Ethnologie des Maramouts
Ethnologie des Maramouts is a posthumous and highly characteristic publication by Jean Ferry within the world of the Cymbalum Pataphysicum. The work presents itself as an imaginary ethnological study of the “Maramouts”, yet beneath that quasi-scientific form lies a fully pataphysical game with classification, ethnography, drawing and fictive seriousness. Ferry’s own drawings give the dossier a direct, almost manuscript-like presence. The edition appeared on 9 Haha CIV, corresponding to 14 October 1976, as the first volume of the Collection Maramoutéenne. Its material form is striking: not an ordinary bound book, but a dossier of loose leaves printed recto only, accompanied by a separate N.B. or errata-like leaf concerning the difficulty of reproducing Ferry’s handwriting and drawings. This copy is housed in the green folder and bears the printed Ferry emblem marked “n° 2”. As one of the 44 exemplaires de chapelle, it belongs to the most intimate and desirable category of this small pataphysical ethnography.
Quantity
Ferry, Jean
Ethnologie des Maramouts
1976 | Cymbalum Pataphysicum
No. 2 of 44 exemplaires de chapelle: Ferry’s imaginary people as a loose-leaf pataphysical relic.
Ethnologie des Maramouts is a posthumous and highly characteristic publication by Jean Ferry within the world of the Cymbalum Pataphysicum. The work presents itself as an imaginary ethnological study of the “Maramouts”, yet beneath that quasi-scientific form lies a fully pataphysical game with classification, ethnography, drawing and fictive seriousness. Ferry’s own drawings give the dossier a direct, almost manuscript-like presence. The edition appeared on 9 Haha CIV, corresponding to 14 October 1976, as the first volume of the Collection Maramoutéenne. Its material form is striking: not an ordinary bound book, but a dossier of loose leaves printed recto only, accompanied by a separate N.B. or errata-like leaf concerning the difficulty of reproducing Ferry’s handwriting and drawings. This copy is housed in the green folder and bears the printed Ferry emblem marked “n° 2”. As one of the 44 exemplaires de chapelle, it belongs to the most intimate and desirable category of this small pataphysical ethnography.
€320
Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-4 (Quarto) approx. 25 × 32 cm
Edition Particulars
One of 44 exemplaires de chapelle, in a green folder or wrapper, with printed Ferry emblem marked “n° 2”.
Print Run
44
Copy Number
No. 2
Inscription
No inscription
Product DETAIL
The work describes the imaginary “Maramouts” as though they were the subject of a serious ethnological inquiry. Ferry uses the language of observation, description and classification to make a fictive people or phenomenon both credible and absurd. The loose leaves combine text and drawings, giving the reader the impression of consulting field notes, a dossier or a scientific appendix. There is no conventional plot; the core consists of pseudo-documentary fragments that bring the Maramouts into being as an object of study. The separate N.B. leaf about reproduction difficulties heightens the impression of authenticity, as if one were close to Ferry’s original manuscript material. The humour arises from the collision between academic form and wholly invented content. Ethnology is thus transformed into pataphysical science fiction.
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