Fatras

First edition, one of the press copies.

Work illustrated with 57 reproductions of collages by Jacques Prévert.

A precious copy belonging to the actor Pierre Brasseur, Prévert's friend and collaborator, containing: 

• an autograph inscription signed by Jacques Prévert on the half-title page: "Pour Pierre Jacques", embellished with two small charms,
• an original collage depicting a bat dressed as a nun with outstretched wings below the justification of the print run, 
• facing the justification page, an autograph inscription signed by Jacques Prévert to Pierre Brasseur and Catherine Sauvage, with a small heart drawn and highlighted in red felt-tip pen.

Their paths first crossed in 1935, when Prévert and Brasseur worked together on Un oiseau rare, directed by Richard Pottier. Brasseur remained a loyal member of the « Bande à Prévert », going on to work on ten more of his films. As Janick Arbois recalls, it was Prévert who allowed Brasseur to display his full range as an actor: 

"Initially typecast as a "gigolo," a lightweight image he carried for years thanks to Incognito (1932), Jacques Prévert gave him the chance to reinvent himself in Quai des brumes. The famous slap Jean Gabin delivers to him in that film marks the start of a run of roles in which he became a "vilain monsieur": villain, and something of a coward to boot. With the character of Frederick Lemaître, the actor in The Children of Paradise, he perhaps found his finest role".

Brasseur and Prévert reached the pinnacle of French cinema with Les Enfants du Paradis. The actor also lent his deep voice to the animated film written by Jacques Prévert, La Bergère et le ramoneur (1948), directed by Paul Grimault.

After Prévert the screenwriter, it is Prévert the poet who in Fatras (1966), fashions collages that dismantle reality associated with his texts for the first time. This deeply personal offering, embellished with an original collage, could hardly have failed to resonate with Brasseur's own sensibilities: a friend of the Surrealists, introduced into their circle by Aragon, Brasseur (known for having recorded readings of several of Prévert's poems) himself published a few texts in La Révolution surréaliste with Prévert's support.

A unique union of Prévert's creative and personal world, through this copy transformed into a true work of art for actor and friend Pierre Brasseur.