PAUWELS (Louis) et Jacques BERGIER.

The Morning of the Magicians. Introduction to Fantastic Realism. Paris, Gallimard, 1960. In-8, paperback. First edition. One of 36 copies on vellum pur fil, the only large paper. This "sometimes legendary and sometimes accurate" account by the journalist Louis Pauwels and the chemical engineer Jacques Bergier was an immediate publishing success - at the origin of the magazine Planète, published from 1961 to 1971 - which contributed to reviving the fashion for the imaginary, the irrational and the strange, already revalorized by the Surrealists. The book is intended as a manifesto of "fantastic realism", a current of thought and counter-cultural movement that aims to study areas of knowledge excluded from official science, with a particular emphasis on esoteric themes, occult religions, extraterrestrials, lost civilizations, paranormal phenomena, etc. Very nice copy as issued.