186 - Clément PANSAERS. *Le Pan-Pan au cul du nu nègre*, with an engraving by the author. Brussels, Éditions Alde (AIO collection), 1920.

Clément PANSAERS. *Le Pan-Pan au cul du nu nègre*, with an engraving by the author. Brussels, Éditions Alde (AIO collection), 1920. Small 8vo stapled booklet, gray-blue paper cover with a printed label bearing the title mounted on the front cover. First edition: it is adorned with two woodcuts by the author on the frontispiece and at the colophon. Limited edition of 515 copies: one of the 375 bound in imitation Japanese leather (no. 171). A Belgian painter, engraver, and poet of Flemish origin but writing in French, Clément Pansaers (1885–1922) published only three books during his brief life. A rebellious soul, he fled the seminary before leading a rather miserable life in Paris among the Dadaists and English-speaking writers with whom he became friends: James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and John Rodker. Autograph copy signed on the title page: “To my dear Péret, affectionately, C. Pansaers, Paris, April 4, 1921” As with most copies, the printed headband has not been preserved. A founding member of Surrealism, Benjamin Péret (1899–1959) was the one who never betrayed its spirit: his correspondence with André Breton, peppered with scathing attacks on former companions, illustrates his unwavering loyalty.