Margaret Bourke-White Statue of Liberty Inscribed Note and Limited Edition Photograph

This collage includes a limited edition photograph by Margaret Bourke-White originally taken in 1952, numbered 4/50+10 and blindstamped in the lower right margin with the artist’s signature. Additionally, the collage features a note written by Bourke-White to the famous explorer and writer, Edna Robb Webster. Bourke-White’s note is penned on one of her very own business cards.

Originally taken in 1952, the limited edition Statue of Liberty photograph was reprinted in 1966 by Time Life Photo in association with the estate of Margaret Bourke-White. The photo bears the relevant stamps and notation on the reverse indicating the print date and number.

The business card is from Bourke-White's studio in the Chrysler Building, New York. The note reads: "Dear Mrs. Webster: I thought you might like to have a big one. Will write you more soon. Think the idea is fine (?).. of getting something timely about the book. It is being published by Simon and Shutter and I'll write you more later. Regards as Always." 

Edna Robb Webster, to whom she wrote the note, is famous in her own right. After traveling with inventor T. A. Willard to Mexico’s Yucatan region, Webster wrote books and articles about her travel in Mexico, Cuba, and California. She became an authority on Mayan culture. In addition to her nonfiction works, such as T.A. Willard: Wizard of the Storage Battery and Early Exploring in Lands of the Maya, she authored 17 novels, including Love Preferred, Five O’clock Girl, and Dad’s Girl. Webster penned an article about about Bourke-White, ultimately published in the March 1955 issue of Independent Woman and entitled “Tells the Story of Our Times in Photographs.”

Margaret Bourke-White (1904 - 1971) was one of the most respected photo journalists in the 1930s and 40s. The first female documentarian to be accredited by and work with the U.S. Armed Forces, Bourke-White was also the first foreign photographer to take pictures of Soviet industry. Throughout her career, she worked with Fortune and, most famously, with Life Magazine. Bourke-White photographed the Dust Bowl in the American west and the human aspects of the Great Depression publishing You Have Seen Their Faces. She traveled with the armed forces as well, documenting major events around the world including the German invasion of Moscow during WWII, Gandhi's fight for Indian independence, unrest in South Africa, and the Korean War. Perhaps most famously, her photos are responsible for making known the horrors of Nazi concentration camps as she accompanied Patton’s army through Germany. Margaret Bourke-White and her photos were extremely influential and informative about major events around the world, bringing knowledge back to the U.S.

CONDITION:

Overall fine condition. Minor rippling to the photograph but otherwise no notable damage. The black and white photo has a blindstamped facsimile signature of Bourke-White in the bottom right margin. The note at the bottom is written with black ink. The business card is clearly printed with “Miss Margaret Bourke-White Bourke-White Studio Chrysler Building, New York.” The collage is housed in an archival frame with UV protective glass.

Framed dimensions: 32.5” H x 21.5” W x 1.75” D.




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