135 - Henri MICHAUX. Sketchbook. Undated [1939?].

Henri MICHAUX. Sketchbook. Undated [1939?]. Small in-16, stapled (11.5 x 8.5 cm), in a green canvas slipcase. A precious sketchbook containing 34 pages covered with sketches and handwritten notes in pencil: references to travel books on Persia, India, Tibet, Burma, and Siam. The 29 drawings mainly depict trees and branches, sometimes featuring architectural elements, animals, or silhouettes of figures. Some are unmistakably reminiscent of the illustrations in *Arbres des tropiques*. During his stay in Brazil in 1939, Michaux wrote a letter to Jean Paulhan in which he stated: “I draw trees wilder than those of the virgin forest.” Included are: 13 original black-and-white photographic prints (9 x 6.5 cm) and 7 negatives (5 of which correspond to some of the developed photographs); in a photographer’s pouch, Optica Lux, from Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian landscapes, featuring trees, rivers, and rocks. Two photographs depict a woman on horseback. Two original black-and-white photographic prints (9 x 6 cm) and seven negatives; in a “Photo-Plait” photographer’s pouch from Paris. Series depicting a woman in a coat along a riverbank, among trees, or on the deck of a ship.