This is a one-owner volume. My wife and I purchased it new midway through our 50+ years of marriage. We had collected volumes dealing with Israel and its peoples from the very beginning, and were impressed by this publications pedigree, content andsolidity. The volume itself has resided on our homedisplay shelf or in careful storage since purchased, never read, but serving as a solid compliment to our otherbooks owned. Our sporadic collecting over the years has been builtaround trips we have taken, art admired, and interests otherwise close to ourhearts. Having enjoyed so many years of searching and buying, we are at that point in life where we are downsizing, divesting rather than investing. Accordingly, we have been more than pleased to discover eBay as a practical means of passing on our findings to others.
This volume combines the writing talents of A.B. Yehoshua and photographic abilities of Frederic Brenner into an eloquent evocation of Israel and its people from its earliest times through to the mid-to-late 1980s. The six chapters of text cover an historical perspective, the people, the land, the maze of identities, Jerusalum, and the political time bomb of two peoples and two states. The 100 color and duotone photos, some spreading over facing pages, illustrate the full breadth of the countrys physical and human landscapes. The Introduction by Mr. Brenner is an incisive treatise on the motivations of Israeli state-building, the final paragraphs, of course, not yet written. This volume is an important record of Israels land and people at the 40-year mark, a springboard from which later generations possibly can find an affable and sustainable peace.
As summarily noted in the "Sellers Notes" section above, we acquired this volume new in roughly 1990. Our purchase was for purpose of display and investment, not bedside reading. We immediately clad its dust jacket with overlappingDemco 12" Paperfold jacket covers, providingcrystal clear, 1.5 ml, archive-safe, polyester protection (the vertical overlapping inside edge-line and bits of tape are visible in the 1st photo, the overlapping outside edge-line is taped across the back). This covering, of course, can be replaced or removed as desired. The underlying dust cover is immaculate,as are the fine-grain cloth covered boards.Selected pages have been only partially and very gingerly opened exactly twice during our ownership: once for inspection at time of purchase, a second time for purpose of photos in this listing. We displayed and at times stored this volume only horizontally, flat on its back, always sensitive to avoiding binding stress. As result of our careful maintenance, the volume is in brand new condition, notwithstanding its over-25-years of age. The cover boards and pages are stiff at the binding, the binding itself is un-creased and square all along its length, the heavy page-stock is sharp and straight at edges and corners, and stain, fade and wear are non-existent (2nd through 12th photos). Overall, the volume is a rare pristine copy of an important work, and well suited to any serious collector.
My search of the internet reveals no other copies of this 1st U.S. Edition in "new" or even "like new" condition. Those found are described variously as "used" and "very good", and are priced to reflect true meanings of those ratings, in the $50 range and below. I state here that ours is pristine "new" condition, and present the photos above to substantiate. Considering this, along with our copys totally known provenance (no sidesteps into damaging estate, sidewalk or flea market sales), I have priced at what I consider to be a reasonable collectors price, will adjust up or down as the market dictates, and will negotiate so long as the buyer is reasonably knowledgeable and of serious intent.
