Peter Bichsel   Fine Books

Rimbaud, Arthur. Léger, Fernand. Les Illuminations. Lithographies originales de Fernand Léger. Préface de Henry Miller.

With 15 orig. lithographs, of which 12 are stencil colored . 134 pp., 4 leaves. Large 4to. Red contemp. morocco over 5 raised bands, spine gilt, top edge gilt (sign. W. Wirz). Slipcase. Orig. wrappers bound-in. – Lausanne, Grosclaude Editions des Gaules, 1949.

One of 275 num. copies on papier vélin teinté, fait à la main, of a total of 395, signed in the colophon by Léger and Grosclaude. The preface by Henry Miller at the beginning is reproduced as facsimile of his handwriting. Collection of prose poems by Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891), first published in the „Vogue“ magazine in 1886. The collective title „Illuminations“ was never written down by the author, but it is conveyed by Verlaine, who first received Rimbaud’s manuscriptduring their last meeting in Stuttgart in 1875. – Saphire 24–38; Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires de langue française, 948 ff. – Excellent copy in a contemporary hand-crafted binding. Outer front hinge slightly cracking in places. – Best.-Nr. 25896