Temps zéro

First edition of the French translation, for which no deluxe copies were issued.
Precious autograph presentation inscription signed by Italo Calvino to his friend, the Argentine photographer José María “Pepe” Fernández.
Our copy is further enriched with an original photograph by Pepe Fernández depicting Italo Calvino leaning on a stack of books.
Signed by the photographer at the foot of the image, with handwritten notes and Pepe Fernández’s stamp on the verso.
Double autograph signature of Pepe Fernández on the front endpaper and the title page as presentation inscriptions, spine faded.

Pepe Fernández associated with Ernesto Guevara in the 1940s, and later befriended Silvina Ocampo, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, and Louis Aragon. Best known for his portraits of Borges, he was also the photographer of many artists such as Pablo Neruda, Mikis Theodorakis, Astor Piazzolla, and actors including Paul Newman, Patrick Dewaere, Julie Christie... He met Italo Calvino in Paris in 1964 and immediately became one of his closest friends and his “official portraitist.” His photographs illustrate several editions of the great Italian novelist.