Considered one of the most important photography books ever published, William Klein: Life is Good & Good for You in New York has been out of print for a long time. And if you are lucky to find a good copy, you have to be prepared to pay a handsome sum for it.
Klein, who passed away just weeks ago, was a true genius and control freak who was involved in all aspects of his work, especially the presentation. Not only was he an amazing photographer, his design, in particular appreciation of typography, was in a league of his own.
Thank goodness for Errata Editions, a publisher in New York, ordinary folks like myself get a chance to own a ‘copy’ at a small amount.
Note that the word ‘copy’ is in quotation marks because Errata Editions books are really reproductions of out-of-print books.
How Jeffrey Ladd, Ed Grazda and Valerie Sonnenthal, cofounders of Errata arrived at this cheeky name is not known to me but it is no doubt a powerful choice.
Errata, plural of erratum, means “a list of corrected errors appended to a book or published in a subsequent issue of a journal.”
In each of the reworked title, pages of each book, including the covers, are carefully photographed/scanned and presented like the original book. On top of that, new and relevant info related to the book are appended, often with new essays.
In the case of Klein’s book, Max Kozloff, an American Art historian, contributes an essay while Ladd provides a history and backgrounder on the book.
The add-one in the new editions are not so much corrections but more like newfound materials that enhance the whole experience.
The other photographers who have been ‘errata-ed’ include Eugene Atget, Sophie Ristelhueber, Araki, Chris Killip and David Goldblatt and according to the note of the website, most artists collaborated willingly when approached by them.
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