This is an extraordinary book, of interest to a wide audience--anyone involved with photography, history, preservation of memories. Curtis is a Library of Congress curator of photography, and she has lovingly assembled a selection of photo albums from the collection, introducing them with an essay explaining their intimate characteristics (hand made, hand-written captions) and their enduring value. The albums themselves are presented in full-page plates, with contextual information. Included are albums made by well-known photographers and filmmakers (e.g. Dorothea Lange, Leni Riefenstahl) as well as albums on a variety of subjects (e.g. African American vaudeville, the 1915 Jerusalem locust plague). A history of the album format and an essay about restoring and preserving albums conclude the work. The volume itself (oversize: 10x12") is beautifully produced with a sewn binding. It is co-published by Aperture Foundation and the Library of Congress and is distributed by Distributed Art Publishers. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)