Sims Reed Rare Books×

Petite Anthologie Poétique du Surréalisme

Hugnet, Georges (Intro.) & Various Surrealists: André Breton, Paul Eluard, Benjamin Péret, René Char, René Crevel &c

Paris. Editions Jeanne Bucher. 1934
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A very scarce example of Georges Hugnet's 'Petite Anthologie Poétique du Surréalisme' on geranium paper.

From the edition limited to 2,028 with this one of a very small number of copies on geranium paper with the wrappers also on geranium paper; this paper is not detailed in the justification and all remaining copies were issued in a green wrapper - the typography remains the same - with the text on white papier de Montval à la cuve (for the édition de tête) or on Alfa bouffant (for the remaining 2,000 copies).

As the issue of the book on geranium paper is not described in the justification it seems likely that very few copies of Hugnet's 'Petite Anthologie Poétique du Surréalisme' were printed on this paper. That this copy is bound by Hugnet too marks this as an exceptional copy. Hugnet's binding, making use of brilliant silver and scarlet metallic papers, is both highly unusual and visually striking. That Hugnet also makes use of hands, a common and recurrent motif and obsession for the Surrealists, and a motif used for other bindings by Paul Bonet, is compelling.

Also included, tipped-in to the initial blank before the half-title, is the publisher's announcement for the book. A large folded sheet of thin white paper, the announcement itself is printed in black in mirror writing to the verso of the sheet: to read the text properly one must view it through the recto of the thin paper.

The 'Petite Anthologie Poétique du Surréalisme' on papier géranium as here is necessarily scarce and we locate only André Breton's copy (lot 649 in his sale in 2003), that of Pierre Leroy bound by Leroux and with a literary cadavre exquis by Lise Deharme, Alberto Giacometti, Valentine Hugo and Paul Eluard (lot 226 in his sale in 2004) and a further copy in a binding by Georges Hugnet.

The édition de tête of 20 copies and the 8 copies printed for the collaborators on the edition were issued with an original etching by Picasso.

'Le poète Georges Hugnet, né en 1906, avait rejoint Breton et le groupe Surréaliste en 1932. Deux ans plus tard, il publia sa 'Petite Anthologie Poétique de Surréalisme' qui fut longtemps le seule de son genre ... L'introduction de Hugnet est une étude extrêmement intelligente du Surréalisme, éclairant les 'préparations de terrain' par le mouvement Dada ... les différents changements d'orinetation du groupe jusqu'en 1934 ainsi que des points cardinaux de la théorie du Surréalisme, tels que l'automatisme, le rapport entre poésie et peinture et l'engagement politique. L'anthologie rassemble des textes de Breton, Char, Crevel, Dali, Eluard, Hugnet, Mesens, Nougé, Péret, Rosey, Tzara, ainsi que des textes rédigés en commun par plusieurs auteurs ... les 'Jeux Surréalistes' (Cadavre Exquis) et les calembours réunis à la fin du livre ... '. (Patrick Cramer).

[see Cramer 22 for the édition de tête].
pp. 166, (i), (i). 8vo. (194 x 144 mm). Leaf with half-title, leaf with title recto and justification verso, 'Introduction' and printed text recto and verso illustrated with 21 hors-texte plates with monochrome illustration recto and verso on glossy paper, final leaves with 'Table'. Original publisher's geranium printed wrappers with flaps, geranium front wrapper with titles in pink and a background of small black printed text listing Surrealist artists and writers, rear wrapper with advertisements.
#48712

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