Books & Prints July 2018

Books & Prints July 2018

sims reed rare books

ALBERS, Josef. Interaction of Color. New Haven & London. Yale University Press.

1963.

2 vols. Large 4to. pp. 80 (text); 48 (commentary). 80 silk-screened folders, many with flaps, cut-out overlays and other variables. Text in full publisher's cloth, plates in cloth drop-back box, cloth slipcase.

First edition of Albers’ masterpiece on colour theory.

In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is—as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art. In order to use color effectively it is necessary to recognize that color deceives continually. (Josef Albers) £4,000

ALBERS, Josef. Wißmann, Jürgen. Albers. Einfuhrung von Jürgen Wißmann.

Recklinghausen. Verlag Aurel Bongers. 1977.

Oblong 4to. (232 x 250 mm). [26 leaves + additional fold-out; pp. 53]. Title with copyright and publication details verso, three leaves with text, 'Homages to the Square als Wechselwirkung der Farbe' and 9 colour silkscreen plates recto only on doubled leaves, three leaves with text, 'Strukturale Konstellationen als Mehrdeutigkeit der Linie' and 5 leaves with 9 reproductions of works by Albers recto and verso, 3 leaves with text 'Josef Albers Gedichte und Statements', leaf with 'Josef Albers Lebensdaten', leaf with 'Ehrungen' recto and 'Verzeichnis der angebildeten Werke' verso and final leaf with folding plate with monochrome reproduction photographs. Original publisher's glossy white boards, titles in black to front cover and spine.

An excellent copy of this study of Josef Albers illustrated with silkscreen plates.

The silkscreen plates, all printed recto only on doubled leaves, are reproductions of works from Albers' famous Homage to the Square series from the collection (with the exception of Protected Blue) of the Westfälischen Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte; the reproductions are from Albers' Transformation eines Schemas and Strukturalle Konstellationen series. The silkscreen plates include the following: - Study to Homage to the Square - R-I d-5, 1969.

- Homage to the Square - R-III a-4, 1968.

- Study to Homage to the Square - blue + darkgreen with 2 reds, 1955.

- Homage to the Square - Protected Blue, 1957.

- Homage to the Square - Renewed Hope, 1962.

- Homage to the Square - Grisaille and Patina, 1965.

- Study to Homage to the Square - La Tehuana, 1951 - 1956.

- Study to Homage to the Square - Yes Sir, 1955.

- Homage to the Square - Selected, 1959.

The screenprints were printed by Trautwein KG Recklinghausen.

£1,500

BELLMER / ZURN. Zürn, Unica. Oracles et Spectacles. Quatorze Poèmes - Anagrammes et Huit Eaux-Fortes. Paris. Editions Georges Visat. 1967.

Small folio. (326 x 262 mm). [14 bifolia: 28 leaves + 9 leaves (suite); pp. 45, (i), (i)].

Half-title with note by Visat verso, signed engraving by Bellmer as frontispiece, printed title, leaf with Waldberg’s introduction ‘Unica et Sa Propriété’, leaf with Ruth Henry’s German translation of the same, 7 leaves with Zürn’s anagrammatic verse recto and verso (14 poems) illustrated with 8 original engravings by Zürn each signed ‘Unica’ in pencil at lower right, leaf with Bellmer’s explanatory text in French, leaf with the same in German and final leaf with justification and achevé d’imprimer; also included in an additional wrapper is the suite of engravings on Japon Hosegawa. Loose as issued in original publisher’s wrappers with title in blind to front cover, black cloth chemise with gilt title to spine and matching slipcase.

Unica Zürn’s anagrammatic verse illustrated with her own engravings and Bellmer’s engraved frontispiece together with the additional signed suite.

From the edition limited to 135 copies (including 15 hors commerce / réservés aux collaborateurs) on grand vélin de Rives with each engraving signed and with the additional signed suite of plates on Japon Hosegawa.

With an introduction by Patrick Waldberg concerning Zürn and her work and with Bellmer’s post-scriptum analysing the anagram as a poetic form - he viewed it in the same sense as his work with his poupées, i.e. as an articulative / disarticulative process - together with his frontispiece. The work had its genesis (see Visat’s explanatory text below) in Zürn’s desire to create engravings (her earlier work was illustrated with reproductions of her drawings), a process Visat and presumably Bellmer wished to encourage, and the idea was that she should provide illustration for her poetic work composed largely in the 1950s. Both Bellmer’s and Zürn’s illustrations, together with the additional suite, all printed on Georges Visat’s presses à bras are signed in pencil.

Ce petit livre est né d’une amitié. En juillet 1966, Unica Zürn hospitalisée à Maison Blanche manifesta le désir de graver. Je lui préparais des cuivres et en assurais la mosrure à l’eau-forte. Quelques mois plus tard au cours d’une rencontre avec Madame Ruth Henry, je pris connaissance des anagrammes d’Unica. L’univers d’Unica peut être sujet à controverses, pour moi il importait de favoriser sa confidence. (Georges Visat’s explanatory note). £3,500

BELLMER, Hans. Hugnet, Georges. Oeillades Ciselées en Branche. Paris. Editions Jeanne Bucher. 1939.

12mo. (134 x 95 mm). [26 unnumbered leaves]. Leaf with half-title recto and colour frontispiece by Bellmer verso, printed title with calligraphic text after Hugnet, printed dedication ‘à Germaine / Hugnet / à Margarete / Bellmer’ verso in black and Hugnet’s text recto and verso illustrated with 24 further colour illustrations (7 full-page, 10 halfpage and 7 smaller or marginal vignettes), final leaf with justification; Hans Bellmer’s 25 illustrations are printed in héliogravure with colouring by hand after his drawings, Hugnet’s text is also printed in héliogravure after his manuscript; some minor foxing to endleaves, two gatherings unopened. Original publisher’s pink paper wrappers with Yapp edges, covers with applied white lace paper.

Hans Bellmer’s collaboration with Georges Hugnet, and his first illustrated book.

From the edition limited to 230 copies, with this one of 200 on Rives numbered in pencil.

Although Bellmer had illustrated books before Oeillades Ciselées en Branche, those, such as the notoriously scarce Die Puppe (1934) and the later French version La Poupée (1936), were illustrated with original photographs. Bellmer had worked as a draughtsman for his own advertising agency and his technical virtuosity combined with his inspirational predilections produced a highly original body of illustration here in heliogravure - for Hugnet’s erotic text. In the words of Pierre Seghers, the poet and publisher, the text and illustration, as well as the design of the book, combined to produce un petit livre absolument parfait.

The binding of the book, very fragile with its patterned lace over pink paper, is here in excellent condition; the endpapers and terminal blank leaf have some spotting.

‘Oeillades Ciselées en Branche’ est le 23e livre édité par Jeanne Bucher, le second de Georges Hugnet après ‘La Septième Face du Dé’ en 1936 ... Ce fut aussi le premier livre illustré par Hans Bellmer ... Le texte est un poème en prose sur le thème des jeunes filles adolescentes, s’articulant avec les images érotiques de Bellmer, et dont le titre serait dû à une amie des auteurs, qui venait de voir à un étal des raisins ‘ciselés en branches’, ce qui permet au mieux de conserver leur parfum ... Dans ‘Oeillades Ciselées en Branche’, on assiste par exemple à des fascinantes transformations où, selon le point de vue, les fesses peuvent être des seins et vice-versa. L’extraordinaire habileté de Bellmer, hérité du dessin technique de ses études d’ingénieur, sert parfaitement cet éroticisme si particulier ...

‘Oeillades Ciselées en Branche’ eut un grand succès auprès des amateurs, que résume la lettre que Pierre Seghers écrivait à Jeanne Bucher en 1940, en citant ‘la parfaite réussite

avec le peintre ... et je tiens à posséder ce petit livre absolument parfaite’. (de Parallèlement à Chanson Complète).

Les gravures en couleur de Bellmer, placées en hors texte ou utilisant les éspaces libres dans le texte, proposent des variations sur le thème de la métamorphose du corps feminin associé à celui du double. Pantins désarticulés ou silhouettes graciles aux membres parfois démesurés, des jeunes filles évoluent légèrement au fil des pages, dessinées avec une finesse arachnéenne par Bellmer dont c’est l’une des plus parfaites réussités. (Bibliothèque Erotique Gerard Nordmann).

[From Manet to Hockney 107; see ‘de Parallèlement à Chanson Complète’, pp. 409 417; see lot 180 in the sale Bibliothèque Erotique Gerard Nordmann, Christie’s, 20]. £5,500 BELLMER. Bataille, Georges. Madame Edwarda. Paris. Les Editions Georges Visat. 1965.

Folio. (384 x 252 mm). [16 bifolia; pp. 47, (i), (i), (i)]. Leaf with half-title and ‘exemplaire’ with number verso, leaf with Bellmer’s signed engraving as frontispiece verso, printed title in red and black, two leaves with introductory texts recto and Bataille’s text illustrated with 10 signed engravings, leaf with justification and achevé d’imprimer with additional signed vignette engraving; 12 original copper engravings by Bellmer, each signed in pencil at lower right. Loose as issued in original publisher’s cream wrappers with title to spine in black, magenta silk moiré chemise with gilt title to spine and matching slipcase.

Hans Bellmer illustrating Georges Bataille’s Madame Edwarda.

From the edition limited to 167 numbered copies (including 17 hors commerce numbered in Roman numerals for the collaborateurs et au dépôt légal) on vélin de Rives, with this one of 150 numbered in Hindu-Arabic numerals with 12 original signed engravings by Hans Bellmer.

Written by Georges Bataille during the German occupation, Madame Edwarda was first published under the pseudonym Pierre Angélique in 1941; a revised second edition was illustrated by Fautrier (who was credited pseudonymously as Jean Perdu) and published in 1945. Bellmer created the engravings, which were printed on les presses à bras des éditions Georges Visat, in 1955 for an edition - the third - of Georges Bataille’s text published by Jean-Jacques Pauvert but they remained unpublished until the present edition of 1965; the typography, after Bellmer’s maquette, was by Fequet et Baudier. £7,500

BLAKE, William. Illustrations to Dante’s Divine Comedy. (London). (Dixon & Ross for John Linnell). (1838.)

Oblong folio. (c.400 x 550 mm). Seven engraved plates by William Blake on chine appliqué / laid India on thick wove backing sheets; sheet size: each c.398 x 546 mm. Loose as issued.

A very scarce complete set of William Blake's unfinished Illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy.

Blake's engravings for Illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy were based on a series of watercolours commissioned by John Linnell in around 1824. Over the course of Blake's remaining years, these drawings - he completed 102 for the project - and the present engravings derived from them, occupied Blake, although the engravings, begun in 1826, were left unfinished at his death in 1827. Blake had pulled proofs of several of the engravings (these are now in the British Museum, the Fitzwilliam and elsewhere) but it was not until the purchase of the engraving plates themselves by John Linnell that an edition was published, printed by Dixon and Ross in 1838.

Various limitations have been suggested for that initial printing: Keynes suggests 120 sets of the plates (he may have been giving the figure for the combined issue - see below), Bentley (citing the printers' daybook) gives 55 as the number of sets issued, while Essick refines the figure further (also using the printers' daybook) to 38 sets, an initial 25 sets printed on September 26th and a further 13 sets on October 2nd, all on chine appliqué (or laid India). To confuse matters further, an additional 50 sets of the plates, also on chine appliqué, were printed c.1892 by Holdgate Bros., again for the Linnell family; several facsimiles of the plates were issued in the 20th century. The Linnell family, in the guise of John Linnell's sons William and James, were keen to make the 1892 impressions as close to the earlier versions as possible and chose paper and printing technique accordingly. As a result of this, it appears a virtual impossibilty to attribute the plates with any definition to one printing or another. The traditional idea that Whatman paper was used only for the first printing is undermined by a letter from William Linnell in 1892 that Whatman drawing paper is the nearest in quality and appearance to the old prints.

The seven engravings were all left unfinished upon Blake's death in 1827 and the only contemporary impressions are a few progress proofs … Blake began the watercolour drawings for Dante at least as early as 1825, but the first indication that he had made progress upon the engravings is to be found in a letter to Linnell of February, 1827, and in one of his last letters: on 25 April 1827 he wrote that he had 'Proved the Six Plates, & reduced the Fighting devils ready for the Copper’. (Bindman).

In the Dante plates, Blake puts into practice more fully than elsewhere his contention that 'Engraving is drawing in Copper & Nothing Else'. (Robert Essick).

The plates are titled as follows: - The Circle of the Lustful: Paolo and Francesca. (Inferno, Canto V).

- The Circle of the Corrupt Officials: the Devils Tormenting Ciampolo. (Inferno, Canto XXII).

- The Circle of the Corrupt Officials: the Devils Mauling Each Other. (Inferno, Canto XXII).

- The Circle of the Thieves: Agnolo Brunelleschi Attacked by a Six-Footed Serpent.

(Inferno, Canto XXV).

- The Circle of the Thieves: Buoso Donati Attacked by the Serpent. (Inferno, canto XXV).

- The Circle of the Falsifiers: Dante and Virgil Covering their Noses because of the Stench. (Inferno, Canto XXIX).

- The Circle of the Traitors: Dante's Foot Striking Bocca degli Abbate. (Inferno, Canto XXXII).

[Bindman 647- 653; see Robert N. Essick's 'The Printing of Blake's Dante Engravings', 1990]. ÂŁ60,000

BROODTHAERS, Marcel. A Voyage on the North Sea. London. Petersburg Press.

1973.

Oblong 12mo. (151 x 177 mm). [19 unopened doubled leaves]. Leaf with title with monochrome photographic vignette, 38 leaves with 77 colour or monochrome plates or vignettes recto and verso (including that for the title), final leaf verso with Broodthaers’ warning against cutting; text and images printed on unopened doubled leaves. Original publisher’s glossy white wrappers, titles and vignette in black to front and rear covers, printed text (see below) to inner front cover, title and vignette photograph to inner rear cover.

A good copy of the English edition of Marcel Broodthaers’ legendary artist book.

From the English language edition limited to 1,100 copies (including 100 édition de tête examples).

This artist book, published to accompany a film of the same name, combines details from a 19th century painting of a fleet of fishing vessels and a photograph of a 20th century sailing boat, delivering a typically befuddling narrative. Printed on unopened doubled leaves, Broodthaers includes a warning text (to the inner front cover and to the final leaf verso) advising against opening the pages with a knife. As is usual with Broodthaers, the two warnings differ, as do the two versions of the title page (one in traditional situation, the second to the rear inner cover) and the front and rear covers.

The first warning, opens with the words Before cutting the pages the reader had better beware of the knife he will be wielding for the purpose before suggesting that the knife itself may turn into an indefinite sky and It is up to the attentive reader to find out what devilish motive inspired this book’s publication; the first text concludes These pages must not be cut. Broodthaers’ second text opens with the same words but continues in a different vein, suggesting that the knife used may turn into a piece of office equipment, the admonition These pages must not be cut follows here rather than at the end and in this iteration, Broodthaers’ book has ceased to be devilish (the word is omitted).

I have bought the painted canvas, which is the subject of this little book, in a store in Paris, in the rue Jacob, a touristy place destined to become even more famous than the ‘butte de Monmartre.’ I had to pay quite a price for it, even though it isn’t signed.

(Marcel Broodthaers referring to the painting in the present work).

[Marcel Broodthaers - Complete Graphic Work & Books 39; Ceuleers 40].

£550

BROODTHAERS, Marcel. Un Voyage en Mer du Nord. Brussels. Hossmann (in Association with Petersburg Press). 1973.

Oblong 12mo. (150 x 177 mm). [19 unopened doubled leaves]. Leaf with title with monochrome photographic vignette, 38 leaves with 77 colour or monochrome plates or vignettes recto and verso (including that for the title), final leaf verso with Broodthaers’ warning against cutting; text and images printed on unopened doubled leaves. Original publisher’s glossy white wrappers, titles and vignette in black to front and rear covers, printed text to inner front cover, title and vignette photograph to inner rear cover.

An excellent copy of the French version of Marcel Broodthaers’ legendary artist book.

From the French language edition limited to 1,010 copies (including 10 édition de tête examples).

[Marcel Broodthaers - Complete Graphic Work & Books 39; Ceuleers 40].

£450

BROODTHAERS, Marcel. Eine Reise auf der Nordsee. Cologne. Verlag M. Dumont Schauberg ((in Association with Petersburg Press). 1973.

Oblong 12mo. (149 x 176 mm). [19 unopened doubled leaves]. Leaf with title with monochrome photographic vignette, 38 leaves with 77 colour or monochrome plates or vignettes recto and verso (including that for the title), final leaf verso with Broodthaers’ warning against cutting; text and images printed on unopened doubled leaves. Original publisher’s glossy white wrappers, titles and vignette in black to front and rear covers, printed text to inner front cover, title and vignette photograph to inner rear cover, small stain to lower corner of front cover, small area of creasing to lower corner of rear cover.

The German version of Marcel Broodthaers’ legendary artist book.

From the German language edition limited to 1,000 copies.

[Marcel Broodthaers - Complete Graphic Work & Books 39; Ceuleers 40].

£400

BUREN, Daniel. Passage. Macerata. Edizione Artestudio. 1972.

7 vols. Square folio. (522 x 522 mm). [Blank leaf, title, contents, 32 leaves (Bleu), 39 leaves (Jaune), 25 leaves (Noir), 29 leaves (Orange), 26 leaves (Rouge), 31 leaves (Vert), 33 leaves (Violet), justification and final blank leaf]. Each vol. with printed title, list of contents and justification printed recto only and a varying number of leaves (see above) each with printed leaf number verso with offset printed colour stripes (width 88 mm) showing the varying colour compositions for each of the represented colours (‘Bleu’, ‘Jaune’, ‘Noir’, ‘Orange’, ‘Rouge’, ‘Vert’ and ‘Violet’). Original publisher’s white paper wrappers, printed title to front wrapper of each vol., spines with title, publisher and artist, loose as issued in original cream board slipcase.

Daniel Buren’s 1972 artist’s book Passage concerning the decomposition or recomposition of seven colours.

From the edition limited to 110 unnumbered copies (including ten artist’s proofs).

Buren’s multilingual punning title refers to the number of times that each sheet has been passed through the press, the act of the viewer’s journey through each volume, and links, also, with his ongoing concern with the use of and movement through public and private space.

Daniel Buren worked persistently on the provocation and subversion of the exhibition of art. (Printed Matter, Die Sammlung Marzona). ... Buren’s Passage ... is seven large bound volumes in a slipcase, all beautifully made.

Each volume is a different color and the first page of each has been printed, or passed through the press once. The second pages have been passed through twice, and so forth, until at the end of the volume, the color saturation on the stripes is quite intense. At the start of the book the colors are extremely weak - barely distinguishable from the white of the page between the stripes. In a completely different spirit, this is a work which has been worked out very thoughtfully and with great finesse ... (Art-Rite 14, 1976).

[Buren C-64; Krefeld Künstler: Bücher I, 44:4; Tehran 42].

£15,000

BUREN, Daniel. Césaire, Aimé. Cahier d’un Retour au Pays Natal. Paris. Editions du Solstice. 2004.

Folio. (523 x 348 mm). pp. xxxiii + colophon. With 29 screenprinted leaves by Daniel Buren, each leaf printed double-sided, the majority with geometric cut-out sections.

Original publisher’s white cloth, with Buren’s printed black vertical stripes, matching slipcase with yellow stripes.

Daniel Buren’s playful artist book.

From the edition limited to 140 copies on velin BFK de Rives signed on the colophon by Césaire and with Buren’s specially designed blindstamp, with this one of 100 printed for ‘les sociétaires’; the remaining copies were hors commerce.

The work is rare in commerce as each copy was printed for a specific individual. £10,000

DUBUFFET. Labonfam abeber par inbo nom. (Paris). By the artist. 1951.

4to. [18 unnumbered leaves]. Contents: (endpaper of different paper); blank leaf; lithograph title, frontispiece verso; lithograph holographic phonetic text after Dubuffet and five full-page monochrome lithographs printed recto and verso; limitation leaf; leaf with achevé d’imprimer (‘achve din prime’); 2 blank leaves; (endpaper of different paper). Illustrated with six monochrome lithographs by Dubuffet. Original publisher’s printed wrappers with lettering by Dubuffet.

A beautiful copy of Dubuffet’s earliest foray into erotic publications.

From the edition limited to 50 copies on papier d’Indochine (tire a sinkant eg zampler).

The publication is written in Dubuffet’s characteristic phonetic nonsense text. In the same manner as the two other works that with this form a trilogy (Ler dla canpane and An vouaiage par un ninbesil avec de zimaje), Dubuffet is here the author, artist and publisher.

Labonfam Abeber appartient à une sorte d’écrits dont l’idée n’a cessé de captiver Jean Dubuffet en raison de l’analogie qu’il leur découvre avec l’esprit de ses peintures: les textes en jargon transcrits en orthographe phonétique ... le texte de Labonfam Abeber est fondé sur la volonté de ne recourir qu’aux paroles les plus sottes pour les amener - par des manipulations orthographiques notamment - à se transformer en formules d’office magique sorties de quelque secrète langue sacrée: manière de messe noire de l’érotisme.

(Max Loreau).

[Webel 304 - 329; Desalmand II; see Loreau V, 179 - 189].

£48,000

DUBUFFET, Jean. Le Coeur en fête. Poèmes de Jacques Berne. Gourdon. Editions Dominique Bedou. 1984.

8vo. (218 x 148 mm). [36 leaves + inserted leaf with frontispiece; pp. 64, (iii)]. Half-title, printed title and Berne’s verses illustrated with 7 full-page monochrome illustrations

by Dubuffet (plus that for the wrapper), leaf with ‘Table des Matières’, final leaf with achevé d’imprimer and justification. Loose as issued in original publisher’s printed wrappers with flaps, titles in red and monochrome illustration by Dubuffet to front cover.

A good copy from the very limited edition of Dubuffet’s Le Coeur en fete, signed

by Berne.

Edition of 11 numbered copies on vélin d’Arches including one hors commerce; copy numbered ‘3 / 10’ and signed by Berne in ink to the justification and with Dubuffet’s colour lithograph frontispiece numbered and initialled ‘J. D. 83’.

33 poèmes illustrés de 8 dessins de Jean Dubuffet, au stylo feutre noir, dont l’une orne la couverture ... clichés au trait sur papier offset par Bastin-Gouet à Bort-les-Orgues ...

(Webel, pg. 200).

[Webel II, 1446 - 1454; see pp. 200 - 201].

£4,500

DUBUFFET, Jean. Il y a. Poèmes de Jacques Berne. Montpellier. Editions Fata Morgana. 1979.

Folio. (374 x 274 mm). [20 unnumbered leaves]. Half-title, printed title, frontispiece and 12 monochrome screenprints by Dubuffet composed of 6 double-page plates, the whole book printed as a leporello. (Sheet size: 348 x 254 mm). Loosely inserted into original publisher’s printed wrapper, front cover with elaborate screenprint monochrome illustration and titles by Dubuffet, title in black to spine, original grey cloth box with screenprint illustration pasted to front cover and title to spine.

Dubuffet’s Il y a, signed by Dubuffet and Berne.

Edition of 99 copies on vélin d’Arches including 10 édition de tête copies with a suite and 19 hors commerce numbered in Roman numerals; copy numbered ‘20’ in black ink and signed by Dubuffet and Berne in pencil to the justification.

The screenprints were printed by Michael Kizlik and J. J. de Broutelles in Paris and the typography by l’Imprimerie de la Charité in Montpellier.

[Webel II, 1244 - 1258; see pp. 148 - 151].

£5,500

DUCHAMP, Marcel. From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Selavy (The Box in a Valise). (La Boîte-en-Valise). Paris. Marcel Duchamp. 1941 - 1958.

Folio. (400 x 376 x 92 mm). 68 miniature replicas and colour reproductions of works by Marcel Duchamp inserted or placed loosely as issued in the original grey coarse-weave cloth box.

A very scarce copy of Marcel Duchamp’s La Boîte-en-Valise with a triple presentation from Duchamp.

From the Series C issued in Paris in 1958, limited to 30 unnumbered copies, and assembled by Iliazd (Ilia Zdanevitch); this edition C is usually unsigned but this example has three signed presentations from Duchamp, two dated 1958 (the year this issue was assembled), on the upper cover of the contents in white paint: To Art Buchwald / Marcel Duchamp / Cordialement / 1958, to the inserted bifolium with a colour reproduction of Duchamp’s Rotorelief / Disque Optique in blue ink: pour Art Buchwald / Cordialement / Marcel Duchamp / 1958 and to the sheet reproducing the Cimetière des Uniformes et Livrées in blue ink: To Buchwald / Art Marcel Duchamp.

Arthur Art Buchwald (1925 - 2007) was an American humourist, journalist and satirist best known for his long-running syndicated column for The Washington Post in which he lampooned the rich, the famous, the political classes and indeed anyone he thought worthy of ridicule. Buchwald won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982.

Series A and B were issued, firstly, in Paris, just before Duchamp’s departure for New York, but the majority issued when Duchamp had arrived in New York. There were 20 de luxe copies of Edition A and between 60 - 75 unnumbered boxes for edition B (approx. 25 - 35 were issued in leather valises) which were assembled during the war years by Joseph Cornell, Xenia Cage, Patricia Matta Kane, and others. Series A was issued between 1941 and 1949; series B was issued between 1941 and 1954.

Series C - as for the present example - was issued in Paris in an of edition of 30 copies assembled by Iliazd: For this series, Duchamp added a label for the Arensberg Collection (which had entered the Philadelphia Museum of Art collection in 1950) pasted into a black folder. He also included new castings of the miniature, three-dimensional reproduction of Fountain, 1917. These castings, however, were not as successful as those incorporated in the Series B, New York edition. Duchamp sent the contents for this edition to Paris from New York in 1956. The French Customs refused to recognise them as works of art and allowed them to be reimported as samples. (Schwarz).

Series D was issued in 1961 in 30 examples and assembled by Jacqueline Matisse Monnier. Series E was issued in 1963 in an edition of 30, unnumbered, and also

assembled by Jacqueline Matisse Monnier, and enclosed in a dark green imitation leather valise. Series F was issued by Arturo Schwarz in 1966 in an edition of 75 in red leather valises. Series G was also issued by Arturo Schwarz in an edition of 47 between 1966 and March 1971.

Duchamp worked for five years (1935 - 40) in Paris on the material for his ‘portable Museum’ assembling photographs and supervising colour reproductions of his works ...

A subscription bulletin issued in Paris in 1940 announced the publication date of this item as January 1, 1941. However, because of the war (Paris had fallen to the Germans in June 1940), Duchamp assembled most of the items a few months later, in New York, after having smuggled the elements separately out of Occupied France in the course of several trips which he made armed with a cheese merchant’s identity card ... In an interview with James Johnson Sweeney, Duchamp explained his reasons for The Box in a Valise: ‘It was a new form of expression for me. Instead of painting something the idea was to reproduce the paintings that I loved so much in miniature. I didn’t know how to do it. I thought of a book, but I didn’t like that idea. Then I thought of the idea of a box in which all my works would be mounted like in a small museum, a portable museum, so to speak, and here it is in this valise.

Characteristically, observed Robert Lebel, one year before the war Duchamp foresaw that he must pack his bags in as small a space as possible ... (Schwarz).

[Schwarz 484].

P. O. A.

ERNST, Max. Breton, André. Le Chateau étoilé. Paris. Editions Albert Skira.

1936.

Small folio. (332 x 256 mm). [12 leaves including initial and terminal blanks]. Leaf with printed title, leaf with Max Ernst’s original colour frottage as frontispiece, eight leaves with Breton’s text recto and monochrome reproduction of a frottage by Ernst verso each on glossy paper and tipped-in and with printed caption at lower left, final leaf with justification. Original publisher’s blue cloth, Ernst’s original frottage repeated in reverse in gilt on front cover.

The scarce offprint of Le Château Etoilé from Minotaure with Max Ernst’s superb original colour frottage.

From the edition limited to 55 copies, with this one of 50 on vélin d’Auvergne signed and numbered by Breton and with Max Ernst’s original colour frottage signed and numbered in pencil from the edition of 50; 5 hors commerce copies - not announced on the justification - were also issued.

Le Château Etoilé was issued as an offprint from Albert Skira’s periodical Minotaure (issue number 8 also from 1936) with text by Breton, the fifth chapter of his novel L’Amour Fou which was published in complete form the following year by the N. R. F. Le technique du frottage original en couleurs fut utilisée par Max Ernst la même année pour illustrer ‘Je Sublime’ de Benjamin Péret. Ce procédé qui permet d’obtenir la production de multiples dont chacun est en quelque sorte unique par la répartition des couleurs, rejoint la volonté de ‘transmutation’ de l’imaginaire par Breton, faisant fusionner le rêve et la réalité en un troisième terme à la fois unique, intime et universel.

(Bibliothèque d’un Grand Amateur Européen).

[Spies / Leppien 17A; Surrealist Prints 52; see the catalogue ‘Bibliothèque d’un Grand Amateur Européen’, Christie’s, 2006]. £25,000

GIACOMETTI. Bouchet, André du. Le Moteur Blanc. Paris. G[uy]. L[évis].

M[ano]. 1956.

8vo. (198 x 144 mm). [26 leaves]. Half-title with copyright verso, leaf with Giacometti’s signed original etching as frontispiece verso, printed title and du Bouchet’s verse, leaf with ‘Table’ recto and justification verso. Original publisher’s white paper wrappers with titles to front cover and spine in black.

An excellent copy of Le Moteur Blanc with Giacometti’s signed etching as frontispiece.

From the edition limited to 450 numbered copies, with this one of 50 from the édition de tête on vélin d’Arches with Giacometti’s signed etching as frontispiece numbered from the edition of 50.

[Lust 97].

£7,500

GIACOMETTI. Leiris, Michel. Vivantes Cendres, Innommées. Paris. Jean Hugues. 1961.

Small folio. (330 x 254 mm). [18 bifolia; pp. 58, (ii), (i)]. Half-title, original etched frontispiece portrait of Leiris by Giacometti, printed title and Leiris’ verse illustrated with 12 original etchings by Giacometti, final leaf with justification; sheet size: 325 x 250 mm. Loose as issued in original publisher’s printed wrappers, with titles to front cover in black.

Giacometti’s Vivantes Cendres, Innommées, signed by Giacometti and Michel Leiris.

From the edition limited to 100 numbered copies on vélin de Rives, with this one of 90 numbered in Arabic numerals, signed in pencil by Giacometti and Leiris and numbered and initalled by the publisher Jean Hugues.

It was said that Giacometti was never completely at ease with the medium of intaglio printmaking, but one would never know that from the confidence and artistry displayed in these thirteen etchings. Giacometti’s genius lay in his ability to reduce his subject to the lines of artistic necessity, leaving nothing in excess. Like twisted wire filling a void, his line is thin yet strong, calligraphic yet descriptive. (Logan Collection).

[Lust 108 - 120; Logan 225].

£17,500

GOJOWCZYK, Hubertus. Kleiner Schmetterling. (Small Butterfly). (Düsseldorf).

1970.

(110 x 160 x 120 mm). Book object / multiple using pages excised from a book cut into the shape of a butterfly and mounted via a screw to a wooden base.

An early book object / multiple by Hubertus Gojowczyk.

From the edition limited to 10 copies, each signed, dated and numbered by Gojowczyk in black ink.

To create his book object, Gojowcyk has removed pages 85 - 110 from volume III of William Neumann’s Die Componisten der Neueren Zeit (Cassel, Ernst Balde, 1856) the text may or very well may not be of significance - which he has cut into the shape of a butterfly (hence Gojowczyk’s title) with outspread wings (the work is signed on the left-hand wing and dated on the right-hand wing), the leaves pasted to a card backing (the work is numbered on this backing) and secured by a screw through the thorax of the insect to the wooden base below.

Hubertus Gojowczyk (born 1943) completed his studies in Düsseldorf (where this work was likely produced) at the Kunstakademie after time at university in Koblenz.

At the Kunstakademie Gojowczyk worked with Josef Beuys, Rolf Sackenheim and Dieter Roth; it was Roth, another major book artist, who had a profound effect on Gojowczyk, inspiring his subsequent oeuvre.

Since 1968 Gojowczyk has created more than 900 book objects or works that take as their starting point the form or content of a book. The work presented here, a sculptural object constructed from the shaped pages of a nineteenth-century book, represents an early endeavour by Gojowczyk. Gojowczyk exhibited at Documenta 5 and Documenta 6 and the place of printing of Gojowczyk’s chosen text, Cassel (or as today, Kassel) suggests a possible link. £1,800

GONCHAROVA / LARIONOV. L’Art Décoratif Théatral Moderne. Paris. Edition ‘La Cible’. 1919.

Folio. pp. 18. Illustrated with 8 tipped-in reproduction text illustrations, of which 6 are colour, 6 hors-texte pochoir colour plates, 2 by Goncharova and 4 by Larionov as well as 8 colour plates listed as ‘Gravures’ of which 3 are tipped-in. Loose as issued in original publisher’s printed wrappers.

The scarce publication reproducing Goncharova and Larionov’s works for the avant-garde stage.

From the edition limited to 515 copies, with this one of 100 large paper subscriber copies.

Although this large paper issue was intended to include two additional lithographs, one by Larionov, the other by Goncharova, these additional plates were sent out post-publication. Many copies therefore lack them and in Larionov’s own words these copies must be considered complete. A separate issue of 400 copies in smaller format was also published that never included the two additional lithographs or the two pochoir reproductions of works by Larionov.

As Larionov himself states (in a letter dated May 5th, 1948 to Ifan Fletcher): The editions containing these last two lithographs are very rare because the album came out without them and they were sent separately to the subscribers … they must be considered complete … At the same time a smaller format was published … this album does not contain the last two lithographs or the two pochoirss by Larionov on yellow paper.

Goncharova and Larionov are credited with bringing Cubism to the theatre, Goncharova with the Coq d’Or of 1914 and Larionov with Les Contes Russes in 1915. This work presents some of their designs and an assessment, by Valentin Parnak, of their impacts upon the stage in general and ballet in particular. £3,500

KING, Ron / John Christie. The Mirror Book. Guildford / London. Circle Press.

1985.

Small folio. (350 x 248 mm). [15 doubled glossy silver leaves]. Composed of 15 glossy silver doubled leaves bound at spine with triple chrome dome-bolt fasteners, additional inserted leaf of clear acetate with printed justification in black, also included, loosely inserted, is a pair of white cotton handling gloves; sheet size: 295 x 240 mm, justification size: 310 x 240 mm. Original glass mirror double-sided boards, triple chrome dome-bolt fastening at spine, loose in original blue padded velvet-lined black cloth box with titles in blind to front cover and spine.

The scarce reflective (and self-reflective) text-free artist book by Ron King and John Christie.

From the edition limited to 20 copies, each numbered in black ink to additional acetate justification; an edition of 35 was announced but only 20 copies were completed. ... composed entirely of mirror-foil pages enclosed within mirror-glass covers ... riveted together ... On turning the pages, each new reader is confronted with their own reflection, and forced into a world of self-contemplation and, potentially, self-knowledge.

This was the first book object produced by Ron King ... The original prototype for ‘The Mirror Book / Book’ [sic] was made for an exhibition held at the V & A in 1979 called ‘The Open and Closed Book’. The bookwork was placed on a lectern at the entrance to the exhibition and contained a couple of lines of text which implied that what you read mirrored what you were. For this later, editioned version the words were removed, the binding simplified and a black solander box padded with a blue velvet lining was added for safe keeping. (V & A).

The Mirror Book is scarce with only 20 copies of the work completed: COPAC lists only the copy at the V & A; OCLC adds additional copies at Yale, Florida Atlantic University, Louisiana State, Utah and the National Gallery in Washington D. C. [see Robert Kenedy’s ‘The Open and Closed Book: Contemporary Book Arts’, 12 September - 18 November, V & A, 1979; see circlepress.com for edition details]. £2,250

KOKOSCHKA. Die Träumenden Knaben. Wien. Berger und Chlawa fur die Wiener Werstätte. 1908.

Oblong 4to. (244 x 298 mm). [10 leaves]. Illustrated with 10 original lithographs by Oscar Kokoschka, 8 in colour, all printed recto only (the label for the cover is also an original lithograph). Original publisher’s cloth with pasted on label with lithograph by Kokoschka in black and gold paint splatter.

First edition, first issue - with the black lithograph label and gold paint splatter of Kokoschka’s colourful masterpiece.

From the proposed edition limited to 500 copies - many fewer copies were issued.

This example is from the very rare first edition published by the Wiener Werkstatte before the sheets were sold off to Kurt Wolff and reissued with a different binding in 1917.

In this, his [Kokoschka’s] first graphic work, the decorative influence of the Jugendstil and folk art is apparent. The Wiener Werkstätte had commissioned him to write and illustrate a book for children and Die Traeumenden Knaben was shown in the 1908 Kunstschau, where Kokoschka’s work was exhibited for the first time. Only a handful of copies was sold at that time and the book was reissued in 1917 by Kurt Wolff. (The Artist and the Book).

[Wingler / Welz 22 - 29; The Artist and the Book 147].

£35,000

KOKOSCHKA, Oskar. ‘O Ewigkeit - du Donnerwort’. 9 Lithographien zu der Cantate (II. Composition) des J. S. Bach von Oskar Kokoschka. Berlin. Verlag Fritz Gurlitt. 1916 / 1917.

Large folio. (685 x 525 mm). [12 leaves]. Leaf with dedicatory 5 line poem by Kokoschka (?) and eleven original lithographs by Kokoschka printed in black on uncut sheets of Hollande van Gelder Zonen (retaining deckle edges), each signed in pencil by the artist lower right. (Sheet size: 670 x 510 mm). Original publisher’s parchment-backed grey paper board portfolio, printed title in black to upper board.

The de luxe issue of Kokoschka’s O Ewigkeit with each of the lithographs on Van Gelder Zonen and signed by the artist in pencil at lower right; the series was issued in an unnumbered edition of approximately 25 copies.

Oskar Kokoschka’s series of lithographs to illustrate Bach’s Cantata 60 (O Eternity, Thou World of Thunder) was inspired by his turbulent but fecund relationship with Alma Mahler (see below). The series, conceived as early as 1914 but not published until 1916 / 1917, appeared in a number of formats and editions and scholarship on the subject is confused. This de luxe edition consists of eleven signed lithographs (rather than the nine mentioned on the portfolio) on Hollande van Gelder Zonen and does include a leaf of text with 5 lines of verse. A standard edition was printed in 1917 in an edition of 100 copies with the first lithograph signed and the remainder initialled, and a second edition was printed in 1918 and issued in portfolio and bound issues.

This de luxe issue is of extreme rarity.

The list of plates is as follows: - Selbstbildnis (Brustbild mit Zeichenstift) - Drachen über eine Flamme - Der Wanderer im Gewitter - Das Weib führt den Mann - Die Flehende - Das letzte Lager - Furcht und Hoffnung (Der Mann tröstet das Weib) - Mann und Weib auf der Sterbeweg - Der Adler (‘Selig sind die Toten’) - Der Mann erhebt seinen Kopf aus dem Grabe, auf dem das Weib sitzt Pietà (‘Es ist genug’) Höhe nicht mehr exakt feststellbar, vermutlich 25 Expl. (Wingler / Welz, Oskar Kokoschka, Das druckgraphische Werk).

Bach’s cantata presents a dialogue between Fear and Hope. In these prints, Kokoschka casts himself in the role of Hope, while Mahler plays Fear. Guided by Fear, Hope sets down a road that leads to his death (although the cantata itself sounds a positive note of divine salvation). Throughout, Kokoschka cites earlier works and weaves in biographical allusions to his relationship with Mahler. The imagery in ‘Drachen über einer Flamme’ (Dragons over a flame) recalls his attempts to protect the pregnant Mahler from seeing frightening reptiles, while the final print reprises imagery from the poster for his earlier play ‘Mörderer, Hoffnung der Frauen’ (Murderer, hope of woman). In the penultimate print, Kokoschka depicts himself standing in a grave, an acknowledgement of guilt for the failed relationship. As he later stated, ‘I am in the grave, slain by my own jealousy’.

(Heather Hess, German Expressionist Digital Archive Project, German Expressionism: Works from the Collection. 2011 - MOMA catalogue).

[Wingler / Welz 58 - 68; The Artist & the Book 150 & From Manet to Hockney 45 (both second editions)]. £25,000

LECUIRE, Pierre. La Femme Est ... Un Poème Métaphysique Mis en Oeuvre par Pierre Lecuire. (Paris). (By the author). (1967).

Large folio. (670 x 500 mm). [22 unnumbered leaves including blanks + inserted leaf with presentation and text by Lecuire]. Leaf with title, leaf with copyright, leaf with ‘Au Lecteur’, section title ‘Poème’, 10 leaves with Lecuire’s text recto and verso, 2 leaves with ‘table’, leaf with justification and final leaf with colophon and achevé d’imprimer. Loose as issued in paper wrapper with additional handmade jacket of Madagascar paper, original publisher’s portfolio / box covered with Japon paper with text extracted from Lecuire’s poem printed in the same tone.

An excellent presentation copy of Pierre Lecuire’s extraordinary typographic caprice: La Femme Est. From the edition limited to 55 copies signed by Lecuire on papier vélin d’Auvergne à la forme du Moulin Richard-de-bas, with this one of 10 lettered copies de Chapelle; this copy with the inserted leaf of Chine with text by Lecuire and signed in pencil and with a presentation: à Charles et Brigitte Marq, qui ont ‘témoigné’ pour / LA FEMME le 31 août 1972 et qui témoignent chaque / jour pour la naissance de la lumière, à l’EST. P. L.’ Printed in 60 point Firmin-Didot type created specially for the book, the typography is by Fequet et Baudier; Lecuire’s Table is the complete text of his prose poem printed in smaller type.

The inserted leaf of Chine, at once a printed explanation of Lecuire’s poem and a work in its own right (it is printed in capitals as usual, signed by Lecuire in pencil and his presentation as quoted above is beneath), is worth quoting in full: Le livre, qui commence avec le monde et ne finira qu’avec lui, est étrangement déserté. Qu’il soit inscription cunéiforme, Coran coufique, Bible de Gutenberg, bréviaire de curé ou chant d’amour, le beau livre est un monument à l’écart des modes. Sa qualité réside dans l’accord d’un texte et des signes qui le traduisent. L’Unité, la sobriété, la nudité même, la grandeur de l’espace dévoilé et du temps mis en marche, la justesse de ces mécanismes sévères furent ici autant d’exhortations et d’obstacles à la réalisation d’une oeuvre qui tire ses seules ressources d’elle-même et, ne flattant de l’oeil que le ‘point mental’ le plus haut, offre au lecteur une muraille, un chant, une forme dans leur dépouillement le plus plein. Que cette muraille dise la femme ajoute à l’ardeur secrète et à l’ambition ouverte de ce livre.

Given the format and limitation, it is of no surprise that Lecuire’s work is scarce: we can trace only those copies at the V & A and Oxford in the UK, at the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Europe and at Indiana, Harvard, Yale and the Library of Congress in the US. £3,000

MATISSE, Henri. Mallarmé, Stéphane. Poésies. Lausanne. Albert Skira et Cie, Editeurs. 1932.

Small folio. (336 x 260 mm). 43 bifolia + inserted leaf = 87 leaves; pp. 153, (i), (iii), (i)].

Half-title with colophon verso, printed title in red and black and Mallarmé’s verse in italics throughout with initials in red illustrated with 29 original etchings by Henri Matisse, 23 full-page (including one hors texte on inserted leaf as issued), ‘Table’ and final leaf with justification and achevé d’imprimer; Matisse’s etchings were printed by Roger Lacourière, Paris. Sheet size: 328 x 250 mm. Original publisher’s printed Japon wrappers with titles to front cover in black, calf-backed chemise with titles to spine in black and calf-edged patterned paper-covered board slipcase.

An excellent example of Albert Skira’s second publication and Matisse’s first major illustrated book.

From the edition limited to 145 numbered copies, with this one of 95 on Vélin d’Arches signed by Matisse in pencil.

Executed for the young publisher Albert Skira in 1932, who had just published Picasso’s Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide, these etchings were Matisse’s first attempt at illustrating a major text. He worked for two years, at the same time executing the decorations for the Barnes Foundation at Merion, producing some 60 etchings for Mallarmé’s poems, of which he chose 29 to be published. Matisse engraved the etchings in Nice, and then the plates were sent to Paris to the atelier of the master printer Roger Lacourière where Matisse’s daughter, Marguerite Duthuit, oversaw the preparation and printing.

Also included, loosely inserted, is the original announcement for the publication, a single bifolium with details of the publication and the exhibition of the exemplaire unique from the collection of Etta Cone of Baltimore. Cone’s copy, which included 60 original drawings by Matisse for the etchings, was exhibited, together with the tous les éléments ayant servi à l’élaboration de cette édition, at the Galerie Pierre Colle in the rue Cambacères from February 3rd - 10th, 1933; the achevé d’imprimer dates the book to October 25th, 1932. ... Skira’s most beautiful book ... (Riva Castleman, A Century of Artists Books).

Matisse pushed simplicity and linearity to the extreme in the exquisite etchings for this publication. With this 1932 volume and Picasso’s Les Métamorphoses of 1931, Albert Skira published consecutively two of the greatest artists’ books of the century. (Artists’ Books in the Modern Era).

[Duthuit / Garnaud 5; The Artist and the Book 95; Castleman 92 - 93; The Artist and the Book 196; Logan 101]. £35,000

NAUMAN, Bruce. L A AIR. New York. Multiples Inc. 1970.

Square 4to. (305 x 305 mm). [6 unnumbered leaves]. First leaf with blank recto, verso and following leaves with colour images recto and verso, final leaf with blank verso: 10 colour images of notional skies. Original publisher’s white stapled wrappers, printed title to front cover in black, printed signature and publisher’s credit to rear cover in black.

Bruce Nauman’s artist book of conceptual clarity, L A AIR’ Nauman’s tongue-in-cheek response to his other notable work, Clear Sky, L A AIR consists of ten colour images apparently showing polluted skies, the perfect visual contradiction to the endless unpolluted blue of Clear Sky. L A AIR was Nauman’s contribution to Multiples Inc.’s Artists and Photographs box / portfolio of 1970.

L. A. Air [sic] is a large format work which consists of a sequence of pages on which the ink colors go from a tepid ochre to a deep rich brown through various tones of sepia, smoke, and yellowish grey ... There is no narrative hinted at - the colors don’t deepen or lighten - they are like swatches taken from different parts of the atmosphere on multiple days in various light or climate conditions ... The page has no particular identity, it simply serves as material support, and the colors are not a photographic record of the air. (Johanna Drucker).

[Lauf & Phillpot 87; see Drucker, ‘The Century of Artists’ Books’, pg. 201].

£750

PICASSO, Pablo. Oettingen, Hélène Baronne d’. (Roch Grey). Chevaux de Minuit.

Cannes / Paris. Aux bons soins du Degré Quarante et Un par Iliazd. 1956.

Small folio. (348 x 245 mm). [24 leaves: 14 bifolia, 10 trifolia; pp. 60]. Illustrated with 12 original engravings with burin (and 1 drypoint, the title on the vellum wrapper)

by Pablo Picasso; the first and last on a single sheet, the remaining 10 on folded sheets to form a triptych of text and image. Sheet size: 310 x 208 mm (single leaf); 310 x 410 (double sheet); 310 x 620 mm (triptych). Loose as issued in publisher’s parchment wrappers with drypoint title by Picasso to upper cover, several additional terracotta Auvergne paper wrappers, publisher’s parchment portfolio with black printed title to spine.

An exceptional copy of Picasso’s beautiful Chevaux de Minuit.

From the edition limited to 68 copies signed by the artist and printer in red crayon, with this one of 52 on Vieux Japon and also dated 9556 by Iliazd in red crayon (i.e.

May 9th 1956).

Iliazd’s organization of the text on a given page was ingeniously calculated. In Chevaux de Minuit, which was published in 1956, the staccato layout of Roch Grey’s epic poem gallops, trots, and leaps in the company of Picasso’s engraved horses. (Audrey Isselbacher, ‘Iliazd and the Tradition of the ‘Livre de Peintre’’).

Roch Grey was the pseudonym of Baroness Hélène d’Oettingen, an exceptionally gifted person who showed talent in many fields, including poetry, painting and ceramics. A member of Apollinaire’s circle, she contributed to the magazine Les Soirées de Paris, and played an important role in the cultural life of the colony of Russian artists in Paris. She dies in 1950 ... In his ‘Adieu d’Iliazd à Roch Grey’ at the end of the book, Iliazd states that it is in memory of ‘that era, so near and yet so terribly far away, when poets lived among us’ that he undertook to publish this text by a forgotten writer. He tells of the great difficulties encountered along the way. At first Picasso was reluctant to collaborate on the book and returned the copperplates. For a long time he continued to hesitate.

Finally he was won over by the supplications and reproaches of the patient Iliazd, and agreed to make some illustrations. For the cover title, he made a drypoint; to illustrate the text he produced twelve burin engravings of horses. These he drew with great economy of line, and when seen together they form a kind of graceful and joyful ballet. The first and last horses appear hors-texte; the ten others occupy the centre of a triple page, thus forming a triptych, the two side panels of which are covered with typographical arrangements recalling Apollinaire’s calligrams. (Cramer).

[Cramer 73; Isselbacher 22].

£75,000

PICASSO, Pablo. Le Phanérogame: Pierrot (Massine en Pierrot). (Paris). (Eugène Delâtre ... for the author). (1918).

Original etching on zinc on laid paper (verge d’Arches) with watermark ‘Eugène Delâtre’

by Pablo Picasso; this is a proof version with a presentation from Picasso (see below) and large margins: 299 x 220 mm, the version issued with the book was on smaller paper: 202 x 150 mm (the size of the book).

An exceptional presentation copy of one of Picasso’s rarest etchings with large margins and signed in pencil in 1918.

Signed in pencil at lower right and dedicated beneath: Picasso / à Madame / Tournaire / juillet 1918: Geiser notes only copies, his own and that of Douglas Cooper, with large margins with later signatures from the 1930s, although he does suggest that copies with large margins and contemporary signatures do exist, as the present example attests.

Between 20 and 25 copies of the etching were issued (see below), mainly on Arches paper, with 18 copies (Cramer suggests 20, Geiser 16) serving as the frontispiece for the de luxe edition of the book Le Phanérogame by Max Jacob, which was published in December 1918.

Picasso presented this copy to Mme. (Andrée) Tournaire, with the inscription dated five months before the publication of the book. Andrée Tournaire was the adopted daughter of André Level who married Jean Tournaire.

De toutes les façons, il existe davantage d’épreuves et d’exemplaires; on rencontre des épreuves ... sans le livre, comme celle de la vente D. Cooper, signée ... très tard ... On rencontre aussi des exemplaires, conformes, avec la gravure signée mais non numérotée ... Il y aurait donc entre 20 et 25 épreuves, la plupart sur vergé d’Arches, en principe signées; dont environ 16 numérotées par Max Jacob. (Geiser pg. 119).

[Geiser 55; Bloch 33; see Cramer 5].

£42,500

PICASSO. Godet, Robert - J. L’Age de Soleil. Paris. Au Dépens de l’Auteur. 1950.

4to. (272 x 226 mm). [40 leaves; pp. 72, (i), (i)]. Half-title with Godet’s presentation and drawing recto and epigraph verso, leaf with frontispiece etching after Picasso verso, leaf with Picasso’s original drypoint engraving ‘La Torera’, printed title and Godet’s text, final leaf with achevé d’imprimer and justification; the etching after Picasso’s drawing was printed by Atelier G. Leblanc, Picasso’s original drypoint engraving was printed by Atelier Lacourière.

Full aubergine crushed morocco by Jean de Gonet with his signature gilt, boards with inlaid sections of calf with orange and purple / pink painted decoration with additional abstract motifs, inset title in purple to spine, decorated endpapers with abstract patterning, original front wrapper with stylised sun motif in red and printed text in black retained, t.e.g., morocco-edged wool-lined wooden board slipcase.

Rémy Duval’s copy with a long and evocative presentation from Godet, Picasso’s engraving and in an early binding by Jean de Gonet.

From the edition limited to 1,114 numbered copies, with this copy unnumbered but inscribed exemplaire numéroté [printed] d’auteur / Pour Monsieur Remy Duval and signed

by Godet and with a long poetic presentation (see below) in sepia ink to the half-title concluding Pour Rémy / Robert beneath a drawing of a setting sun above the printed title; only the collaborators’ copies, the édition de tête and the first 100 copies on Marais included Picasso’s drypoint engraving.

Godet’s poetic presentation to the half-title reads as follows: L’AGE DU SOLEIL [printed and with a setting sun above] / d’un age de bonne et d’éclats / d’un age de sol et de taillis / d’un age de caverne, o Platon / d’un age numéroté, pour échapper a l’ennui / d’un age mur, d’un age muraille / pour votre vouloir souciant et constant et forcerré / Jaillira un age sans age / qui fondue tous nos bavardages / dans un unique, Unique Soleil / Pour Rémy / Robert.

Godet was the publisher of Georges Hugnet’s La Chèvre-Feuille (1943) and Robert Desnos’ Contrée (1944) but L’Age de Soleil was his first published book; like the aforementioned works L’Age du Soleil was illustrated by Picasso. This copy, presented by Godet to the photographer Rémy Duval (1907 - 1984), features an early binding by the renowned and experimental binder Jean de Gonet. A pencil note to an initial blank states La première reliure signé de Jean de Gonet! and we can confirm the accuracy of this statement after discussion with de Gonet himself.

The main character in the book is referred to as a ‘stranger’; he is at once God, the world and the author himself. In 21 chapters, the imaginary voyages of this stranger - to Russia, India and Italy, among other countries - is described, as are his visits to a catholic convent and the atelier of the ‘great painter Rack’. At journey’s end, the author has come to accept himself and other men, although not without the help of what he calls the ‘superior consciences.’

[Cramer 57].

£8,750

PISSARRO, Lucien. Nerval, Gérard de. Histoire de la Reine du Matin et de Soliman, Prince de Genies. The Brook, Hammersmith. Eragny Press pour la Société des Cent Bibliophiles. 1909.

8vo. (222 x 144 mm). [87 leaves (including blanks); pp. 159, (i)]. Leaf with half-title recto and limitation verso, leaf with pictorial title in blue and black with vignette and gilt highlighting verso, opening leaf with elaborate colour border, colour vignette and 6-line colour historiated initial with gilt heightening and de Nerval’s text illustrated with 14 monochrome text vignettes, 5 tail-pieces and a head-piece all in blue, the head-piece with additional highlighting in gilt, 11 11-line historiated initials in colour and with gilt heightening, text in black with foliate ornaments throughout, footnotes in red, final leaf with colophon with Eragny Press vignette verso; the illustration and initials by Lucien Pissarro and engraved on wood by Esther and Lucien Pissarro in blue throughout. Original publisher’s limp olive calf, front and rear covers with repeated stylised floral tool in gilt to form a dense mosaic decor, title gilt to spine, original card slipcase.

The beautiful Eragny Press edition and one of Lucien Pissarro’s greatest productions in the original limp calf binding.

From the edition limited to 130 numbered copies on Arches with watermark Les Cent Bibliophiles with this nominatif copy (number 14) for M. Paul Blondeau’ It seems likely that the Paul Blondeau for whom this copy was printed, a member of the Société les Cent Bibliophiles, was a painter and watercolourist. Although his dates of birth and death are unknown (see Benezit) he studied under Tony Robert-Fleury, Jules Lefebvre and Ridgway Knight and exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1904 onwards and became a member in 1911.

Cette légende extraite du ‘Voyage en Orient’, a été imprimée pour la Société des Cents Bibliophiles. Les illustrations dessinées par Lucien Pissarro & gravées sur bois par Esther & Lucien Pissarro. Le papier fabriqué par les papeteries d’Arches avec des chiffons pur fil. Le livre commencé en Décembre 1907 fut terminé en Août 1909 sur les presses d’Eragny par Lucien & Esther Pissarro avec l’aide de T. Taylor. (From the colophon).

Pissarro’s decorations for this extract from Nerval’s ‘Voyage en Orient’ achieve a selective richness. The book opens with a burst of colour and gold leaf, there are monochrome woodcuts dotting the text, and every chapter has a pictorial initial letter printed in colour and gold. It is a pity that the book’s extreme rarity (most of the 130 copies must still be in France) has prevented collectors from becoming acquainted with it. (Ray, pg. 165).

[Ray 267; see Benezit 2, 641].

£9,500

REDON, Odilon. A Gustave Flaubert. Six Dessins pour la (Deuxieme Série) de la Tentation de Saint-Antoine. Paris. Becquet ... En vente chez Dumont. (1889).

Folio. 7 lithographs by Odilon Redon, one signed Odilon Redon and one initialled Od R. This copy without the wrapper.

A complete set of Flaubert’s first masterpiece magnificently illustrated by Redon.

From the edition limited to 60 copies.

A complete set of the second series of Redon’s Tentation de Saint-Antoine issued in 1889. The plates are printed on Chine collé sur Vélin.

The plates in this set are titled: Frontispice.

1. Saint-Antoine ... à travers ses longs cheveux qui lui couvraient la figure, j’ai cru reconnaitre ammonaria.

2. ... Une longue chrysalide couleur de sang.

3. La Mort: Mon ironie dépasse toutes les autres!

4. Saint-Antoine: il doit y avoir quelque part des figures primordiales dont les corps ne sont que les images.

5. Le Sphynx ... mon regard que rien ne peut dévier, demeure tendu a travers les choses sur un horizon inaccessible. La chimère: moi, je suis légère et joyeuse.

6. Les sciabodes: la tête le plus bas possible, c’est le secret du bonheur!

Flaubert’s first magnum opus, retelling the temptations that afflicted Saint Anthony, was completed over twenty-five years before its publication in 1874. The mystical trials were compelling subjects for Redon, who made three sets of illustrations in which he tried to fathom their symbolic content. (Castleman).

[Mellerio 94 - 100; Manet to Hockney 13; Castleman ].

£30,000

ROCHE, Pierre. Marx, Roger. La Loïe Fuller. Estampes Modelées de Pierre Roche.

Evreux. Charles Hérissey. 1904.

Large 8vo. (265 x 200 mm). [blank bifolium, 13 doubled leaves, blank bifolium]. Leaf with half-title recto, justification verso, leaf with frontispiece verso, leaf with relief title recto and 10 leaves with text illustrated with 16 ‘gypsographies’ (colour relief engravings) by Pierre Roche, final leaf with achevé d’imprimer verso. Loose as issued in the original engraved wrappers by Roche, original paper board portfolio with title to front cover (portfolio with flaps repaired, lacking tie).

Roche’s masterpiece of Art Nouveau design using his own printing process.

From the edition limited to 130 copies, with this nominatif copy, number 31, printed for Monsieur Fernand Dehaitre; Achevé d’imprimer sous la Presidence d’Eug. Rodrigues à Evreux par Charles Herissey le 22 janvier 1904 sous la direction de Gautherin. Les figures tirées sur les Presses de Maire.

One of the most evocative and characteristic of Art Nouveau illustrated books, this is a masterpiece of design and mise-en-page. The relief engraving (or estampilles), a process invented by Pierre Roche, beautifully evoke the movements of Loie Fuller’s dances and the text fits perfectly with these gems of engravings. The text is printed in Auriol Italique and is the first utilisation of this type face.

Pierre Roche (1855-1922) was a sculptor and from 1892 used his skills to create prints in relief. Firstly, using plaster moulds, he modelled the damp paper which he then coloured by hand. Ink was then applied directly to the mould, as with a wood-engraving: this process is known as gypsography. Later he replaced the plaster with metal to achieve more precision in the relief. It was this which he used for this book in 1904, in which the prints seem like medals set within the typographic layout.

The dancer [Loïe Fuller], who had come to Paris in 1892, figures frequently in the posters of Chéret, Toulouse-Lautrec, and other artists of the period. Fifty years later Friedrich Ahlers-Hestermann wrote of ‘Loïe Fuller who, whirling on her own axis like a corkscrew or spinning top, with countless yards of veil-like materials shining in colored light like an iridescent Tiffany vase, became in her increasingly audacious serpentines, a gigantic ornament’ (quoted by Schmutzler, p. 10). In other words, she was ‘the very symbol of Jugendstil, the embodiment of Art Nouveau. Marx’s book is the most delicate and personal of the tributes accorded her’. (Ray).

[Carteret, IV, 345; Ray 368].

£12,500

SEGUIN, Armand. de Gourmont, Remy. Le Pèlerin du Silence. Paris. Société du Mercure de France. 1896.

8vo. (204 x 122 mm). pp. 284, (i), (i). Half-title with justification verso, leaf with Seguin’s colour dry point as frontispiece verso, printed title and de Gourmont’s drama and prose, each work with section title, leaf with ‘Bibliographie’, leaf with ‘Table des Matières’ and final leaf with achevé d’imprimer. Original publisher’s printed wrappers with titles to front cover in red and black with publisher’s illustration of a caduceus, titles to spine and advertisements to rear cover in black.

The collected edition of several of Remy de Gourmont’s literary works with the original colour dry point frontispiece by Armand Seguin.

From the edition limited to 21 copies with Seguin’s dry point engraving as frontispiece, with this one of 6 copies on Chine numbered on the justification, the second paper after three copies on Japon Impérial; an ordinary edition of the book was also issued with Seguin’s frontispiece as a reproduction.

This collected edition includes de Gourmont’s works Phénissa, Le Fantôme, Le Château Singulier, Le Livre des Litanies, Théâtre Muet and Le Pèlerin du Silence. ... le frontispiece d’Armand Seguin a été gravé à la pointe sèche et tiré à la poupée.

(From the justification). £8,500

TAPIES, Antoni. Jabès, Edmond. Ça Suit Son Cours. Montpellier / Paris. Le Grand Pal / Editions Fata Morgana. 1975.

Large 8vo. (278 x 178 mm). [32 bifolia: 64 leaves; pp. 123, (i)]. Half-title, printed title, engraved frontispiece etching by Tàpies, leaf with dedication ‘Pour Maurice Nadeau’ recto and introductory quotations verso and Jabès text illustrated with 3 additional original etchings by Tàpies (one double-page) and 13 monochrome vignettes in the text, leaf with ‘Table’ and final leaf with justification and achevé d’imprimer; the wrapper for the book is also a double-page etching. Loose as issued in original publisher’s wrappers with flaps, the whole wrapper a double-page relief engraving by Tàpies, original card mailing box with decoration by Tàpies retained.

Antoni Tàpies illustrating Edmond Jabès’ philosophical verse.

From the edition limited to 102 copies on Arches signed by the author and the artist, with this one of 12 hors commerce copies reserved for the collaborators; a further edition of 1,000 copies with reproductions of Tàpies etchings was issued in the same year.

The mise en page is by Bruno Roy and the text was printed at l’Imprimerie de la Charité in Montpellier; Tàpies engravings were printed by l’Atelier Marsang, Paris. ‘’Ça Suit Son Cours’ is an unusual collection of poetry, and a striking artist’s book. It ... contains not only previous work by poet Edmond Jabès ... but also quotations and contributions from other authors like Maurice Blanchot, Michel Leiris and philosopher Jacques Derrida ... The cover Tàpies produced for ‘Ça Suit Son Cours’ is very striking: words have been printed in deep relief on the thick paper. For this design, Tàpies made use of the text featured on page 11. He cut up that text’s printing plate, and then printed the words scattered around randomly in a typeface twice as large. This ‘collograph technique’ creates a web in which new word combinations, and therefore ... a new text emerge. (Koninklijke Bibliotheek). £1,750

VERVE. Revue artistique et litéraire. Edited by E. Tériade. Paris. Edition Verve.

1937 -1960.

4to. 38 issues in 26 volumes. Profusely illustrated throughout in colour and monochrome. Original publisher’s printed boards or wrappers as issued.

A complete run of one of France’s most famous art periodicals Verve.

Verve is renowned for the quality of its production (the lithography by Mourlot Frères) and the breadth of subject matter. The periodical includes original lithographic covers by a range of artists, including Chagall, Matisse, Braque and Picasso. Literary contributions include Gide, Malraux, Tagore, Vollard, Sartre, Joyce, Hemingway, Faure, Reverdy, Lorca, Bataille among many, many others.

A full list of the issues and the specific artists represented is available on request. £22,500

sims reed ltd. 43a duke street st james’s london sw1y 6dd tel. +44 (0)20 7930 5566 - fac +44 (0)20 7925 0825 www.simsreed.com - info@simsreed.com