History of Photography. One Hundred Years of Photographic History. Essays in Honor of Beaumont Newhall edited by Van Deren Coke.

University of New Mexico Press, 1975. 1st (only) edition. Introduction about Newhall and 21 essays by such noted authors as Van Deren Coke on the Cubist photographs of Paul Strand and Morton Schamberg; James Borcomon on early combination printing; William C. Darrah on stereographs; Helmut Gernsheim on Cuthbert Bede, Robert Hunt, and Robert Sutton; Andre Jammes on Victor Regnault, calotypist; Jean Keim on photomontage after World War I; Aaron Scharf on Max Ernst and Etienne Jules Marey; John Szarkowski on Atget's Trees, Minor White on the "silence of seeing," and much more of interest. A fine copy with price-clipped, near fine protected dust jacket that has two short closed tears. This copy was formerly in the collection of Newhall's friend, David Hunter McAlpin, although this prior ownership is not evident. Note: In the photo, the horizontal line near the top is on the dust jacket protector, not the dust jacket. Summary:

One Hundred Years of Photographic History: Essays in Honor of Beaumont Newhall, edited by prominent photographer and scholar Van Deren Coke, is a festschrift (a celebratory collection of writings) published in 1975 by the University of New Mexico Press. Created to honor Newhall—the preeminent art historian who pioneered the academic study of photography—the volume acts as a showcase of the diverse directions photographic scholarship was taking in the mid-1970s. Rather than a unified narrative, the book compiles 21 independent, specialized essays from internationally recognized authorities, curators, and critics.

1. The Scholarly Collective

The volume is defined by its contributor list, featuring foundational voices in photography criticism and curation who were heavily influenced by Newhall's work. Contributors include John Szarkowski (then Director of Photography at MoMA), Helmut Gernsheim (a massive collector and historian), Minor White (influential photographer and editor), alongside prominent scholars like Peter Bunnell, Michael Lesy, Aaron Scharf, and James Borcoman.

2. Pushing Beyond "Straight" History

While Newhall's own textbooks leaned heavily toward a chronological timeline of technical and formal artistic advancements, this anthology reflects an expansion of the field. The essays dive into specialized niches, split between technical, biographical, and highly speculative critical analysis:

• Monographic Studies: Detailed deep-dives into the lesser-known portfolios or specific technical methods of legendary individual photographers.

• Cultural & Vernacular Analysis: Essays that investigate photography outside the fine art museum gallery, such as Michael Lesy's examination of "Photography as Folk Art," looking at how everyday images shape collective human memory.

• Critical Theory: Several texts offer highly personal, theoretical interpretations of how human beings perceive photographic prints, crossing over from objective historical reporting into philosophical art criticism.

One Hundred Years of Photographic History serves as a benchmark indicating how much the discipline had matured by the 1970s. By gathering various analytical viewpoints into a single volume, Van Deren Coke demonstrated that Newhall’s lifelong mission had succeeded: photography was no longer just a chemical hobby to be cataloged, but a profound intellectual territory capable of sustaining rigorous, multi-faceted academic debate.