16 - André BRETON. Martinique, Snake Charmer. With texts and illustrations by André Masson. Paris, Éditions du Sagittaire, 1948. In-12, paperback, red paper slipcase.

André BRETON. Martinique, Snake Charmer. With texts and illustrations by André Masson. Paris, Éditions du Sagittaire, 1948. In-12, paperback, red paper slipcase. First edition: press copy. In 1941, on his way into exile in the United States, André Breton spent a month in Martinique in the company of André Masson: the painter contributed a poem, “Antille,” followed by a dialogue with Breton titled “Le Dialogue créole.” This was a pivotal stay for Breton, who met Aimé Césaire there, whom he discusses at length in *Un grand poète noir* (pp. 85–107). Beautiful signed autograph: To Véra and Jacques Hérold / please excuse me / for offering you / only a drop of dew / on my fingernail, / affectionately / André Breton When Jacques Hérold (1910–1987), a Romanian Jew, arrived in Paris in 1930, he immediately became friends with his compatriot Victor Brauner: together, they spent time with Breton and the Surrealists. Hérold was among the small number of artists who took refuge in Marseille in 1940 but were unable to flee to the United States. In 1943, he joined the young artists of the Resistance group La Main à Plume. He met his future wife, France Binard—who would come to be known as Véra—in 1944.