Lot n° 108
Estimation :
100000 - 150000
EUR
Péret (Benjamin) - Lot 108
Péret (Benjamin)
Je sublime. Éditions Surréalistes, Paris, 1936. Four polychrome frottages hors texte by Max Ernst (Spies / Leppien 16 I-IV) in the first copies (1 unique copy on japon nacré with the manuscript, 15 copies on japon impérial, and 25 copies on Le Roy Louis).
First editions (19.1 x 22 cm). Two copies in slipcase.
Signed bindings by Pierre-Lucien Martin "inspired by the title that Pierre-Lucien Martin also seems to have used" (Littérature du XXe Siècle, Collection d'un Amateur, Drouot / Laurin-Guilloux-Buffetaud-Tailleur, June 13-15, 1983, no. 404, where the binding was reproduced on the cover):
For the first copy, the manuscript with the copy on japon impérial : Famous midnight-blue box binding, large central oblong mosaic rectangle on each board reproducing the title in large broken box letters of 12 different shades on a mosaic diamond background, an oblique effect recalling the broken lettering of the title on the book cover, smooth spine with author's and illustrator's names in gilt letters, ivory box edge-to-edge linings and endpapers, gilt edges on witnesses, cover and spine preserved, folder and case (1958).
For the second copy, the single copy on Japon nacré: black and gray box separating the two covers horizontally, yellow box and black varnished calf title mosaicked in relief on both covers, echoing the two-tone typographic composition of the cover, long spine titled in Japanese black and white oeser, red suede lining and endpapers, gilt edges, cover and spine preserved, slipcase (1971).
Two copies: The only copy on japon nacré and the first of fifteen copies on japon impérial with the only known original manuscript of the work, featuring 8 original color rubbings by Max Ernst, 4 of them signed, in two volumes sublimely bound by Martin.
The author's autograph manuscript is in ink on paper of various sizes and thicknesses. Several poems appear on the back of Brasserie Alsacienne letterhead, and one is written on the verso of the beginning of an unfinished letter to René Char. This manuscript set, the only one known, with variants (such as the title Aujourd'hui 4, which became Aujourd'hui in the printed version), erasures and repentirs, is almost complete, with 18 poems out of 20 (missing: Homard, 18 lines, and Le Carré de l'Hypoténuse, 30 lines), while 4 poems have two manuscript versions (Je ne dors pas, Aujourd'hui 4, Je, Source). In the margins of the first version of Source are small drawings and typographical essays in Péret's own hand, bearing Rosa's name. This manuscript set is bound with copy no. 2 on japon impérial, whose 4 original rubbings by Max Ernst are exceptionally signed in graphite.
The single copy on japon nacré, unnumbered, is dedicated in blue ink to Edmond Bomsel, lawyer for the Surrealists and administrator of Éditions du Sagittaire, who supported this edition materially, just as he supported the opening of the Gradiva gallery: "To Edmond Bomsel carrying an agave flower on the edge of a mine shaft guarded by striking miners, Benjamin Péret May 9, 1953".
Enclosed are 3 subscription forms, bound in the volume on japon nacré: the in-16 subscription bulletin on strong paper for the present edition (announcing the single copy on japon nacré at 600 francs and the 15 copies on japon impérial at 100 francs, but without announcing 25 other copies which will contain the rubbings, printed on Le Roy Louis), and two copies of a subscription bulletin (one green, the other vermilion) for the unrealized edition first planned for Cahiers d'Art (2 pages in-16 on green and red paper), where 5 copies on japon nacré, with handwritten poem, and 40 copies on Montval were to contain the frottages by Max Ernst.
The japon impérial copy contains a handwritten note by Benjamin Péret in the justification: "The manuscript was not delivered with copy no. 1 and the justification was not made by the printer. Exemplaire 2/16 Benjamin Péret".
The reunion of the original manuscript and copies 1 and 2 thus makes it possible to set things right, in the most valuable whole for this work.
Je sublime is the 38th book published by Éditions Surréalistes, appearing a few months after Je ne mange pas de ce pain-là, by the same author and illustrator. The poems were written between January and March 1935, and will later appear in Feu central. For Guy Prévan, some of them are "some of the most beautiful love poems of this and other centuries". These poems, written for Rosa, a "mysterious" young woman, are indeed of singular originality, where passion mingles seamlessly with banality.
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