The Charlie Chaplin Archives review: a heavyweight addition to your collection

When Taschen sent me a copy of its latest book, I was overwhelmed. And so was the courier who brought it to my desk at work. Blimey, it’s big. Open the box, and you’ll discover that this is a very beautiful volume too. The Charlie Chaplin Archives is a stunning new book, which pays tribute to south London’s favourite son across 560 gorgeous pages crammed with quotes, archive imagery, classic film stills and snippets of Chaplinalia. It takes the reader step-by-step through all of Charlie Chaplin’s feature films and many of his shorter works. Along the way, you’ll find out how Chaplin made his movies, and a little bit more about Hollywood’s greatest ever rags-to-riches tale. As the foreword by editor Paul Duncan explains, Chaplin was famously secretive about the creative process, so these glimpses behind the camera are fascinating – especially when we learn how much was reworked and invented in the studio, rather than at the script stage. This is an oral history too: as much as possible, the story is told by Chaplin and his collaborators, from archive interviews and memoirs.

I wanted to do proper justice to a book that is so lavish and thorough and … majestic in scope. So I decided that the best way to review The Charlie Chaplin Archives was not with words, but with pictures.

Click on the first image to begin the slideshow …

When it arrived at the office, it weighted down the desk. Look how it dwarfs Jeremy Corbyn. Not much is bigger than Corbyn in my office.

Bringing this beauty home was a challenge – but luckily the tube was quiet so I could give it its own seat.

Having carried it so far, I had to know how much weighed. Almost a stone!

Look at that gold cover, it’s beautiful. I had to set about reviewing it straight away, because it doesn’t really fit on the shelf.

In fact this is too much book for one person to read. Two can share it at once. There are honestly two people reading this book in this picture.

David Robinson’s biography of the great man, Charlie Chaplin: His Life and Art has always been considered definitive. But this book towers over that one. So what else does it offer?

At first glance, the answer is pictures, lots and lots of pictures. Many you won’t have seen anywhere else …

And some so beautiful, or fascinating, that you will lose yourself gazing at them for hours …

The black-and-white images have been printed with silvered ink, so they shimmer in a very cinematic manner.

It’s so gorgeous, you’ll pore over it, even when the real thing is on screen a few feet away.

Plus, the first copies of the book come with a bona fide film strip from City Lights.

This book is so precious, you must handle it with care.

In fact it is looming over me while I write this review …

All in all this a stunning book, and could easily be the centrepiece of any Chaplin fan’s collection of memorabilia. Reading this is a little like being let loose in the archives yourself. But it’s not cheap, at £135 a pop. Perhaps you could put it on your Christmas list, but I hope that Santa has been working out!