Description:

Riis Jacob Jacob Riis ALS: "How the Other Half Lives"

Bi-fold ALS, 4.25" x 5". Penned in vibrant ink to the first page, balance of pages blank. Dated "December 7, 1905", and signed by Jacob Riis as "Jacob Riis". Uneven toning, last page with adhesive remnants and small tears, else near fine.

This highly thought provoking ALS is made more so when viewed through the eyes of the author of the letter, Jacob Riis.

Jacob Riis was a photographer and writer whose book "How the Other Half Lives" led to a revolution in social reform. Riis became a police reporter, a job he enhanced with his natural photographic skills. Led by his interest in New York City's tenement life and the harsh conditions people living there endured, he used his camera as a tool to bring about change. With his 1890 book, Riis put those living conditions on display in a package that wasn't to be ignored, and his career as a social reformer was launched.

The book presented statistics about New York’s poverty and contained drawings of the photos from Riis’ unending tour of the city’s worst slums. Riis said that his motivation for presenting such a dark tableau was “that every man’s experience ought to be worth something to the community from which he drew it, no matter what that experience may be.” The photographic images he brought to the public’s eye were full of crowded tenements, dangerous slums and poignant street-scene images of a downtrodden underclass that most readers had only previously read about, at best.

Jacob's letter was penned to a "little girl" , championing her love to read and challenging her to be "the best person you ever read about …" No doubt reflecting on the impact books can have on learning; and as with his own book, impact social reform. His letter is shown in part below:

"My dear little girl,

Here is a letter for you to keep. I am very glad you asked for it and that you love to read. I don't see either how people get along without it … When you grow up try to be as good as the very best person you ever read about, or know -- as your own mama. You will succeed, I know, and there will be more happy people. The kindest greetings from your friend

Jacob A Riis".


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