Rare book dealer and gallerist Roth delivers just what the title promises. Two or four pages are given to each of 101 books, from Edward Curtis's The North American Indian: Volume 1 (1907) to David LaChapelle's LaChapelle Land (1996). Naturally, a few choices are bound to offend any given reader's taste (LaChapelle Land?!), but overall Roth's choices fairly represent both stunning individual achievements (Hans Bellmer's La Poupe) and landmarks in the evolution of both the medium (Larry Clark's Tulsa) and the genre (Robert Frank's The Americans). For each book, the cover and at least a couple of interior spreads are reproduced and accompanied by complete bibliographic information as well as a cogent and concise essay on the book's significance. Together with a half dozen essays on broader themes gallerist Jeffrey Fraenkel on publishing, photographer Daido Moriyama on the creative process, librarian May Castleberry on preservation and access these would be worth the price of the book. The addition of the sumptuous reproductions from so many titles that are simply unavailable to most libraries make this an essential purchase for any serious photography collection. Eric Bryant, "Library Journal" (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Rare book maven Andrew Roth has turned his powers of judgment toward photography in The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the 20th Century. Given two full pages each, the selections receive a bibliographic and physical description and a publishing history, as well as cover images and a few choice samples of their contents there are 500 color illustrations in all. Volume one of Curtis's 1907 The North American Indian kicks off the book, followed by plenty of other familiar luminaries, from Stieglitz to Ansel Adams to Henri Cartier-Bresson to Diane Arbus and Nan Goldin. Surprises include Max Ernst and Ren? Crevel's Mr. Knife Miss Fork, Bauhaus "phenom" Leszli Moholy-Nagy's Malerei Fotografie Film, and Gilles Peress's Telex Iran, to name a few. Essays by six scholars, artists and critics round out this unusual, beautifully produced collection. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved