George Eastman: A Biography

Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 7x2x9. Ink gift note on half-title page, otherwise an excellent copy. 1996 Hard Cover. xix, [3], 637, [3] pp. 8vo. Foreword by Kodak CEO George M.C. Fisher. "This life of George Eastman is the first biography since 1930 of the man who transformed the world of photography. As a 23-year-old bank clerk, Eastman bought his first camera and began simplifying the cumbersome and messy wet-plate process. With only two years' experience, he patented a dry-plate coating machine and began selling photographic plates. Soon, the business was doing so well that he quit his job at the bank and started his own company. Eastman's success was based in part on his own inventions, but even more on his ability to raise capital, recruit technically skilled employees, sell his own products, and outmaneuver his competitors. In this revealing and informative new biography, Brayer shows us how such key innovations as roll film and the light, hand-held camera helped the Eastman Kodak Company dominate the world market.