #BB1997

Most of the images are stills taken during the filming of Olympia (which won Best Foreign Film at the Venice Film Festival after its premiere, in 1938), augmented with 31 behind-the-scenes photos of the production, showing cameras on dollies and tracks, cranes and swivels, submerged in pits and suspended from balloons. "These are such exquisite, such transcendentally beautiful images of athletes, that one almost forgets their context. And it's all Greek temples and hardbodies [sic] until page 54, when the German team enters the stadium in their immaculate white uniforms, their right arms raised in salute across the page to Der Fuhrer." (Roth 101) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $1,249.00