Novak, Joseph

Novak's Photographic Color Annual [a homegrown Dadaist livre d'artiste only nominally about photography]

Cambridge, MA: Sensitive Zimmerman Press, 1977. First edition, quarto, plastic comb bound stiff wraps, with title neatly filled in with crayons, and a box of 8 Crayola crayons affixed to front cover. 28 unnumbered pages, a superb mix of photographer's advice and product suggestions and a free-for-all of humor and acerbic wit, including endorsements and criticques of cameras and films, unhelpful tips for freelancers, satirical sketches of photographers and photo editors (names mentioned include Bill Clark, Herb Keppler, A. D. Coleman, Donald Dietz, and Phillip Leonian), several scenes featuring Kermit the Frog, and ad for the 'Banana of the Month Club' and a wonderful tutorial on how to photograph madness. The opening sentences: "Sometimes I think of madness as a kind of dadaist analog to sanity. Perhaps that very statement reveals which camp I inhabit (or inhibit)." NO copies in OCLC, very rare. Novak apparently operated a small camera and photography shop, probably in the Cambridge area, and issued a magazine that apparently was a lot like this book. Good plus with some weaar and soil to covers, the box of crayons has been opened and used and only six crayons present. Good. Item #H15403

Price: $100.00