Sommes-nous deux ou suis-je solitaire

*Une aventure méthodique* brings together Pierre Reverdy’s concentrated poetic prose and Georges Braque’s austere visual language. It belongs among the major post-war French livres d’artiste, where text, lithography and typography meet as equal forces. Braque contributed 27 original lithographs, supplemented by colour reproductions after his paintings, giving the volume both intimacy and monumentality. Printed by Mourlot, the celebrated Paris lithographic workshop, the book has exceptional technical refinement. This copy, on vélin d’Arches and signed by both author and artist, preserves a rare encounter between modern poetry and pictorial invention.

*La guerre et la paix*, published in 1954, is a monumental overview of Pablo Picasso's work for the Vallauris chapel, accompanied by Claude Roy's text. This edition by Cercle d’Art forms an essential synthesis of Picasso’s post-war humanism and his resistance to the horrors of conflict. The book contains, alongside numerous reproductions, original lithographs that expose the dynamics of his artistic process. For the bibliophile, this work is a crucial testimony to the dialogue between word and image in the early 1950s.

*Führ 4 für vier*, published in 1969, is an iconic collaborative work that completely blurs the boundaries between concrete poetry and concrete art. Edited by Jürgen Brenner and Kurt Weidemann, this large-format book-object brings together an international selection of the most important avant-garde voices of the 1960s. The work is not merely an anthology but a tactile and visual experiment where transparent sheets, serigraphs, and typographic compositions overlap. Featuring contributions from major figures such as Ian Hamilton Finlay, Eugen Gomringer, and François Morellet, it functions as a total work of art questioning the structural essence of language and form. The edition was strictly limited, and each copy was personally signed by all participating artists, confirming its status as a historical document. For the collector of concrete art and conceptual publications, this is an absolute cornerstone. Its physical execution as a blockbook with silver accents reflects the machine-like and minimalist aesthetics of the era.

Hélène chez Archimède is a remarkable example of the collaboration between a poet and a visual artist, in this case the French author André Suarès and the legendary Spanish master Pablo Picasso. The edition, illustrated with wood engravings, reveals the complex interplay between word and image that culminated in the production of illustrated books in the mid-20th century. This work, originally a project by the famous art dealer Ambroise Vollard, shows the enduring relevance of classical themes, here the myth of Helen, in a modernist context. Thanks to its careful execution and the exclusivity of its print run, Hélène chez Archimède is not only a literary work but also an art object, a testament to the artisanal perfection sought by the Nouveau Cercle parisien du Livre. It represents a significant moment in the history of the modern illustrated book, where the line between illustration and autonomous art blurs. The additions to this copy, such as a menu and an announcement leaflet, enrich its bibliographic and historical value and offer a rare glimpse into its publication context.