First edition, one of 65 copies on Arches; our copy is unnumbered but correctly justified "vergé d’Arches" at the foot of the lower cover. One of the only deluxe papers issued.
Two slight sunning marks at head and foot of the spine, which is also lightly pinched at the foot.
A pleasing copy.
New edition of the French translation.
Half saffron percaline Bradel binding, smooth spine slightly sunned and decorated with a central gilt motif and double gilt fillet at foot, brown shagreen title label with a few scuffs, marbled "cat’s-eye" paper boards, preserved wrappers, lightly rubbed corners, contemporary binding.
First edition, one of the review copies stamped "M.F." on the front cover and numbered in the colophon.
Small restored tears to the spine and upper part of the front cover, slight traces of creasing to the margins of the front cover.
Precious inscribed copy signed by Louis Pergaud to J.H. Rosny jeune, one of the historic members of the Goncourt Prize jury. Pergaud had won the 1910 Goncourt for his collection of short stories De Goupil à Margot.
The first edition, first printing, numbered in the press, with only 23 large paper copies on Hollande paper.
With a frontispiece portrait of Apollinaire by Picasso.
Discreet restorations to spine.
With a chemise of half red morocco over paper boards by Boichot, spine in six compartments, date to foot of spine, identical paper slipcase with red morocco edging.
Rare autograph inscription signed by Guillaume Apollinaire: “for Henri Ghéon whose poetry I am fond of, Guillaume Apollinaire”.
This copy also with five manuscript corrections by Apollinaire on pages 71, 77, 92, 110 and 189.
A good copy with a rare autograph inscription by the poet.
An autograph quatrain in black ink has been mounted on the verso of the frontispiece.
First edition, without volumes III to V, which were published posthumously in 1957.
Volume I: Energy (points, meridians, circulation), illustrated with 100 plates, including 44 in two colors.
Volume II: The use of energy, with 17 illustrations.
The diplomat and sinologist George Soulié de Morant (1878–1955) introduced the practical application of acupuncture to France in 1929, overcoming considerable resistance from the academic establishment.
Endpapers slightly and marginally soiled; two repaired tears to the head and foot of the spine of the second volume; otherwise, a pleasing set.
Copy from the library of Maurice Peyrache, with his ink stamps on the endpapers.
First edition, one of the review copies.
Half shagreen binding with corners in burgundy, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, date gilt at foot, slight but harmless fading to the spine and margins of the boards, gilt-embossed paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine (restored) preserved, top edge gilt.
Rare dated inscription by Georges Duhamel signed with his real surname: "A Paul Souday hommage dévoué. GDuhamel avril 1918."
Our copy is further enriched with an autograph letter dated 16 December 1918, mounted on a stub, addressed to Paul Souday—though not mentioned by name—in which Duhamel expresses the joy and honour he felt at having recently been awarded the Prix Goncourt (Civilisation 1914–1918 was awarded the prize on 11 December 1918) for this work: "... le prix Goncourt me fait plaisir, mais moins encore que les quelques cordiales poignées de mains que je reçois à cette occasion."
Georges Duhamel expresses his high regard for his correspondent: "Vous m'avez déjà et très énergiquement témoigné votre sympathie. Soyez sûr que cette sympathie m'est chère. Et comme, en outre, elle m'est un guide précieux, je ferai tout ce que je pourrai pour la conserver et la mériter."
First edition, one of 50 copies printed on Madagascar paper, ours being one of 20 hors commerce copies, from the deluxe issue.
A handsome copy.
First edition printed in small numbers of this offprint from the Mercure de France published on May 15, 1920. OCLC does not locate any copies in North America and only three in Europe (Bnf, Bibliothèque Doucet, Universitätsbibliothek Basel).
Covers with frayed margins, second cover partially shaded, one small piece of paper missing from the right margin of a page due to the fragility of the paper.
Signed and inscribed copy to painter Bernard de Blois: “En sympathie de voisin de logis et d'esthétique. Canudo 1922.” [”In sympathy as a neighbor of lodgings and aesthetics. Canudo 1922.”]
Extremely rare first edition of the libretto of the ballet Skating-Rink set on a roller-skating rink, created by the Ballets Suédois with choreography by Jean Börlin and music by Arthur Honegger, as well as costumes, curtain and stage designs by Fernand Léger.
This Futurist poem-libretto is directly inspired by Charlie Chaplin's The Rink (1916), using the events in the skating rink as a metaphor for the hectic life in modern cities with its mechanical, almost ritual repetitions and its vicious circle of attraction and rejection.
Canudo's inscription dates from 1922, the year of the ballet's creation at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées by the Ballets Suédois. The troupe had been founded by the Swedish art collector Rolf de Maré after the model of Diaghilev's Ballets russes. “The action of this 'Ballet aux patins', subtitle given by Canudo to his poem-libretto, takes place in Paris in the hall of the popular ballroom Tabarin transformed into a skating rink for roller skates. Skating practised in large skating rinks such as the Skating Palais on Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, had conquered the popular balls and café-concerts as early as 1875, but it returned in force in the 1910s after the ball-bearing revolution” (Josiane Mas). The dynamism of this activity had won over the Italian Futurists and also inspired popular culture like Chaplin's The Rink, which Canudo certainly watched during a leave of absence from the French army where he had enlisted – like Apollinaire – during WW1.
The rare first edition of Canudo's poem is the real starting point of the Gesamtkunstwerk of Skating-Rink – the text that inspired its musical compositions, costumes and choreographies. Its title “for the music of...” clearly suggests a work in progress for which the artists have not yet all been chosen: Arthur Honegger, a famous member of the “Groupe des Six”, was commissioned to write the music in 1921 and did not finish the orchestration until 5 days before the ballet premiered. Canudo encouraged every contributing artist to study Chaplin's film, which is reflected in numerous aspects of the production: the figure of the “Madman” in Canudo's poem becomes a colorful, cubist Tramp under the brush of Fernand Léger, with a high hat, a jacket with uneven tails and trousers with one striped and one checked leg. His movements choreographed by Börlin were based on Chaplin's part, with comic acrobatics and countless laps of the skater – a metaphor for the bewitching rhythm of industry and the daily hustle and bustle of the modern city. To the chagrin of critics, these new concepts of dance and performing arts combined modernity and the popular life inspired by the New World: “Despite their national foci, what made Skating Rink and Parade modern were their American references: both looked to Hollywood – Skating Rink to Charlie Chaplin, Parade to The Perils of Pauline; both made references to jazz, and both referred albeit in indirect ways to American mechanical modernity. The motivation behind their evident admiration for the United States was the desire that France and other European countries might emulate American modernity and, through attaining its promised financial rewards, use them to create a better life.” (Ramsay Burt, Alien Bodies. Representations of Modernity, “Race” and Nation in Early Modern Dance, 2002).
This text created by a key figure of the Parisian avant-garde for the Ballets suédois in 1920 called for the convergence of the arts – literature, painting, dance and music – transforming the stage into a pure Cubist and Futurist manifestation.
Extremely rare, all the more with an autograph inscription by Ricciotto Canudo.
First edition, a first impression copy numbered in the press.
Binding in half brown morocco, spine in five compartments, gilt date at the foot, geometric pattern paper boards and endpapers in the same paper, top edge gilt, wrappers and spine preserved in perfect condition, binding signed by T. Boichot.
Apollinaire's second major poetic work with bold graphic innovations and a portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire by Pablo Picasso as frontispiece.
“Some of the best war poems, all languages combined, are brought together in this collection, alongside experimental works such as Les Fenêtres (close to Cubism) and La Jolie Rousse, which were far ahead of their time” (Cyril Connolly, Cent livres-clés de la littérature moderne, n° 32).
A beautiful copy on non-brittle paper which is unusual, and a rare and surprising handwritten inscription signed by Guillaume Apollinaire: “à monsieur le critique littéraire de La Libre Parole, hommage de Guill. Apollinaire." (“To the literary critic of La Libre Parole, tribute by Guill. Apollinaire.”)
Who could be the recipient of this inscription, unnamed but addressed to a collaborator of the famous anti-Semitic newspaper founded by Édouard Drumont? The ostensibly philo-Semitic position of Guillaume Apollinaire is well-known. In an 1899 letter, he boasts to Toussaint Luca that he tried to provoke Henri Rochefort, who was reading La Libre Parole, by deploying L'Aurore in front of him but, as the young Dreyfusard regrets, without daring to engage the controversy. In 1902, he publicly marked his fraternity with the Jewish people with a new publication in La Revue blanche, “Le Passant de Prague": “I love Jews because all Jews suffer everywhere”. Then in Alcools, he will dedicate a poem to the Hebrew religion: "La Synagogue". But it is undoubtedly through his poem “Le Juif latin”, published in L'Hérésiarque et Cie that Apollinaire poetically reveals the essence of his particular link with Judaism: that he shares the condition of eternal stranger, the feeling of uprooting and the search for identity.
It may, therefore, seem very surprising that this poet, whose only trace of political commitment was in favor of Dreyfus, dedicated his work to a La Libre Parole journalist, even if he is a literary critic.
And in fact, La Libre Parole does not contain literary columns!
A few months before the poet's death, this laconic inscription thus proves to be a formidable and final scoff of poetic impertinence
to political intolerance...
First edition, one of 470 numbered copies on Holland paper, the only deluxe copies with 59 on China paper.
Full violet morocco binding, spine with five raised bands uniformly sunned, date and place gilt at foot, double gilt fillet on edges and headcaps, endpapers and pastedowns - framed with wide gilt dentelle - of paste paper, all edges gilt on witnesses, covers and spine preserved, binding signed David. Upper corner of first cover lightly rubbed.
Bookplate pasted on front pastedown.
Handsome copy of this collection containing three fantastic tales: "L'entrevue", "Le Pavillon fermé" and "Marceline ou la punition fantastique".
