Changing New York; Text by Elizabeth McCausland

New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1939. First edition. Hardcover. Orig. publisher’s dark blue cloth covered boards with gilt lettering and emblem of the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration. Fine in fresh dust wrapper lacking small pieces at rear backstrip head and upper front cover corner. 206 pages. 29 x 22.5 cm. A production of the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration. 97 full-page photographs with accompanying text. Abbott began her education at Ohio State University before moving to New York to study sculpture. There, she met the modernist visionaries Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray. Afterwards, Abbott went on to become May Ray’s assistant in his Paris studio. As Ray’s assistant, Abbott was able to absorb the work of many other influential photographers, including Eugène Atget. During her time in Paris, Abbott also took the opportunity to photograph many artists and literary figures, including James Joyce. AUER p. 276. HASSELBLAD pp.130-131. PARR & BADGER I, p. 141. ROTH, pp. 100-101.