The Complete Photographer. Complete set of 10 volumes, edited by Willard D. Morgan.

National Educational Alliance, 1942-1943.  Encyclopedia with 3,000 pages. Volume 10 contains index and glossary. Articles by noted experts including famous photographers. Profusely illustrated. Volumes are very good or better, hardcover in green and gold. VG+.  Extra postage required for this set of volumes.  Summary:

The Complete Photographer: A Complete Guide to Amateur and Professional Photography is a monumental, 10-volume encyclopedia edited by Willard D. Morgan. Published between 1942 and 1943 by the National Educational Alliance, this massive, 3,000-page compilation was originally issued as a serial weekly periodical before being officially collected into a definitive 10-volume hardcover reference set.

Overview of the Set

• The Editor: Willard D. Morgan was a towering figure in mid-century American photography. He served as the first director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), a photo editor for Life magazine, and was instrumental in introducing the 35mm Leica camera system to the United States.

• Content: The text is structured as an comprehensive, A-to-Z encyclopedic guide covering every conceivable artistic, historical, commercial, and technical aspect of the photographic medium.

• Structure: Volumes 1 through 9 contain alphabetically arranged informational entries, tutorials, and master essays. Volume 10 serves as a master index, comprehensive glossary of terms, and bibliography. The set is heavily illustrated with thousands of black-and-white images, diagrams, and rare color gravure plates.

Core Themes and Focus Areas

The 10-volume collection serves as a definitive time capsule of photography during the World War II era, bridging the gap between mechanical instruction and high-art philosophy.

• Expert Masterclasses: Rather than simple staff-written definitions, Morgan commissioned leading photographic masters of the 1940s to write the core essays. The volumes feature technical, aesthetic, and philosophical contributions from legendary figures such as Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, Berenice Abbott, and Margaret Bourke-White.

• Technical Rigor: The books offer exhaustive darkroom and field manuals detailing chemistry formulas, optics, lighting configurations, X-ray photography, microphotography, and early color film printing techniques.

• Genre Exploration: The collection acts as a career guide and theoretical overview for diverse photographic fields, analyzing the distinct demands of documentary photojournalism, military aerial reconnaissance, Hollywood glamour, astronomical imaging, and fine-art pictorialism.