Frank (Robert) The Americans, introduction by Jack Kerouac, first edition, photographic illustrations throughout, light toning to margins, ink ownership stamp and presentation inscription to front free endpapers, original cloth, minor bumping, fading and fraying to tips of spine and corners, dust-jacket, price-clipped, light browning to spine, a little chipped and creased at head and foot, still a very good copy overall, New York, Grove Press, 1959; and 2 other photo books, oblong 8vo & large 4to (3)

⁂ "In The Americans Frank has given us a vision of the United States that is as true or untrue as we care to make it. What is certain is that it changed the face of photography in the documentary mode. It struck a chord with a generation of American photographers who were not fooled by the sanctimony of The Family of Man, and it paves the way for three decades of photographs exploring the personal poetics of lived experiences. Many memorable photobooks have been derived from this mass of material. None has been more memorable, more influential, no more fully realised than Frank's masterpiece." Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, The Photobook: A History, 2004, vol.1, p.247.