Hands Off Love. (Printed in Transition)
Cunard, Nancy. Alexandre, Maxime, Louis Aragon, Jacques Baron et al
(Paris). 1927
The very scarce offprint of 'Hands Off Love' issued in defence of Surrealism's hero Charlie Chaplin after his divorce and the publication of Lita Grey Chaplin's scandalising 'The Complaint of Lita'.
Charlie Chaplin's divorce from Lita Grey Chaplin was concluded in August 1927 but her divorce complaint (i.e. 'The Complaint of Lita' listed above) had been made public - likely by Lita's lawyers at her behest - and a grand, scandalous furore resulted. 'Hands Off Love', largely an expression of distaste at the hypocrisy of the scandal and in defence of Chaplin, was printed first in the literary review 'Transition' in September 1927 before its appearance as this offprint. It appeared again, later and in French, in 'La Révolution Surréaliste' in October 1927.
The full list of signatories is as follows: Maxime Alexandre, Louis Aragon, Jacques Baron, Jacques-André Boiffard, André Breton, Jean Carrive, Robert Desnos, Marcel Duhamel, Paul Eluard, Max Ernst, Jean Genbach, Camille Goemans, Paul Hooreman, Eugene Jolas, Michel Leiris, Georges Limbour, Georges Malkine, André Masson, Max Morise, Pierre Naville, Marcel Noll, Paul Nougé, Elliot Paul, Benjamin Péret, Jacques Prévert, Raymond Quénau [sic], Man Ray, Georges Sadoul, Yves Tanguy, Roland Tual, Pierre Unik.
'Hands Off Love' is very scarce and we locate copies in France at the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Biliothèque Kandinsky only; in the US we trace examples at MoMA, the Getty, Indiana and the Ransome Center.
Charlie Chaplin's divorce from Lita Grey Chaplin was concluded in August 1927 but her divorce complaint (i.e. 'The Complaint of Lita' listed above) had been made public - likely by Lita's lawyers at her behest - and a grand, scandalous furore resulted. 'Hands Off Love', largely an expression of distaste at the hypocrisy of the scandal and in defence of Chaplin, was printed first in the literary review 'Transition' in September 1927 before its appearance as this offprint. It appeared again, later and in French, in 'La Révolution Surréaliste' in October 1927.
The full list of signatories is as follows: Maxime Alexandre, Louis Aragon, Jacques Baron, Jacques-André Boiffard, André Breton, Jean Carrive, Robert Desnos, Marcel Duhamel, Paul Eluard, Max Ernst, Jean Genbach, Camille Goemans, Paul Hooreman, Eugene Jolas, Michel Leiris, Georges Limbour, Georges Malkine, André Masson, Max Morise, Pierre Naville, Marcel Noll, Paul Nougé, Elliot Paul, Benjamin Péret, Jacques Prévert, Raymond Quénau [sic], Man Ray, Georges Sadoul, Yves Tanguy, Roland Tual, Pierre Unik.
'Hands Off Love' is very scarce and we locate copies in France at the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Biliothèque Kandinsky only; in the US we trace examples at MoMA, the Getty, Indiana and the Ransome Center.
[3 bifolia: 6 unnumbered leaves]. 12mo. (194 x 144 mm). Leaf with drop-head title, printed text in English throughout, final leaf with printed signatures of various Surrealists. Original publisher's red printed wrappers, stapled as issued, titles to front cover in black.
#48608
