Book in Review: A Child is Born

"A Child Is Born (full title: A Child Is Born: The drama of life before birth in unprecedented photographs.) A practical guide for the expectant mother is a 1965 photographic book by Swedish photojournalist Lennart Nilsson. The book consists of photographs charting the development of the human embryo and fetus from conception to birth; it is reportedly the best-selling illustrated book ever published.

Nilsson's photographs are accompanied by text, written by doctors, describing prenatal development and offering advice on antenatal care. The images were among the first of developing fetuses to reach a wide popular audience. Their reproduction in the April 30, 1965 edition of Life magazine sparked so much interest that the entire print run, of eight million copies, sold out within four days; they won Nilsson the American National Press Association Picture of the Year award, and reached a sufficiently iconic status to be chosen for launch into space aboard the NASA probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The book and its images have figured in debates about abortion and the beginning of life, and the book is the subject of a substantial body of feminist critique."

- Wikipedia on A Child is Born

 

I found this hardcover copy for 1$, last week on a mundane thrift romp with friends.
Best find I've come across in ages.

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