The series offers a complete, up-to-date survey of photography through an original and transversal analysis. This special edition gathers four volumes in an exclusive slipcase inspired by a masterpiece that significantly marked the history of photography. The books provide an extraordinary repertory of images and a vast source of information, enriched through "focus on" windows and technical information, synoptic tables and a summary glossary. The essays, by some leading international experts, investigate and analyze in chronological order the transformations of the world's photographic culture and the major figures that have shaped the development of photography. With a chronological division into four main periods (The Origins 1839-1890; A New Vision of theWorld 1891-1940; From the Press to the Museum 1941-1980; The Contemporary Era 1981-2013), this will be the most authoritative set on the subject.