138 - [MAGAZINE].

[MAGAZINE]. Proverbe. Monthly journal. Paris, February 1, 1920–July 1, 1921. — 6 issues, including 5 in-8 and one in-4, in loose sheets. A rare complete collection of this Dada magazine published by Paul Éluard, who was only 25 at the time, and to which the movement’s leading figures contributed, including Louis Aragon, André Breton, Jean Paulhan, Francis Picabia, Maurice Raynal, Philippe Soupault, Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, Tristan Tzara, and others. *Proverbe* is one of the most interesting Dada journals published in the 1920s. Its sole purpose was to justify words, as Éluard explained to Tzara in a letter dated December 19, 1919: “For the time being, the goal will be to show that the French language (and the expression of thought, naturally) is no longer a literary instrument.” The first issue, in fact, features this explicit couplet by Apollinaire as its epigraph: “O mouths, man is in search of a new language To which the grammarian of any language will have nothing to say.” Issues 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 consist of two in-8 folios, while issue 4 consists of a single in-4 folio. The latter is an undated “Special Issue of Art and Poetry.” It is the only one to be illustrated, in this case with two works by Francis Picabia: “La jeune fille—bracelet de la vie,” which consists of a round perforation, and “Machine de bons mots.” Issue 3 is printed in red, and issues 5 and 6 in blue. The sixth issue is the last of the magazine *Proverbe* but also the first of *L'Invention*, which was short-lived. Very well-preserved copies.