155 - Henri MICHAUX. *Meidosems*. Paris, Éditions du Point du Jour, 1948.

Henri MICHAUX. *Meidosems*. Paris, Éditions du Point du Jour, 1948. Small in-4, bottle-green morocco leather, title running lengthwise on smooth spine, anise-green suede endpapers and linings, original cover intact, untrimmed, black top, slipcase (Miguet). First edition. Limited edition of 297 copies. An important illustrated book featuring 12 original full-page lithographs (one spread) by Henri Michaux. The cover is also illustrated with a lithograph printed in green. In the publisher’s note, the publisher emphasizes that “to illustrate [the book], Henri Michaux executed twelve lithographs directly on the stone for the first time.” These were the only lithographs executed by Michaux himself. “A writer who usually accompanied his publications with his own drawings, Michaux has been equally renowned as an artist. In this book, written shortly after the accidental death of his wife, his first lithographs convey the eerie world of a man who channeled his creative impulses through peyote” (Riva Castleman, *A Century of Artists’ Books*, p. 151). One of 20 copies on Arches pure-fiber paper (no. XVI), signed by the publisher René Bertelé, accompanied by a set of three-color lithographs. It bears an autograph dedication signed beneath the colophon to Gabrielle Friedrich and her husband: To Gaby and Fred Neumann / yet another book by the old grump / HMichaux During the war, Gabrielle Friedrich, wife of Neumann, took the reins of Éditions du Sagittaire after having served, since 1923, as Léon Pierre Quint’s right-hand woman. In 1950, she became Jean Dubuffet’s personal secretary. In the 1920s, Henri Michaux had been madly in love with her. A quarter of a century later, the poet sent her “yet another book by the old melancholic”… (See nos. 116, 117, and 121 above). A fine copy, complete with the subscription form. (Mason and Cherix, *Henri Michaux, Prints 1948–1984*, nos. 1–13. *Treasures of the National Library of France*, 2000, no. 92: entry by M. F. Quignard.- Coron, *50 Illustrated Books Since 1947*, no. 5. - Peyré, *Painting and Poetry: A Dialogue Through Books*, no. 54 and pp. 142–143: “This book is a marvel in every respect. The harmony between text and image finds its perfect expression here […]. *Meidosems* is the quintessential masterpiece of a man driven by a passion for publishing and, equally, by his dual identity—as poet and painter—within the world of books.”)