Susan Peterson's The Living Tradition of Maria Martinez is the classic portrait of the most celebrated of all Pueblo potters, Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso, whose black-on-black ware (developed with her husband Julian) reshaped the course of Southwestern ceramics. Peterson, who knew Maria and her family intimately, documents not only the technique but the human continuity of the work, following it through daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The book's half-title bears Maria's Tewa name, Maria Poveka, and its photographs carry the warmth of lived acquaintance.
This is a first edition, published by Kodansha International in 1977, and it is exceptionally inscribed: "With best wishes," signed by author Susan Peterson, by Maria Martinez herself, and by her granddaughter, the potter Barbara Gonzales, dated November 1977. A copy carrying the hands of three generations of this Pueblo pottery family, gathered on a single endpaper, is a documentary treasure well worth preserving.
First edition (1977), inscribed
The copyright page states 'First edition, 1977.' This is a Kodansha International book; see how Kodansha International states its first printings.
| Author | Susan Peterson |
| Publisher | Kodansha International |
| Year | 1977 |
| ISBN | 0-87011-319-4 |
| Edition | First edition (1977), inscribed |
| Signed | Yes — A multiply-inscribed presentation copy: signed by author Susan Peterson, by the potter Maria Martinez, and by Barbara Gonzales, dated November 1977, with a separate 'Maria Poveka' autograph (Maria's Tewa name). |
| Condition | Hardcover in dust jacket, light wear. |
| Topic | Pueblo pottery (San Ildefonso) |
Photographs © New Mexico Literacy Project, licensed CC BY 4.0 — reuse with attribution. This is an identification and provenance record of a real donation; no appraisal or valuation is offered.
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