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En appel de visages

SKU ENAP-002

En appel de visages is a refined production where Henri Michaux and Yves Peyré meet in a dialogue between voice and gaze. The book probes the face as a site of revelation and evasion, a theme Michaux pursued both in language and gesture. Generous typographic spacing lets the text breathe, each line set like a trace upon the sheet. Verdier’s execution is bibliophilic and restrained—issued in loose quarto leaves on noble paper for an intimate reading. The Lana Royal copies are the most desirable of the run. This copy is additionally signed by both the author and Michaux, making the encounter between poet and artist palpable. The whole radiates the poised elegance of 1980s French fine printing.

Quantity

En appel de visages
1983 | Lagrasse
A crisp, scarce copy that condenses the meeting of poet and artist into a concentrated object. Ideal for collectors of Michaux’s quiet radicalism. A highlight of sober French bibliophily.

En appel de visages is a refined production where Henri Michaux and Yves Peyré meet in a dialogue between voice and gaze. The book probes the face as a site of revelation and evasion, a theme Michaux pursued both in language and gesture. Generous typographic spacing lets the text breathe, each line set like a trace upon the sheet. Verdier’s execution is bibliophilic and restrained—issued in loose quarto leaves on noble paper for an intimate reading. The Lana Royal copies are the most desirable of the run. This copy is additionally signed by both the author and Michaux, making the encounter between poet and artist palpable. The whole radiates the poised elegance of 1980s French fine printing.

€550
Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-4 (Quarto) approx. 25 × 32 cm
Edition Particulars
One of 75 numbered copies on Lana Royal wove, signed by the author and Henri Michaux.
Print Run
75
Copy Number
No. 15
Paper
vélin Lana royal

Product DETAIL

The volume turns around the motif of the face—calling, recognition, loss—and asks how language can edge the ungraspable. Michaux writes in a probing, broken register; Peyré’s voice answers and reframes. The open page architecture amplifies the cadence and makes the sheet a field of resonance. Themes of identity, appearance, and elusiveness recur in variations without fixing a plot. Readers are invited to pause, return, and wander among the lines.

Aux Petits Agneaux
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A artist’s book resulting from the collaboration between writer Patrick Waldberg and surrealist master Max Ernst. This first edition includes 19 original lithographs printed on luxurious vélin d'Arches. Published in Paris in 1971 in a limited edition of 174 copies signed by both author and artist, and presented in a custom publisher’s box.

Illustrated Book
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L'arbre descend du singe
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L'Arbre descend du singe is a beautifully illustrated edition that highlights the collaboration between the poet Jean-Louis Bedouin and the artist Guy Hallart. The work, published in a limited edition, is characterized by a rich dialogue between poetry and image, where the visual compositions reflect the dreamy and often cryptic nature of Bedouin's texts. The book is a tangible testament to the artistic symbiosis between the two creators and offers a unique insight into a creative dialogue from the mid-1970s.

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Arriver à se réveiller
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A rare first edition of Arriver à se réveiller, written by Henri Michaux in the tremulous post-war years. The text unfolds as an inward journey toward lucidity, where sleep and waking mirror each other. Printed and published by Pierre Bettencourt in his own workshop, the edition’s small run preserves the work’s intimacy. The title-page vignette, a linocut by Bettencourt, sets a spare, rhythmic visual key that amplifies Michaux’s vigilant, vulnerable tone. This copy is handsomely bound in brown morocco with balsa boards by Miguet, a tactile nod to lightness under tension. For bibliophiles, it is an exemplary union of poetry, craft, and experiment. The volume embodies the independence of the post-war small press and Michaux’s radical sensitivity.

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€680
Arrière-histoire du poème pulvérisé
Char, Rene · Stael, Nicolas de
Arrière-histoire du poème pulvérisé

*Arrière-histoire du poème pulvérisé* is a later illustrated edition of a key text in which René Char looks back on the genesis and inner background of *Le Poème pulvérisé*. Published in 1972 by Imprimerie Union, it opens with a colour frontispiece by Nicolas de Staël. The pairing of Char and de Staël is especially charged: two post-war voices, each seeking concentration, clarity, and rupture in his own medium. This copy is one of only six hors commerce copies on Arches and is signed. The autograph presentation inscription to Doctor Marcel Zara, with poetic quotation and October 1972 dating, makes it a deeply personal copy.

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Studies & Dossiers
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When a Signature Becomes Provenance

A signature confirms; a dedication connects; an association copy tells a story.

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The Fragile Meaning of ‘Complet’

In auction descriptions, “complete” often sounds reassuring — but it is only meaningful when verified against the colophon, the justification, and the bibliography. For The Hidden Page, clarity begins where vague market language ends.

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Size does (not) matter

Size does (not) matter: The Paradoxical Power of Format in Avant-Garde Book Art

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