Desnos, Robert

C'est les bottes de 7 lieues. Cette phrase "Je me vois"

> click here to see the full size image.

Galerie Simon Paris 1926 First Edition 4 etched plates by André Masson. Folio. [329 x 245 x 10 mm].[10]ff. Bound by René Desmules (signed on the front turn-in) in brown calf, the covers with a full inlaid panel of light brown suede, the upper cover inlaid with the title in brown calf. Smooth spine lettered in gilt, plain endleaves, top edge gilt, the others untrimmed, with the original paper covers bound in. Contained within a chemise and slipcase. Limited to 112 copies of which this is number 23, signed by the author and artist. The binding may look quite simple, but the inlaying of the letters into the suede is an immensely challenging procedure and has been brilliantly achieved. René Desmules was born in 1909 and was apprenticed first to Noulhac and then to Maylander and went on to work for Pierre-Legrain, Gruel and Marot-Rodde. He established his own bindery in 1941 and was a favourite forwarder for designers including Rose Adler, Anthoine-Legrain, Paul Bonet, Bonfils, Creuzevault, Madelaine Gras, Georges Leroux, Thérèse Moncey and Pierre-Lucien Martin. He carried on working until 1975 and died in 1978. Robert Desnos was one of the key figures in the Surrealist movement and its most prolific poet. In the early 1920's, he participated in the famous Surrealist experiments in spontaneous composition, known as automatic writing, pouring out poetry, prose and drawings, whilst in a 'hypnotic sleep', apparently communicating with Victor Hugo, Robespierre and Marcel Duchamp's alter-ego, Rrose Selavy. Breton singled him out for particular praise in the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924. "It is Desnos more than any of us who has come closest to the Surrealist truth". "Symbolism, Cubism and Dada have long since run their course. Surrealism is the order of the day and Desnos is its prophet." Louis Aragon also described the group's experiments in 'spoken thought' in "A Wave of Dreams" (1924). "In the café, amid the chatter, in the bright daylight, jostled on all sides, Robert Desnos has only to close his eyes and he speaks, and amid the beer glasses, the saucers, The Ocean itself crashes down with its prophetic rumblings and its foamy banners." "C'est les bottes de 7 lieues" was Desnos's first published collection of poetry. The twelve poems were written in 1923, a transitional period for Desnos, between the playful word games of automatism and the more lyrical style of his later love poems, "A la Mystérieuse" (1926) and "Les Ténèbres" (1927). Here, his romantic vision is juxtaposed with humorous, often incongruous imagery, to produce an effect which is 'marvellous' in the Surrealist sense defined by Breton and Aragon. Equally impressive, are the etchings by André Masson, another leading member of the Surrealist Movement. Breton had asked Masson to join the group in 1924, after seeing his first one man show at Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler's Galerie Simon. Masson was one of the first Surrealist painters to experiment with automatism and Breton regarded him as the one artist who understood the full implications of the Surrealist project. He always worked closely with writers and poets, illustrating the first two Surrealist books produced by the Galerie Simon, Limbour's "Soleils Bas" (1924) and Leiris's "Simulacre" (1925). "C'est les bottes de 7 lieues" was the third collaboration between Masson and Kahnweiler, who accorded him the large format which he had previously used for such notable volumes as Picasso's "St. Matorel" and Léger's "Lunes en papier". The prints for Desnos's work were Masson's first 'automatic' etchings, but they are more closely related to the subject matter of the poems than his earlier illustrations. Within a few years both Desnos and Masson were to break with the Surrealist group, prefering to retain their artistic independence, than submit to the dictatorial control of Breton and his 'inner circle'.

• GBP 4,500.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: ebc1948

• bookseller: George Bayntun (GREAT BRITAIN)