Ruth Benedict.
Inscribed to a Collaborator
wth a Privately Printed Essay
Mead, Margaret. Ruth Benedict. Leaders of Modern Anthropology Series. Charles Wagley, General Editor. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1974.
8vo.; tan cloth; dust-jacket, lightly rubbed. In a specially made cloth slipcase.
Together with:
One color and three black and white photograph cards, each annotated or inscribed and signed or initialed by Mead.
Together with:
Mead, Margaret. Mimeographed typescript essay in the form of a letter, entitled “Letter from Tambunam, June 1967,” three leaves, six pages.
First edition of Mead’s biography of Benedict, the first female social scientist to achieve a global profile. The first half of the volume contains Mead’s biographical portrait, “Ruth Benedict, A Humanist in Anthropology,” which is followed by excerpts from seven of Benedict’s writings: “Configurations of Culture in North America,” “Magic,” “An Introduction to Zuni Mythology,” “Primitive Freedom,” “Self-Discipline in Japanese Culture,” “The Study of Cultural Patterns in European Nations,” “Anthropology and the Humanities.” A selected bibliography of Benedict’s work concludes the book.
A presentation copy, inscribed on the front endpaper to art critic Nicolas Calas (1907-88) and his wife: For Nick and [ ] Calas from Margaret Mead. 1947-1974. In 1953 Calas co-edited Primitive Heritage: An Anthropological Anthology (Random House) with Mead. Several personal items present (detailed below) reveal a continuing friendship between Mead and Calas that likely lasted until her death in 1978.
Together with a mimeographed typescript essay in the form of a letter, entitled “Letter from Tambunam, June 1967,” three leaves, six pages, detailing her experiences among the people of a village on the Sepik River in New Guinea, where she spent eight months. She notes in her opening paragraph, “This was my third return visit to a field where I had worked long ago. The first was to Manus, in 1953, after twenty-five years; the second to Bali, in 1957, and after twenty years; and now it was to be the Iatmul on the Sepik Rvier, after twenty-nine years.” We have not traced the publication of this essay—if there was one—but it appears to have been prepared for limited private circulation. Calas, as a friend and collaborator, was one of its recipients.
A Swiss émigré naturalized in 1945, Calas wrote regularly for ArtForum, Art Magazine, and Art International, and was best known for his focus on young artists and new art movements.
Of Greek heritage, Calas studied law and writing at the University of Athens. He later associated himself with the surrealist movement in Paris during the 1930s, writing poetry in Greek that was translated into English for publication. In 1940 Calas came to the United States where he worked for the Office of War Information during World War II, and from 1963 to 1976 he was a professor of art history at Fairleigh Dickinson University. His titles include Confound the Wise and Art in the Age of Risk and Other Essays, a collection of his criticism. With his wife Elena, Calas wrote The Peggy Guggenheim Collection of Modern Art and Icons and Images of the Sixties.
Present with this inscription are the following:
Black and white photograph card, 4 x 5”, captioned in Mead’s hand “Cathy’s Homecoming to Waverly Place 1957,” inscribed on the verso, “Christmas/ Love to Nick & [ ] from Margaret.”
Black and white photograph card, 4 ¾ x 3 ½”, inscribed on the recto by Mead, “Christmas love 1959 MM & McB.” Inscribed on the verso, “Mexico D.F. and thanks so much for your sympathy—and love. Margaret.”
Black and white photograph card of Catherine and Barker cutting their wedding cake, 4 x 5 ½”; Mead’s inscription on the recto was obviously written on the original card from which this duplicate was made in a mass production, to be sent to wedding guests: “Catherine and Barker have left for the Middle East an
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