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Une Semaine de Bonté ou Les Sept Éléments Capitaux, [A Week of Kindness, or the Seven Deadly Elements].

Une Semaine de Bonté ou Les Sept Éléments Capitaux, [A Week of Kindness, or the Seven Deadly Elements].

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Une Semaine de Bonté ou Les Sept Éléments Capitaux, [A Week of Kindness, or the Seven Deadly Elements].

by ERNST, Max. MERCHER, Daniel-Henri

  • Used
  • first
Condition
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Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
LONDON, Greater London, United Kingdom
Item Price
€14,431.20
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About This Item

Paris: Jeanne Bucher, 1934. Complete set of the first edition of all 5 cahiers, all with the original wrappers bound in and each no. 502 of 800 copies printed on Navarre. 128 fantastical collages by Max Ernst. 22 x 27 cms. superbly bound by Daniel-Henri Mercher (signed on the front turn-in) in quarter black morocco each side with a replication of one of Ernst’s collages with bands of purple, green, red, blue and yellow colour overlaid with cut out metallic marbled paper beneath clear Lucite, the cut outs reveal the stylised letters ‘DLMMJVS’ (in reverse on the lower cover) standing for the days of the week in French, spine delicately lettered in purple, green, red, blue and yellow, wood-veneer endpapers, tope edge black, others untrimmed; all the immaculate original wrappers bound in plus the woodcut printed on green paper which was originally issued on the outside of the publisher’s slipcase. Superb copy, housed in the black morocco and wood-veneer chemise and slipcase with the same colour lettering as the volume itself.||Max Ernst’s ‘Une Semaine de Bonté’ is one of the great artist’s books and a landmark of the Surrealist movement. Ernst created his 182 images from Victorian encyclopedias, illustrated novels, scientific and technical publications, mail-order catalogues, natural history catalogues and many other sources including wood engravings by Gustave Dore and Max Klinger. His ‘novel without words’ was created while Ernst was on holiday in Italy from the contents of one of his suitcases. The book is splendidly strange and foreboding with images placed at destablilsing angles and places creating enigmatic visual themes of violence, sex, anti-religion, jealousy, murder and death.
The book is divided into seven sections named after the days of the week but was in fact published in five cahiers as the first four publications did not achieve the success Ernst hoped for, therefore the three last days were put together into a fifth and final cahier.
The bold and sympathetic designer binding was made by Daniel-Henri Mercher (b.1944), son of the great Henri Mercher (1912-1976) drawing on Ernst’s colour scheme for the original wrappers of the book - purple, green, red, blue and yellow - and using a reproduction of one of Ernst’s collages over which he placed a sheet of silver and grey cut out in stylised letters to represent the days of the week.|Flety, p.126; Maurer, Images of Dreams and Desire: The Prints and Collage Novels of Max Ernst (p. 78-91). A fine copy of the landmark of the Surrealist movement superbly bound by Mercher

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Details

Bookseller
SOPHIE SCHNEIDEMAN RARE BOOKS GB (GB)
Bookseller's Inventory #
11814
Title
Une Semaine de Bonté ou Les Sept Éléments Capitaux, [A Week of Kindness, or the Seven Deadly Elements].
Author
ERNST, Max. MERCHER, Daniel-Henri
Book Condition
Used
Publisher
Jeanne Bucher
Place of Publication
Paris
Date Published
1934
Keywords
Book,Artists’ & Fine Press, Fine Bookbinding

Terms of Sale

SOPHIE SCHNEIDEMAN RARE BOOKS

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 10 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

SOPHIE SCHNEIDEMAN RARE BOOKS

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2012
LONDON, Greater London

About SOPHIE SCHNEIDEMAN RARE BOOKS

RARE BOOK AND PRINT SELLER FOR OVER 30 YEARS SPECIALISING IN PRIVATE PRESS & ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, ARTISTS' & FINE PRESS BOOKS, FINE BINDING, LETTERING, TYPOGRAPHY PRINTS &C WE ARE OPEN BY APPOINTMENT OR CHANCE 7 DAYS A WEEK, DAY & EVENING, WE ARE MEMBERS OF PBFA, ABA & ILAB

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Marbled Paper
Decorative colored paper that imitates marble with a veined, mottled, or swirling pattern. Commonly used as the end papers or...
Wrappers
The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
Morocco
Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....

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