Le Mirivis des Naturgies
A pataphysical rarity in handsome dress: the so-called typographic edition of Le Mirivis des Naturgies, issued the same year as the famed Dubuffet-illustrated version. This booklet presents only André Martel’s texts, crisply composed and rhythmically paced, printed on vélin in 300 numbered copies. The present copy received a later luxury binding in black morocco with framed panels and balsa boards by Miguet, giving the book an almost sculptural tactility. The colophon credits Fequet and Baudier and notes the hors-commerce status. It includes a generous presentation inscription from Martel to Jean L’Anselme, who in turn forwards it. Binding, text, and provenance make a compelling whole for the collector of pataphysical language experiments.
Quantity
Martel, André
Le Mirivis des Naturgies
1963 | Paris
An exemplary state of Martel’s sound-machine, in sculptural binding with strong provenance. Scarce, clean, and compelling as a document of pataphysical creativity.
A pataphysical rarity in handsome dress: the so-called typographic edition of Le Mirivis des Naturgies, issued the same year as the famed Dubuffet-illustrated version. This booklet presents only André Martel’s texts, crisply composed and rhythmically paced, printed on vélin in 300 numbered copies. The present copy received a later luxury binding in black morocco with framed panels and balsa boards by Miguet, giving the book an almost sculptural tactility. The colophon credits Fequet and Baudier and notes the hors-commerce status. It includes a generous presentation inscription from Martel to Jean L’Anselme, who in turn forwards it. Binding, text, and provenance make a compelling whole for the collector of pataphysical language experiments.
€575
Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-4 (Quarto) approx. 25 × 32 cm
Edition Particulars
One of 300 numbered copies on vélin; with Martel’s presentation to Jean L’Anselme, later forwarded to Jacques Dauchez; letter on ministerial letterhead laid in.
Print Run
300
Copy Number
No. 237
Paper
vélin
Product DETAIL
Martel’s book stages his “martelanguage” as a musical system of sound and rhythm. The typographic issue removes imagery so the language itself can reverberate. In large quarto the spacing and typographic pulse read with clarity. Miguet’s master binding heightens the object quality and the paradox of an anti-academic text in a luxurious case. The run is strict: 300 numbered copies, hors commerce. The envoi and L’Anselme’s forwarding capture a lively pataphysical network.
Ribemont-Dessaignes, Georges
Ariane
A remarkable copy of *Ariane*, published in the *Les Cahiers Nouveaux* series, inscribed with a poetic and enigmatic message by Ribemont-Dessaignes to Jacques Matarasso. This deluxe Japan paper edition was elegantly rebound in 1994 by Georges Leroux, in a restrained style that echoes the work’s Dadaist spirit.
Book
€1,100
Gracq, Julien
Au château d'Argol
Julien Gracq’s debut novel, issued by José Corti, sets a gothic castle on the Breton coast as the stage for a charged, almost dream-logic encounter between three figures. The prose is musical and image-rich, favouring symbolic landscapes and metaphysical weather. Born near Surrealism yet distinctly independent, the book establishes Gracq’s lucid enchantment from the start. For bibliophiles this is a key title: an early Corti publication, scarce in appealing condition, and the opening note of a major twentieth-century voice. Its limited print-run and initially slow reception add to the sense of discovery. This copy is on publisher’s stock.
Book
€610
Dominique Fourcade, Pierre Buraglio · Buraglio, Pierre
Au travail ma chérie
First volume in the Préférence series: a focused encounter between Dominique Fourcade and Pierre Buraglio. The Imprimerie nationale produced an exemplary typographic edition on Rives wove, limited to 100 copies signed by both. Buraglio “illuminates” the book with spare, hand-made interventions—strokes, contours, accents—that let the page breathe. The plain wrappers in a sturdy case stress the workshop feel. This copy bears a presentation to Jacques Dauchez, adding a vivid bibliophilic provenance. A scarce, exact book where typography, gesture, and poetry hold each other in balance.
Book
€725
Aragon, Louis
Anicet ou le panorama
With *Anicet ou le panorama* (Paris, NRF, 1921), Louis Aragon delivers an early, deliberately hybrid novel written at the hinge between Dada disruption and the rise of Surrealism. The book proceeds by visions and sequences—a “panorama” in which identity, desire, and the act of looking continually shift. In this bibliophile form (“tirage de tête” reserved for NRF bibliophiles), the novel also becomes a collectible object intended for a small inner circle. This copy is specifically designated “pour le Dr. Sourdel” and numbered XLVIII, underscoring the selective, personalized nature of the issue. Published under the NRF imprint, Aragon is anchored in the literary center while keeping the book’s formal audacity intact. A key item for understanding the nervous modernity of the early 1920s.