Max Factor’s hints on the art of make-up.

Max Factor’s hints on the art of make-up.

Hollywood : Max Factor Make-Up Studio, 1958-1962.

9 pamphlets ; 23 x 10 cm

This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.

United States -- California -- Hollywood, -- publication place.

272975

From dealer's description: "MAX FACTOR’S HINTS ON THE ART OF MAKE-UP Factor, Max; [Shakespeare, William]. Max Factor’s Hints on the Art of Make-Up (nine booklets). Hollywood: Max Factor Make-Up Studio, 1958-1962. $250. Nine side-stapled pamphlets, measuring 9 x 3.75 inches: 12 pages each (inclusive of wrappers), except #6 (8 pages, inclusive of wrappers.) Original color pictorial wrappers; black-and-white photographs and illustrations in text; advertisements for Max Factor on rear wrappers. Occasional stray smudge. Complete set of nine booklets devoted to the art of stage make-up, produced by Hollywood cosmetics giant Max Factor, with a special focus on the plays of Shakespeare. The series is intended to help make-up artists meet the “new problems in lighting and perspective” introduced by the advent of motion pictures and modern stagecraft. The tutorials progress from basic principles to advanced techniques: the use of nose putty and tooth enamel, the application of facial hair, the creation of double chins and cauliflower ears. The later booklets turn to the depiction of racial and social stereotypes (the Indian, the Negro, the Oriental, the tramp, the spinster) and classic fictional characters like Don Quixote, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Mephistopheles. The final three booklets deal with ten popular Shakespeare plays, focusing specifically on characters that present unusual make-up challenges. For Shylock, in The Merchant of Venice, “the nose is the first feature that is applied.” Puck, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, requires “a special green greasepaint.” Othello, “tho dark-skinned, with curly hair . . . is by no means a negro.” Booklet #8 includes a contrite admission by the editors that Shakespeare’s characters “tested their ability to illustrate them,” with a hopeful plea that the charmingly crude art may “at least furnish some helpful information.” This series of nine numbered booklets was first published in the 1930s; this set is a mixed later issue. A compelling source of modern theatrical and cinematic iconography, in near-fine condition."

Ordered from Honey & Wax Booksellers, D9758, 2024-07-26, email quote

272975