MATHIAS – Books & Manuscripts

JEUDI 7 JUIN 2018

Mathias & Oger-Blanchet
Expert: Christian Galantaris

The bibliophile collection which will be offered by auctioneer Jean-Jacques Mathias on the upcoming 7 June at Drouot includes precious books, ancient and modern documents. Among the modern selection, one of the most important is the complete autograph manuscripts of two major works of literature from the last century: Le Surréalisme et la peinture by André BRETON (1928). The impact this manuscript had is said to be as important as the Surrealism Manifesto (1924). André BRETON, himself an artist and a perfectionist, has rewritten some sentences and some paragraphs as many times as needed as to achieve a perfect intelligibility. His remorse, corrections, additions and suppressions remain readable despite furious marks attesting the difficulty of the work executed.

The other one is the manuscript of the Conquérants by André MALRAUX (from 1928) that includes a chapter which was not published at the time. It is one of the greatest novels of the century, an unforgettable chronicle about the beginning of Chinese revolt against Occidental occupancy. In addition to these major works, letters and manuscripts were mainly chosen for the spicy details that they hold: Aragon, Antonin Artaud, Georges Auric, Blaise Cendrars, René Char, Paul Claudel, Colette, Debussy (about Pelléas & Mélisande), Marcel Duchamp, Max Jacob (to A. Malraux), Alfred Jarry (with a drawing), Moïse Kisling, André Malraux, Paul Morand (correspondence with Valentine Hugo), Picasso (to J. Cocteau), Saint-Exupéry (about Terre des Hommes), Saint-John Perse, George Sand, Paul Valéry.

This sale will offer many other rare volumes, essays, erudition, memoirs, fine books, bookbinding with the coat of arms of a Normandy castle.

Christian Galantaris