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*Poésies. 1917-1920* gathers poems from a decisive period in Jean Cocteau’s development, at the intersection of poetry, music and the Parisian avant-garde. The collection was published in 1920 by Éditions de la Sirène, a house closely associated with Cocteau during these years. The poems belong to the period of his involvement with Erik Satie, the Groupe des Six and artists connected with Cubism, although Cocteau himself resisted identification with any single movement. Marie Laurencin contributed the printed illustration for the original wrapper, giving the volume a significant visual dimension. In this copy that wrapper has been preserved within an attractive contemporary half-leather binding. Most notably, Cocteau inscribed the book to a friend named Marcelle, possibly the pianist Marcelle Meyer, potentially connecting this individual copy with the artistic circle in which the work originated.

With *152 Proverbes mis au goût du jour*, Paul Éluard and Benjamin Péret published in 1925 one of the most characteristic linguistic experiments of the first phase of organized Surrealism. The book takes one of the most familiar forms of collective wisdom, the proverb, and subjects it to systematic disruption. Familiar expressions are shifted, crossed and rewritten so that their apparently self-evident logic gives way to unexpected meanings. The collaboration brings together two central voices of the young Surrealist movement in a text where humour and poetic subversion are inseparable. The work appeared in the immediate orbit of *La Révolution surréaliste*, the periodical that from late 1924 served as a major organ of the movement. It is also bibliographically significant as the first title of the Éditions Surréalistes, recorded as Sebbag, no. 1 and also referenced as Lhermitte 236. This copy belongs to the ordinary issue on edition paper. As an early independent Surrealist publication, the book has both literary and documentary importance.

With *Quelques-uns des mots qui jusqu’ici m’étaient mystérieusement interdits*, Paul Éluard published one of his most refined small-format books with Guy Lévis Mano at the end of 1937. At G.L.M. the text was given an unusually deliberate typographic form, making the physical disposition of words an integral part of the poetic experience. The publication belongs to Éluard’s mature Surrealist period, when language, desire and the liberation of thought were closely intertwined. Guy Lévis Mano acted not merely as publisher but also as printer and typographic designer, giving the volume an exceptional unity of poetry and bookmaking. The complete numbered edition comprised only 346 copies on three different papers. This copy is numbered 32 and is therefore not merely one of 45 copies on Normandy vellum, but the very first numbered copy on this second paper. It follows immediately after the 31 deluxe copies on vergé Hollande Pannekoek. Its precise position in the limitation gives the copy additional bibliographical distinction.

With *Quelques-uns des mots qui jusqu’ici m’étaient mystérieusement interdits*, Paul Éluard published one of his most concentrated works with Guy Lévis Mano in 1937. The text belongs to Éluard’s mature Surrealist period and explores the liberating possibilities of language and association. At G.L.M. it was given a carefully considered typographic form characteristic of the close dialogue between poetry and book design cultivated by the press. Guy Lévis Mano acted not only as publisher but also as printer and typographic designer. The complete edition comprised only 346 numbered copies divided among three papers. This copy, no. 230, belongs to the third and largest group, printed on tinted vellum and numbered 77–346. Even within this regular issue it remains part of a limited first edition from the heart of Éluard’s Surrealist production. Its very good condition further enhances its appeal.

This rare first edition of Ramures brings together Tristan Tzara and Alberto Giacometti at a moment when Surrealism still functioned as an intense experimental laboratory. Published in 1936 by GLM in the Repères series, it belongs to a small but prestigious collection that paired poets and artists in very limited editions. Tzara's text is introduced by Giacometti's frontispiece, immediately placing the book within the world of the concentrated modern artist's publication. Its format, loose sheets and edition of only seventy copies give it the character of an intimate, highly selective printed object. This copy is number 63, printed on Normandy and justified by the publisher. It is a characteristic GLM production: modest in scale, but rich in literary and artistic resonance.

With *Poésie 1916-1923*, Jean Cocteau gathered a decisive period of his poetic development into a single volume. This first collective edition, partly original, covers years in which the First World War, Parisian modernity and Cocteau's close relationships with writers and artists profoundly transformed his poetry. The collection combines previously issued work with new material and notably includes the first publication of *Discours du grand sommeil*. Its poetry moves between lyrical intimacy, memories of war, dream, death and an acute sensitivity to modern life. This copy gains exceptional importance from its press-copy status and, above all, from Cocteau's highly personal inscription to Pierre Mac Orlan. Cocteau further surrounded the inscription with an original drawing in blue and red pencil, turning the book into a publication, a document of literary admiration and a unique graphic object.

Published by Stock in 1923, *Plain-Chant* is one of the significant poetic works of Jean Cocteau’s early maturity. In this extended lyrical composition he adopts a strikingly clear and controlled form after the more experimental poetry of the preceding years. Love, sleep, death and the enigmatic figure of the angel are interwoven in a poem that is both intimate and formally disciplined. The work belongs to the aesthetic turning point Cocteau experienced during this period, notably through his closeness to Raymond Radiguet. This copy is from the ordinary issue of the first edition, yet it is distinguished by a signed and dated authorial inscription to ‘Cantinelli’. The recipient is very probably Richard Cantinelli, closely involved with Éditions de La Sirène and therefore part of a publishing circle with which Cocteau himself had strong ties. That association gives an apparently simple presentation inscription unusual bibliographical and personal resonance.

Palindromes bilingues is a small but exceptionally precise booklet from the world of Oulipo and the Cymbalum Pataphysicum. Luc Étienne, the pseudonym of Luc Périn, was a master of wordplay, constraints and phonetic ambiguity. Here he brings the palindrome to a particularly refined limit: the text reads in one direction as French and in the other as English. The work appeared in 1984 as the second volume of the Collection du Fourneau, published by Éditions du Fourneau under the aegis of the Cymbalum Pataphysicum. Its material sobriety perfectly suits the intellectual virtuosity of the project: a few leaves, an oblong format, a white wrapper and an almost secret typographic precision. This copy is designated in the justification as “t anglais” and belongs to the 52 exemplaires capitaux on pur fil Lafuma. It therefore rises above the ordinary issue and becomes a highly desirable object within the post-Jarry formal avant-garde.

Nus. La Beauté de la femme is a key album of modernist nude photography between the wars. Assembled by Daniel Masclet for the first international salon of photographic nudes, it gathers 96 plates in which the female body is treated as form, rhythm, light, and sculptural presence. The inclusion of Man Ray, Jaromír Funke, and Károly Rózsa places the volume at the heart of the international avant-garde of the 1930s. Photography is presented here not merely as document or erotic image, but as a laboratory of composition, shadow, fragmentation, and the modern gaze. The Japanese-style binding and restrained presentation give the book the quality of an elegant artist’s portfolio. For the bibliophile, it is a rare and eloquent witness to the moment when photography claimed its place beside painting and printmaking.

*Objet des mots et des images* is a fully lithographed artist’s book in which Paul Éluard’s poetry enters into direct dialogue with Ernest Engel-Pak’s colour lithographs. Published by Opéra in Paris in 1947 and printed by Mourlot frères, it consists of sixteen loose lithographic sheets, including the title leaf. The text itself belongs to the lithographic conception: Éluard’s words are reproduced from his handwriting, while Engel-Pak’s abstract compositions activate the same pictorial field. The edition announces seventeen poems; the apparent discrepancy with the sixteen sheets is explained by the first poem, which consists of six separately counted parts. The texts are drawn from *La Vie immédiate* of 1932 and were regrouped fifteen years later as an autonomous selection in a new visual setting. The single edition comprised 300 numbered copies on vélin, signed at the colophon by Éluard and Engel-Pak.