Weegee. Naked City.

Da Capo, 1973. Wraps, apparently the 1st printing of the Da Capo reprint of the classic 1945 1st edition showing the gritty underside of life in New York, featuring sudden death, fires, cross dressers, police and criminals, etc. Priced on verso at $13.50, this copy lacks the bar code that appeared on later printings. Near fine with very slight damp stain on top edge of front flyleaf. Text does not lie quite flat. Otherwise, fine.

Note: Ascher Fellig, known as Weegee, was born on June 12, 1899 in the town of Lemburg (now in Ukraine).  Fellig emigrated to New York when he was about ten. He worked in photography-related jobs for more than 15 years until 1935, when he went freelance. Having obtained permission in 1938 to install a police radio in his car, he took sensational photos of night life, auto accidents, murders, criminals, fires, and other subjects for newspapers and magazines. Weegee’s first book, Naked City, first published in 1945, established his lasting reputation. Theories about the origin of his pseudonym include his early work as a “squeegee boy,” wiping down wet prints in a darkroom and the Ouija board, since he seemed to have a sixth sense of how to arrive first at a crime scene. Weegee died on December 26, 1968 in New York.