26 - René CHAR. *Le Soleil des eaux*. A Play for a Fishermen’s Painting, illustrated by Georges Braque.

René CHAR. *Le Soleil des eaux*. A Play for a Fishermen’s Painting, illustrated by Georges Braque. René CHAR. *Le Soleil des eaux*. A Play for a Fishermen’s Painting, illustrated by Georges Braque. Paris, H. Matarasso, 1949. In-4, loose-leaf, hardcover, in the publisher’s slipcase. First edition published at the poet’s expense, with distribution handled by bookseller Henri Matarasso. Limited edition of 200 copies signed by the poet and the painter: one of the 170 copies on Marais vellum (no. 54). The original illustration by Georges Braque consists of four etchings: three in black and one in color for the title. Antoine Coron recounts the reply sent by René Char to Pierre André Benoit on February 19, 1957: “*Le Soleil des eaux* would need to be completely rewritten, which I will not do. It is a sort of pastoral that will have passed like a gentle breeze over the Sorgue […]. What remains is Braque, beautiful and with a passion that still moves me” (Coron, René Char, BnF, 2007, no. 190.) The publisher’s slipcase is slightly worn.