150 - Henri MICHAUX.

Henri MICHAUX. Paintings and Drawings, with a foreword and captions drawn from the author’s poetic works. Paris, Éditions du Point du Jour, 1946. Quarto, paperback, black cover printed in solid red, with the publisher’s slipcase and dust jacket. First edition with the preface. An important album containing 43 full-page reproductions of drawings and paintings by Henri Michaux, each protected by a red-printed border featuring excerpts from the author’s poems. Printed in an edition of 950 copies on Rives B.F.K. paper. One of the 13 copies reserved for the author and the publishers (copy C), printed especially for René Bertelé. It bears this long and beautiful autograph dedication signed: FOR / RENÉ BERTELÉ, author of this book so beautiful / that at times I am embarrassed by it, / and ready to apologize for it and / compelled to acknowledge the best / of friends, the most devoted, / the only one who could have / had this idea and the patience to / bring together the elements, at length, / artfully / H. Michaux The dedication is accompanied by a superb original drawing, signed in India ink, covering the facing page. Included are 18 trial prints of the illustrations as well as an original photograph of a watercolor. This is the second book by Henri Michaux published by René Bertelé, shortly after *Apparitions*—which speaks to the value of its provenance, as the friendship between the two men lasted until the publisher’s death. The editors of the Pléiade highlight another quality of René Bertelé: his ability to understand, “with particular acuity, just how dual this work was, composed of words as well as images”—and we know just how much Michaux cherished this volume of *Peintures et Dessins*. (René Bertelé Collection Auction, 1997, lot 185.) (BnF, Henri Michaux, 1999, no. 102: “For *Peintures et dessins*, an extremely lavish work for its time, Michaux wrote a preface (*En pensant au phénomène de la peinture*). […] When Paulhan read it, he was thrilled: “Listen, Henri, you absolutely must let me publish your ‘phenomenon of painting’ in the *Cahiers* [de la Pléiade]. It’s admirable […]. I’m completely moved by it.”