90 - JARRY (Alfred).

JARRY (Alfred). Illustrated Almanac of Père Ubu (20th century). Paris: [Ambroise Vollard], 1901. — In-8, 282 x 195: 56 pp., illustrated cover. Paperback. A rare first edition, printed in a run of only 1,000 copies, including 50 on high-quality paper, as part of a collaboration between Jarry, Bonnard, and the art dealer Ambroise Vollard. It is one of Alfred Jarry’s most daring creations. A commercial failure, it quickly became a rare item. Through his iconic character, Père Ubu, Jarry offers a burlesque reinvention of the contemporary world, in the form of a traditional almanac. The volume opens with a completely reimagined calendar, in which every holiday and saint is subverted by Père Ubu’s unbridled imagination. The rest of the book explores political, artistic, and intellectual life through the Ubuesque prism, interspersed with an “Alphabet of Père Ubu” (composed solely of vowels). The book concludes with the obscene lullaby titled “Tatane: A Song to Make Black People Blush and Glorify Père Ubu,” composed by Claude Terrasse, followed by advertisements for the publisher Ambroise Vollard. The edition is illustrated with 83 lithographs by Pierre BONNARD (1867–1947), printed in black, red, and blue, both within the text and as full-page illustrations. A copy from the regular print run, bearing—as is always the case with this paper—the fictitious notation “2nd edition” on the cover. Staple holes on the cover. Four leaves (pp. 31–34 and 49–52) are loose, with no traces of the original stitching.