Photographer, collector, diarist, and writer of books Peter Beard has fashioned his life into a work of art; the illustrated diaries he kept from a young age evolved into a serious career as an artist and earned him a central position in the international art world. He was painted by Francis Bacon, painted on by Salvador Dalí, and made diaries with Andy Warhol; he toured with Truman Capote and the Rolling Stones, created books with Jacqueline Onassis and Mick Jagger all of whom are brought to life, literally and figuratively, in his work. As a fashion photographer, he took Vogue stars like Veruschka to Africa and brought new ones most notably Iman back to the U.S. with him.

His love affair with natural history and wildlife, which informs most of his work, began when he was a teenager. He had read the books of Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) and after spending time in Kenya and befriending the author, bought a piece of land near hers. It was the early 1960s and the big game hunters led safaris, with all the colonial elements Beard had read about in Out of Africa characterizing the open life and landscape, but the times were changing. Beard witnessed the dawn of Kenya`s population explosion, which challenged finite resources and stressed animal populations including the starving elephants of Tsavo, dying by the tens of thousands in a wasteland of eaten trees. So he documented what he saw with diaries, photographs, and collages. He went against the wind in publishing unique and sometimes shocking books of these works. The corpses were laid bare; the facts were carefully written down sometimes in type, often by hand, occasionally with blood.

Peter Beard's most important collages are included, along with hundreds of smaller-scale works and diaries, magnified to show every detail from Beard's meticulous handwriting and old-master-inspired drawings to stones and bones and bits of animals pasted to the page.

Special features:

Two volumes in a cloth slipcase
Volume 1 (PB1): 200 pages of diaries and 294 pages of collages + 5 fold-out; original essay by photo critic Owen Edwards. Nearly all the diaries and collages from the original book are included, plus two new collages finished in 2007.

Volume 2 (PB2): Image index with captions for all pictures from Volume 1, personal photos and early work of the artist, interview with the artist by Steven M. L. Aronson, a facsimile reprint of Beard s 1993 handwritten essay from the sold-out first issue of Blind Spot magazine, extensive bibliography, filmography, and a list of exhibitions.
Originally published in 2006 in TASCHEN's Collector's Edition series, the book sold out instantly upon publication and earned accolades from publications the world over. The book you couldn't get your hands on is finally available in bookstores everywhere, and at a nice price!

Customer Rating:
Summary: wonderful!
Comment: Simply wonderful! Absolutely the best book of my huge collection. I love beard's work and this is the definitive expession of this incredible artist. Highly recommended

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Rich, Incredible Book full of an Incredible Life!
Comment: This is a truly impressive book filled with incredible texture and examples of Peter Beard's prolific handmade books and journals. It's very inspiring to artists and writers, and the reproductions are excellent. It is an amazing value for the money. It arrived in perfect condition, two volumes tucked into a rich blue cloth slipcase. It looks like it should cost over $100 dollars.

Frankly, it is actually exhausting to page through the book, so filled with detail, life, surprises and glimpses of the many celebrity guests that spent time with Peter (Rolling Stones, Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, various supermodels) that it's best to take it in small doses and treat each visit as a little treat!

I highly recommend this book as an amazing gift-- or better yet, keep it for yourself!
Biggest lesson: fling yourself out there and lead the most incredible life possible.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: What a waste
Comment: Peter Beard. A beautiful book and marvelous potential wasted. It's been a while since I've flipped through something so obviously self-indulgent and pretentious. Documenting the obliteration of the wildlife of Africa he glibly scrawls phone numbers and random words such as cellophane over images that left me, frankly, chilled to the bone. Was that Mr. Beards intent? I hardly think so. Instead I was left with the impression that he was, well, trying to impress his detachment.

If I had a kabillion dollars to my name and grew up feeling nothing (do I really need to break that one down?) I would probably sing the praises of this book, as it is...

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Customer Rating:
Summary: First-Rate Production Quality
Comment: About a decade ago I saw a book which showed a photo of a guy on the cover who was half-way consumed by an alligator. His legs were entirely inside the gator, and yet the uneaten upper-half of the man was thoughtfully writing in a journal of some sort. It was a very bizarre image. It was a self-portrait of Peter Beard, an American who has lived in Africa for most of his adult life. He has documented the decline of African wildlife and habitat with his Leica for the past several decades, and he has enhanced his time there by partying with a compelling variety of super models who come to visit him at his compound and by creating these fabulous ornamental montage-journals. I see him as a neat amalgam of the attributes of Hunter S. Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, and David Douglas Duncan (the photo journalist), and perhaps a little Warhol thrown in as well. He is truly a novel and interesting character. I read the book I just mentioned, and I was saddened to hear a few years later that Mr. Beard was stomped on by a mad elephant. Apparently, though, he is still alive and going strong.

Well, about a year ago, my favorite book publisher, Taschen, put out a super high-end set about Beard. It was extremely expensive, and I was bummed that I could not justify purchasing it. However, Taschen took mercy on us and produced this edition at a bargain price. I was expecting something solid and nice, but let me assure you this is way beyond that. This set is easily of collectable quality and design. Cloth covered hard-backs with cloth covered slip-case, gilt imprints, fold-out pages, premium-grade paper and printing....just incredible. I really don't know how they did a production of this quality at this price point, and I don't know how the super premium edition could have been any better. This is down-right ominous.

If you are interested in photography, wild life, Africa, travel, environmental causes, Peter Beard, journalism, photo journalism, or premium quality books, any of those, you will definitely want this for your collection. I have bought several high-end books in the last year (the Taschen Vanessa del Rio volume, the deluxe Hunter S. Thompson retrospective, the Sin City deluxe sets, etc.) and none of them match this for certified beauty of production. The imagery is narcotically relaxing and Beard is a fascinating and roguish subject. He's kind of a blue-blood, but he is tough as nails, and he still knows how to have fun and live it up. I like rebels who don't get caught up in self-righteous austerity and who pursue their work with a cocktail in one hand, a Leica in the other, and a beautfiful woman back at camp tending the fire, or scenarios basically resembling that. Work hard, play hard....that's the key, not merely moderation. Beard has saying I've always remembered, although I might not quote it perfectly: "A beautiful woman is the last uncorrupted manifestation of nature that we have left on Earth."

This book captures his spirit and legacy wonderfully. Thanks again, Taschen.

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