Robert Frank: Mary's Book
Edited andy curated by Stuart Alexander and Kristen Gresh
Edited by Hope Stockton
Designed by: Content Object, Kimberly Varella with Gabrielle Pulgar
Casebound hardcover with facsimile, 136 pages
Publisher: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2025
ISBN: 978-0-87846-900-0
Dimensions: 9 × 12.5 in.
Production Editor: Diana Sibbald
Separations: Echelon, Los Angeles
Printing: Graphicom, Verona, Italy
Robert Frank: Mary’s Book is a book about a book—and dons a meticulously crafted facsimile of Frank’s intimate 1949 photobook made for his then-girlfriend, artist Mary Frank. Classic and restrained, the design is built on deliberate choices: a red foil stamp on the cover, inspired by the wax pencil marks used on contact sheets; carefully considered finishes for every material—paper, cloth, and varnish—each contributing to the book’s tactile precision and quiet elegance.
Using three distinct paper stocks, each section is given its own tactile and visual identity. The front and back matter—along with annotations for the facsimile—are printed on a warm buff stock, echoing the paper Frank used in his original. The essays and generously sized plates appear on a matte uncoated paper, yielding rich, velvety black reproductions. The facsimile itself is printed on uncoated stock, with each image finished by a spot-gloss coating that recalls the surface sheen of gelatin silver prints.
