The Magic Image. The Genius of Photography from 1839 to the Present Day

[Cecil Beaton]


The Magic Image was a collaboration between Cecil Beaton and Gail Buckland, an American curator and author. Its expansive aim was to provide a history of photographers from Daguerre and Fox Talbot onwards. The book begins with a general introduction by Beaton. There then follows a chronological directory listing 209 photographers from William Henry Fox Talbot to Josef Koudelka. Each photographer is given a key image (occasionally more), Buckland provides biographical and technical details, and Beaton offers a creative analysis. The text concludes with various appendices – a glossary and essays by Beaton on the commercial photographers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras and the 1920s and 1930s, and on architectural, fashion, press, theatre and ballet photographers. The book’s dust jacket was designed by Barney Wan, art director at Vogue magazine.


Cecil Beaton and Gail Buckland. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. 1975. First edition. Hardback, quarto; brown cloth-bound boards, gilt title to spine, dust jacket, cardboard case. 304 pages. 450 b&w illustrations and 16 colour plates. English. 290 x 225mm. 1.8kg. 9780297768531. Near fine, in near fine dust jacket; slight shelf wear to jacket, not price-clipped; no inscriptions.