"Boyhood Photos of J.H. Lartigue- The Family Album of a Gilded Age"

This is a most unusual and rare book. I found it in circulation at The Mooresville Library yesterday. I have been looking at it ever since I picked it up. Sue and I sat in the car turning the pages and laughing with the Lartigue family and their antics.

It is bound and arranged exactly as a family album would be, the photos are seperate from the pages and pasted in. The captions are descriptions of the who, what, when, where and why of each photo.

Jaques Lartigue first began to take these photos in 1901 with a camera given to him by his Dad. He was seven years old. By April 1904, only 4 months after the Wright Brothers had launched their first plane at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Jacques was in Berck and photographing the first sucessful French aero flight. He was barely 10 years old.

The times in which these photos were taken, in France, were times of invention for the whole world. Marconi and the Wright Brothers, the automobile, balloning, these were all the rage and the Lartigue family was trying it all. And photographing themselves as they crashed go-carts, motorbikes, gliders and even contrived various watercraft.

The "Belle Epouque" was a gifted time in the history of France and the Lartigue family managed to chronicle that golden period in this wonderful collection. These photos of the family engaged in tennis, swimming, bicycling, and just having fun together are priceless peeks into the past. The weekend promenades were the rage and gentleman were expected to tip their hats to aquantinces no matter how many times they passed during the days walk.

Some of the photos are historical in nature. They include early car races, sports, fashion and even swimming. But the best photos are the ones of the family engaged in so many different and bizarre activities.

The book was published in Switzerland in 1966 and is a collectible today. I looked it up on Amazon and it goes for up to $475 in used condition. There are not too many copies of this unique and beautifully crafted book available. Clearly this needs to be placed in Special Collections.

This is what I love best about our Public Libraries - that you can walk in empty handed and walk out with a treasure like this is a truly wonderful thing. That we can so easily look back on the more innocent times experienced by the family Lartigue is an absolute treasure. My special thanks to Mooresville Public Library for the loan of this most unusual book.