THE BLUE BOOK: A Comprehensive Official Souvenir View Book Illustrating the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco 1915
San Francisco: Robert A. Reid, 1915. First Edition. Hardcover. Oblong quarto: 328 pp. with more than 650 photographic illustrations, including 6 full-color plates and more than 100 portraits of fair officials and participants. Three-quarter calf over blue-cloth covered boards, with gilt-stamped titling, borders, and decoration. Light foxing to the prefatory and conlcuding leaves and along the edges. Because of the weight of this volume (more than 5 pounds), it is frequently found with a damaged binding or detached boards. This example has been expertly rebacked, with much of the original spine laid down. Some general toning and wear along the extremities.
The 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, the world's fair ostensibly held to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal but also intended to publicize San Francisco's rapid rise from the ashes of the 1906 earthquake and fire, attracted more than 18.8 million visitors during its nine-month run. It was one of the most successful U.S. expositions ever up to that date - only the 1893 Chicago fair attracted bigger crowds. And with the exception of a portion of the Palace of Fine Arts, nothing is left of the fair - as intended, it was quickly demolished after it closed its doors on December 4, 1915.
Robert Reid, the official publisher of view books for the PPIE, issued dozens, from The Exposition in a Nutshell, a series of miniscule scenes on accordion-pleated paper tucked inside a walnut shell, to this massive Blue Book. Other viewbooks focused on architecture, art, landscaping, or panoramic view of the 635-acre fairgrounds (where San Francisco's Marina District stands today). But the Blue Book truly is comprehensive: photos of individual exhibits, concessions on the Joy Zone, musical groups, gatherings of fraternal organizations, and much more. While PPIE had traditional fair exhibits - the world's largest cheese (p.159) and portraits made from seeds (p.105) - it also featured many forms of the latest technology, including recorded music (p.99), telephones (p.113), aviation (p.127), and the mass production of automobiles (p.70). Also featured are multiple photos of the fair's spectacular night-time illumination, which poet Edwin Markham called "the greatest revelation of beauty that was ever seen on the earth." Item #80004
Price: $125.00