ROBERT FRANK:THE AMERICANS

In 1958, the first edition of Robert Frank's The Americanswas published inParis. Les Americains contained Frank's 83 photographs in the same sequenceas all subsequent editions, with the image on the right hand page, butjuxtaposed with historical texts about American society and politics,gathered by Alain Bosquet. The following year, in the first Americanedition, the French texts were removed and an introduction by Jack Kerouacwas added. Over the subsequent 50 years, The Americans has been republishedin many editions, in numerous languages, with a variety of cover designs,and even in a range of sizes. It is the most famous photography book everpublished, and it changed the face of the medium forever. Robert Frank discussed with his publisher, Gerhard Steidl, the idea ofproducing a new edition using modernscanning and the finest tritoneprinting. The starting point was to bring original prints from New York toGottingen, Germany, where Steidl is based. In July 2007, Frank visited Gottingen. A new format for the book wasworked out and new typography selected. A new cover was designed and Frankchose the book cloth, foil for embossing, and the endpaper. Mostsignificantly, as he has done for every edition of The Americans, Frankchanged the cropping of many of the photographs, usually including moreinformation. Two images were changed completely from the original 1958 and1959 editions.