59 - Paul ÉLUARD. *La Vie immédiate*. Paris: Éditions des Cahiers libres, 1932.

Paul ÉLUARD. *La Vie immédiate*. Paris: Éditions des Cahiers libres, 1932. In-12, paperback, gray paper slipcase. First edition. A curious autographed dedication on the half-title page: To René Magritte in memory of better times when he was my friend, Paul Éluard The dedication page was detached, folded in four, and then reinserted into the book. Did Magritte act in a fit of anger? Or was it his wife, Georgette? The dedication certainly seems unkind, but nothing, on the face of it, justified this mutilation—except, perhaps, the crucifix incident… In 1929, in fact, during a dinner in Paris on Rue Fontaine, André Breton demanded that Georgette Magritte remove the gold cross she was wearing around her neck. She refused, supported by her husband: not only did the Magrittes leave the party, but they also left Paris to resettle in Brussels. Although they had fallen out, they both “expressed their regret over this rift, but it was Breton who took the first step by sending, in 1932, *Le Revolver à cheveux blancs*, dedicated ‘to René Magritte, his friend despite everything, André Breton’” (Dictionnaire André Breton, p. 624), the very same year he received that copy of *La Vie immédiate*, bearing the curious inscription. One can imagine that Éluard had sided with Breton, taking up his cause, which was undoubtedly not entirely over when his inscribed copy arrived at the Magrittes’ home. Three years later, Éluard published the poem “René Magritte” in the journal *Cahiers d’art*, and in 1936 the painter created his portrait, titled *La Magie blanche*. Finally, Magritte illustrated the 1946 edition of the collection *Les Nécessités de la vie* (Brussels: Éditions Lumières) with twelve drawings.