KAFKA, FranzBiblio.com
3239 risultati
1929rif. 188167Stara Rise: Josef Florian 1929. The insect itself must not be illustrated by a drawing. It cannot be shown at all not even from a distance First edition in Czech the first illustrated edition and the first translation of Metamorphosis into any language. This is an out of series copy on white paper from a total edition of 600 copies. This was published in three issues: 50 "A" copies on Holland 150 "B" copies on buff paper and 400 "C" copies on white paper as here. The German artist Otto Coester 1902-1990 was a member of a close circle of Kafka's admirers and may have known Kafka personally. Some scholars have therefore posited that he "had some inside knowledge of Kafka's vision" and the scholar Richard Lawson regarded Coester's illustrations of the insect as the most authentic Gallagher p. 134. During his lifetime Kafka was anxious to never see the insect depicted. He wrote to his publisher upon learning that his Die Verwandlung 1915 was to have an illustrated dust jacket "the insect itself must not be illustrated by a drawing. It cannot be shown at all not even from a distance" 25 October 1915. A separate portfolio edition was published the same year in an edition of 120 copies with different illustrations. The book edition was published as the 99th volume in Dobrého Díla in July 1929. Octavo. Illustrations in the text by Otto Coester. Original wrappers spine and front lettered in purple gatherings loose as issued. Rubbed short split to lower front spine contents clean. A very good copy. David Gallagher Metamorphosis: Transformations of the Body and the Influence of Ovid's Metamorphoses on Germanic Literature of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 2009. unknown
1958rif. 1720Chez Seghers, Paris, 1948. 1 volume petit in-8 (195 x 125 mm) broché, couverture imprimée en noir et rouge rempliée. Édition originale. 4 POINTES-SÈCHES ORIGINALES D' OTTO WOLS HORS-TEXTE. UN DES RARISSIMES EXEMPLAIRES SUR CHINE comportant les 4 pointes sèches de Wols. Celui-ci justifié HC 1/5 (15 ex + 5 HC). Bel exemplaire malgré de claires rousseurs sur les tranches, inhérentes au papier Chine. Note historique : Wols (Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze) est un artiste plasticien allemand, né le 27 mai 1913 à Berlin, mort le 1er septembre 1951 à Paris. Photographe, peintre et graphiste, proche du surréalisme, Wols est considéré comme un pionnier et un représentant important du tachisme et de l'Art informel en Europe. Il a vécu en France après avoir fui le régime hitlérien.
1916rif. 191218Leipzig: Kurt Wolff 1916. This is the only way to write. with such complete opening of body and soul First edition in book form of The Judgement one of the author's best stories in his own estimation. Kafka recalled of the piece written in a single night in 1912 "the story evolved as a true birth covered with filth and slime". It was printed in Max Brod's periodical Arkadia: Ein Jahrbuch für Dichtkunst in 1913. Octavo pp. 32. Text in German. Original black wrappers wire-stitched as issued blue paper label on front wrapper printed in black. Light creases to wrappers near-fine. unknown
1984rif. 23499New York: At the Wild Carrot Letterpress for the Limited Editions Club 1984. Unique Inscribed copy of this Limited Edition of 1500 hand-numbered copies signed by the artist José Luis Cuevas. THIS COPY WITH ADDITIONAL INSCRIPTION AND ORIGINAL PEN AND INK DRAWING BY THE ARTIST. With etchings on tissue-guarded plates and drawings by José Luis Cuevas created specifically for this publication. Large 8vo hand-cased at the Gray Parrot bindery in quarter gray-brown calf over textured paper-covered boards the spine lettered in gilt within a blank embossed frame in the original slipcase. xii 61 1. Internally a pristine copy the binding also fine but for a light touch of sun and one small abrasion to the calf of the spine the slipcase still very nice with only minor age evidence. UNIQUE INSCRIBED COPY WITH AN ORIGINAL DRAWING BY JOSÉ LUIS CUEVAS. The famous Mexican Surrealist has inscribed this copy “La Vida de un hobre . with a bold signature and a very large pen and ink drawing filling much of the front blank page. The book itself is a fine production printed on mold-made paper specially produced for this edition by Cartiere Enrico Magnani. It was designed by Ben Shiff set in American Monotype and the etchings were printed at the Water Street Press. In all Kafka’s surreal fable is given a very contemporary and highly artistic twist making this one of the most original and striking productions for the club for quite some time. At the Wild Carrot Letterpress for the Limited Editions Club hardcover
1937rif. 140948644London: The Parton Press 1937. First English Edition. Near Fine. First English language edition first printing. vi 74 pp. Bound in publisher's charcoal-colored paper boards over blue cloth spine lettered in black and blue printed title label to upper board. Near Fine with lean to binding slight toning to spine light wear. Former owner's name on front free endpaper small spot of abrasion to top edge of front gutter. A nicer than commonly found copy of Kafka's masterpiece translated by English folklorist and key figure of the post-WWII British folk music revival A. L. Lloyd. Lloyd's translation swiftly went out of print amidst abysmal sales much like the first German edition Die Verwandlung. Flores p. 20. The Parton Press unknown
1937rif. 140948644London: The Parton Press 1937. First English Edition. Near Fine. First English language edition first printing. vi 74 pp. Bound in publisher's charcoal-colored paper boards over blue cloth spine lettered in black and blue printed title label to upper board. Near Fine with lean to binding slight toning to spine light wear. Former owner's name on front free endpaper small spot of abrasion to top edge of front gutter. A nicer than commonly found copy of Kafka's masterpiece translated by English folklorist and key figure of the post-WWII British folk music revival A. L. Lloyd. Lloyd's translation swiftly went out of print amidst abysmal sales much like the first German edition Die Verwandlung. Flores p. 20. The Parton Press unknown books
1925rif. 140948670Berlin: Verlag Die Schmiede 1925. First Edition. Very Good. First edition first printing with text in the original German. Bound in publisher's green cloth with paper title labels lettered in dark maroon at spine and front board. Very Good with lean to binding fading spine light dampstain to cloth at top edges. Foxing and light offseting at endsheets with woodcut mounted by former owner at front free endpaper and light pencil sketch at rear endpaper. The scarce German language edition of Kafka's never completed work--a posthumously published novel about a man arrested on undefined charges with no hope of redemption or acquittal. Flores p. 6. Verlag Die Schmiede unknown
1925rif. 140948670Berlin: Verlag Die Schmiede 1925. First Edition. Very Good. First edition first printing with text in the original German. Bound in publisher's green cloth with paper title labels lettered in dark maroon at spine and front board. Very Good with lean to binding fading spine light dampstain to cloth at top edges. Foxing and light offseting at endsheets with woodcut mounted by former owner at front free endpaper and light pencil sketch at rear endpaper. The scarce German language edition of Kafka's never completed work--a posthumously published novel about a man arrested on undefined charges with no hope of redemption or acquittal. Flores p. 6. Verlag Die Schmiede unknown books
1930rif. 88212London: Martin Secker 1930. First edition. Hardcover. 1930 First edition in English. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket priced 7s6d. This stands as the first English translation of any of Kafka's works appearing some seven years before English editions of either The Trial or The Metamorphosis which makes it considerably the rarer book. The Castle was first published in German in 1926. It is the longest and last of Franz Kafka's novels 1883-1924 begun in the final two years of his life and left unfinished at his death. The novel works a quiet transformation on the medieval grail narrative substituting the quest for the grail with its protagonist's dreamlike struggle against a remote and impenetrable bureaucracy - the kind Kafka had encountered at first hand in the unsettled years following the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy. What Kafka intended the novel to mean has never been satisfactorily resolved; this first English edition inclines toward the text's religious symbolism with the repeated and frustrated attempts to reach the castle read by some critics as an allegory of the search for salvation rather than emphasising the partially autobiographical strand that led Kafka to begin the book in the first person. The translation is made from the first German edition incorporating the posthumous revisions of Kafka's friend and literary executor Max Brod who prepared the manuscript for publication. The book was banned in Germany between 1933 and 1945 under the National Socialist regime. Slight sunning to cloth spine ends corresponding to previous loss to jacket; dust-jacket with superb professional restoration to head and foot of spine and fore-corner tips spine slightly dulled but otherwise bright. Very good Martin Secker hardcover
1919rif. 149938Leipzig: Kurt Wolff 1919. In the deluxe binding First edition first impression in the deluxe binding. One of 1000 copies of Kafka's short story set in an unnamed penal colony which he wrote in October 1914. The "relatively long time span between composition and first publication is due in part to Kafka's dissatisfaction with the original conclusion of the story" however "Kafka revised the end of the text in November 1918" Gray et al. p. 134. In November 1916 Kafka presented a version of the text "at a public reading - something to which Kafka rarely agreed - at the Goltz Gallery in Munich" ibid. p. 134. The work was first translated into English by Eugene Jolas in 1941; published in the Partisan Review as In the Penal Colony. Octavo. Text in German. Printed in blue and black. Contemporary dark brown half roan spine lettered in gilt marbled boards cream endpapers white silk page marker top edge gilt others uncut. Housed in a custom slipcase. Light wear to extremities the binding otherwise sound internally clean and fresh; a very good copy. Dietz 50. Richard T. Gray et al. A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia Greenwood Press 2005. hardcover
1937rif. 262 - 867 - 633First printing in the English language in the exceptionally rare dust jacket Publisher and Year: London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. 1937 Edition: First British edition first printing. Translated by Edwin and Willa Muir this was the novel's first introduction to the English-speaking world. This first British edition preceded the American edition New York: Knopf 1937 by a little more than three months June versus October respectively. Gollancz managed to sell only about a thousand copies of The Trial and therefore decided never to produce another of Kafka's works. The American publisher evidently fared much better with those first printing copies appearing much more frequently on the market today and with subsequent reprints by the same publishing house all the way through the 1950s. The British jacket is exceptionally scarce; we can trace just five appearances of copies in jacket at auction. Condition and Description: Octavo blue cloth lettered in black 285 pp. A sharp copy of the book with clean cloth and tight binding. Mild fading to the spine and edges. Some spotting to the edges of the text block. No writing or underlining. Clean pages with only very occasional and minor imperfections including some modest foxing to the preliminary leaves representative examples shown. The original dust jacket is chipped toned stained and has closed tears repaired on the verso with archival tape as shown in the final four pictures. "…without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning." References: 1. The Yorkshire Post 23 June 1937. The British edition of The Trial listed with a publication date of 28 June 2. The New York Times 30 Sep 1937. The American edition of The Trial listed with a publication date of 18 October Inventory ID: 262 - 867 - 633 Victor Gollancz Ltd. hardcover
1937rif. 189715London: The Parton Press 1937. With the glassine jacket First edition in English of Kafka's famous story in which the protagonist finds himself transformed into an "ungeheuren Ungeziefer" translated here as "some monstrous kind of vermin". Lloyd's translation went quickly out of print in Britain selling similarly poorly to the original publication in German Die Verwandlung 1915. The public's unfamiliarity with the strange world of the Kafkaesque proved a difficult obstacle for the author and his early translators to overcome. In the same year as this publication Willa and Edwin Muir produced the first English translation of The Trial following their version of The Castle 1930 which had been financially unsuccessful. Lloyd's Metamorphosis briefly reappeared when the Vanguard Press published it in America in 1946 before vanishing into the shadow of the Muir translation. It was Lloyd who gave the work its enduring name in English. The Muirs initially used the title "The Transformation" and later reverted back to Lloyd's "The Metamorphosis". Octavo. Original blue quarter cloth spine lettered in black brown board sides with blue paper label on front lettered in black. With original glassine jacket and contemporary bookseller's acetate. Contemporary ownership inscription of literary critic Boris Ford 1917-1998. Spine cocked extremities a little rubbed and bumped; chips to glassine: a very good copy. Flores p. 20. Valentine Cunningham British Writers of the Thirties 1993. hardcover
1913rif. 191336Leipzig: Kurt Wolff 1913. The story born from his abandoned initial novel First edition of The Stoker the only part of his first novel published during Kafka's lifetime. Believing that "of the entire book only the first chapter stems from an inner truth" Letters p. 218 the author abandoned the novel and issued its introduction here as a separate story. The complete work was edited posthumously by Max Brod as Amerika 1927. Inspired by Dickens the story is unusually optimistic for the period in which Kafka also wrote The Metamorphosis and The Judgment. Octavo. Frontispiece illustrating New York harbour. Text in German. Original japon-backed blue boards spine and front cover lettered in black publisher's device on front cover top edge blue. Pencilled ownership inscription on front free endpaper. Spine and head of front cover toned couple of marks to binding spot of wear to one corner. A very good copy. Franz Kafka Letters to Felice 1973. hardcover
1937rif. 140948920New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1937. First American Edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. First American edition stated first printing. Bound in publisher's rust-colored cloth over semi-flexible boards with stamped in blue and black blue topstain. Near Fine with lean to binding light foxing to text block edges offsetting to endsheets. In a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket with moderate toning to spine light wear to the extremities and light soiling with a few small light stains. A sharp copy in the scarce dust jacket. Kafka's darkest work a posthumously published novel about a man arrested on undefined charges with no hope of redemption or acquittal. Adapted into the 1962 film of the same name directed by Orson Welles starring a young Anthony Perkins as Josef K. Alfred A. Knopf unknown
1937rif. 140948920New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1937. First American Edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. First American edition stated first printing. Bound in publisher's rust-colored cloth over semi-flexible boards with stamped in blue and black blue topstain. Near Fine with lean to binding light foxing to text block edges offsetting to endsheets. In a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket with moderate toning to spine light wear to the extremities and light soiling with a few small light stains. A sharp copy in the scarce dust jacket. Kafka's darkest work a posthumously published novel about a man arrested on undefined charges with no hope of redemption or acquittal. Adapted into the 1962 film of the same name directed by Orson Welles starring a young Anthony Perkins as Josef K. Alfred A. Knopf unknown books
1930rif. 171452New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1930. First American Edition published simultaneously with the British edition preceded by the First German Edition in 1926. Franz Kafka's final unfinished novel posthumously published by his executor Max Brod despite the author's wishes that the manuscript be burned. Top corners lightly bumped backstrip lightly toned overall about Near Fine in a Very Good plus price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket with corresponding moderate toning and a few small splashes to the spine panel along with toning to the top edge of the rear panel and flap folds. Housed in a custom quarter-leather maroon cloth clamshell box. Alfred A. Knopf unknown
1930rif. 171452New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1930. First American Edition published simultaneously with the British edition preceded by the First German Edition in 1926. Franz Kafka's final unfinished novel posthumously published by his executor Max Brod despite the author's wishes that the manuscript be burned. Top corners lightly bumped backstrip lightly toned overall about Near Fine in a Very Good plus price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket with corresponding moderate toning and a few small splashes to the spine panel along with toning to the top edge of the rear panel and flap folds. Housed in a custom quarter-leather maroon cloth clamshell box. Alfred A. Knopf unknown books
1925rif. 89301925 ÉDITION ORIGINALE, première impression. À Berlin, chez Verlag Die Schmiede, 1925. Un volume, in-8 (14 x 19.5 cm), [6] + 411 + [1] pages. Reliure à la Bradel en toile verte, étiquette de titre en papier au dos et sur le premier plat, tranche de tête jaune (reliure de l'éditeur). Dos insolé, autrement ouvrage en parfait état.
1959rif. 2220Pfullingen, Günther Neske Verlag, 1959. Un volume in-4 (279 x 211 mm), reliure éditeur toilée gris clair, dos à la bradel, plat supérieur illustrée d’un dessin de Arp reproduit. ÉDITION ORIGINALE. Texte en allemand. - EXEMPLAIRE DE TÊTE AVEC SEPT GRAVURES DE HANS ARP SIGNÉES AU CRAYON. - TIRAGE : un des 33 exemplaires de tête, celui-ci numéroté X, signé par Hans Arp, les seuls à comporter toutes les gravures signées. Rarissime et magnifique, les gravures de toute beauté. Références : Arntz 396-402b - Tiessen I, 46. - ENGLISH DESCRIPTION : Pfullingen, Günther Neske Verlag, 1959. A volume in-4 (279 x 211 mm). Publisher's cloth binding, light gray canvas, back to the bradel, upper cover illustrated with a drawing by Arp reproduced. ORIGINAL FIRST EDITION, with the text in German. HEAD COPY WITH 7 ORIGINAL ENGRAVINGS BY HANS ARP SIGNED IN PENCIL. - EDITION: one of 33 deluxe copies, this one numbered X, signed by Hans Arp, the only ones to include all the signed seven engravings. - ILLUSTRATION: 7 original etchings signed by Hans Arp. Extremely scarce , the engravings of great beauty. Literature: Arntz 396-402b - Tiessen I, 46. GERMAN DESCRIPTION: MONDSAND. Gedichte. Mit 7 signierten Original-Radierungen von Arp. Pfullingen, Neske, 1959. 4°. [32] Bll. (das erste u. letzte weiss). Original-Seideneinband mit Rückentitel u. Deckelillustration. In privatem Schuber. - Erste Ausgabe. - Eines von 33 römisch nummerierten Exemplaren (X) der Vorzugsausgabe, im Druckvermerk zusätzlich von Arp signiert. - Druck der Radierungen bei Fequet & Baudier in Paris. Schönes Exemplar (Arntz 396-402b - Tiessen I, 46).
1930rif. 140948911New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1930. First American Edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. First American edition first printing. xi 1 340 pp. Bound in publisher's dove grey cloth stamped in black black topstain. Near Fine with light toning and foxing to cloth and textblock edges slight bumping to corners. Binding square and firm. In a superlative Near Fine price-clipped dust jacket with sunning to spine panel and extremities and light wear and rubbing; colors bright. Kafka's final and unfinished philosophical novel posthumously published by his executor Max Brod who refused to honor his friend's request that the manuscript be burned. Alfred A. Knopf unknown
1930rif. 140948911New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1930. First American Edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. First American edition first printing. xi 1 340 pp. Bound in publisher's dove grey cloth stamped in black black topstain. Near Fine with light toning and foxing to cloth and textblock edges slight bumping to corners. Binding square and firm. In a superlative Near Fine price-clipped dust jacket with sunning to spine panel and extremities and light wear and rubbing; colors bright. Kafka's final and unfinished philosophical novel posthumously published by his executor Max Brod who refused to honor his friend's request that the manuscript be burned. Alfred A. Knopf unknown books
1915rif. 140948517Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag 1915. First Edition. Near Fine. First edition first printing case-bound issue. Text in German. Bound in publisher's blue paper-covered boards stamped in black; spine sympathetically replaced. Near Fine boards are lightly toned and soiled with wear at corners slight foxing to endsheets. The first book appearance of Kafka's The Metamorphosis issued simultaneously in wraps and boards a landmark of 20th century literature. Flores p. 20; Dietz 26. Kurt Wolff Verlag unknown
1915rif. 140948517Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag 1915. First Edition. Near Fine. First edition first printing case-bound issue. Text in German. Bound in publisher's blue paper-covered boards stamped in black; spine sympathetically replaced. Near Fine boards are lightly toned and soiled with wear at corners slight foxing to endsheets. The first book appearance of Kafka's The Metamorphosis issued simultaneously in wraps and boards a landmark of 20th century literature. Flores p. 20; Dietz 26. Kurt Wolff Verlag unknown books
1939rif. 2727Paris: GLM 1939. FIRST EDITION Deluxe issue. Original wrappers. Fine. EXCEEDINGLY RARE DELUXE SET OF AVANTE-GARDE WORKS BY FOUR LITERARY MASTERS. Each copy one of only 15 deluxe issues. Includes the deluxe issue of Duchamp's important collection of aphorisms "Rrose Sélavy". This extraordinary and complete collection collectively "Biens Nouveaux" of works by Marcel Duchamp Lewis Carroll Franz Kafka and Gisèle Prassinos demonstrates the significance of absurdism magical realism and surrealism across Europe in the 1930s and 40s. Published in April 1939 by Guy Lévis-Mano one of the most creative French printers of the twentieth century this complete series includes Marcel Duchamp's Rrose Sélavy Lewis Carroll's La Canne du Destin Franz Kafka's Le Chasseur Gracchus and Gisele Prassinos's Sondue. Each copy is one of only 15 of the deluxe issue printed on high-quality Vieux Japon. This original edition of Marcel Duchamp's book of aphorisms Rrose Sélavy is numbered two out of only fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. Duchamp's female alter ego Rrose Sélavy was an artist muse and creative experiment that brought to life his symbolic use of language. Her name as pronounced in French sounds like "Eros c'est la vie" meaning "The passion of love sex such is life." The playful puns and witty satire in this text provide clever commentary on society and the art world offering the reader a glimpse into the mind of a revolutionary artist who believed in the joy to live and roam free in thought. Lewis Carroll's La Canne du Destin The Cane of Destiny is numbered thirteen out of only fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. Published posthumously in 1939 translator André Bay believed it was written in 1848 when Carroll was only 16. La Canne du Destin features two barons a magician and a man named Blowski who dies and is transformed into mashed potatoes !. It is notable for its fantastical storytelling and whimsical wordplay a style which predated and foreshadowed Carroll's most famous work Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. His writing inspired the work of surrealists like Duchamp and Prassinos. Le Chasseur Gracchus English: The Gracchus Hunter; German: Der Jäger Gracchus numbered seven out of fifteen copies on Vieux Japon was translated by Henri Parisot in 1939 and is one of the earliest Franz Kafka's stories published in French. A six-page story written in 1917 it was found posthumously among Kafka's papers. The tale is about the long-dead Hunter Gracchus who is destined to wander aimlessly and eternally at sea unable to find peace. The surrealist dreamlike imagery of the story explores themes of loneliness alienation and the human condition. This work represents a model for Kafka's later writing and a Kafkaesque dilemma "two worlds that cannot make themselves understood by one another." Emrich Sondue Sounded by Gisèle Prassinos is numbered two out of fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. A French artist and writer she was discovered by André Breton in 1934 who declared "the tone of Gisèle Prassinos is unique: all the poets are jealous of it." When she was just fourteen her first book La Sauterelle Arthritique The Arthritic Grasshopper was published. For many her personification of animals in this story was reminiscent of Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Hailed as a prodigy by the surrealists Sondue a novella-length narrative was published when she was just 19 and considered macabre humor. Prassinos used automatic writing sometimes referred to as free writing a common surrealist technique. This was the last story she published before the start of World War II. She would not publish any writing again until 1958. This "Biens Nouveaux" collection was beautifully printed on Vieux Japon known for its velvety texture and substantial weight and only used by Guy Lévis Mano for premium projects. René Char French poet and member of the French resistance explained "When the passion to give life to a collection.unites with.the art of printing it brings us admirable successes and restores the object to its lasting plenitude. Guy Lévis Mano is the only one today who satisfies this haughty concern. He devoted his faith his competence his generosity and his enthusiasm to it." Char 745 1. Marcel Duchamp. Rrose Sélavy. Paris G.L.M. 1939. First Edition. Small quarto 165 x 115 mm original wrappers; glassine. Small closed tear to glassine at front base otherwise fine. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon this one number 2. 2. Lewis Carroll. La Canne du Destin The Cane of Destiny. Paris G.L.M. 1939. Small quarto 165 x 115 mm original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon this one number 13. 3. Franz Kafka. Le Chasseur Gracchus The Gracchus Hunter. Paris G.L.M. 1939. Small quarto 165 x 115 mm original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon this one number 7. 4. Gisèle Prassinos. Sondue Sounded . Paris G.L.M. 1939. First edition. Small quarto 165 x 115 mm original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon this one number 2. References: André Breton. Translated by Richard Seaver and Helen R. Lane. Manifestos of Surrealism. University of Michigan Press 1969. René Char. In the Poet's Studio. Gallimard "Quarto" collection 1956. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Franz Kafka." Encyclopedia Britannica December 2 2022. Wilhelm Emrich. Translated by Sheema Z. Buehne. Franz Kafka. Frederick Ungar Publisher 1961. Alexander Hawkins. "Meet Rrose Sélavy: Marcel Duchamp's Female Alter Ego." AnOther Magazine. December 1 2015. Gisèle Prassinos. Translated by Ellen Nations. Surrealist Texts. Black Scat Books 2014. Rachel Rivenc and Kendra Roth eds. Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials in Contemporary Art. Getty Conservation Institute 2022. GLM unknown
1939rif. 2727Paris: GLM 1939. FIRST EDITION Deluxe issue. Original wrappers. Fine. EXCEEDINGLY RARE DELUXE SET OF AVANTE-GARDE WORKS BY FOUR LITERARY MASTERS. Each copy one of only 15 deluxe issues. Includes the deluxe issue of Duchamp's important collection of aphorisms "Rrose Sélavy". This extraordinary and complete collection collectively "Biens Nouveaux" of works by Marcel Duchamp Lewis Carroll Franz Kafka and Gisèle Prassinos demonstrates the significance of absurdism magical realism and surrealism across Europe in the 1930s and 40s. Published in April 1939 by Guy Lévis-Mano one of the most creative French printers of the twentieth century this complete series includes Marcel Duchamp's Rrose Sélavy Lewis Carroll's La Canne du Destin Franz Kafka's Le Chasseur Gracchus and Gisele Prassinos's Sondue. Each copy is one of only 15 of the deluxe issue printed on high-quality Vieux Japon. This original edition of Marcel Duchamp's book of aphorisms Rrose Sélavy is numbered two out of only fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. Duchamp's female alter ego Rrose Sélavy was an artist muse and creative experiment that brought to life his symbolic use of language. Her name as pronounced in French sounds like "Eros c'est la vie" meaning "The passion of love sex such is life." The playful puns and witty satire in this text provide clever commentary on society and the art world offering the reader a glimpse into the mind of a revolutionary artist who believed in the joy to live and roam free in thought. Lewis Carroll's La Canne du Destin The Cane of Destiny is numbered thirteen out of only fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. Published posthumously in 1939 translator André Bay believed it was written in 1848 when Carroll was only 16. La Canne du Destin features two barons a magician and a man named Blowski who dies and is transformed into mashed potatoes !. It is notable for its fantastical storytelling and whimsical wordplay a style which predated and foreshadowed Carroll's most famous work Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. His writing inspired the work of surrealists like Duchamp and Prassinos. Le Chasseur Gracchus English: The Gracchus Hunter; German: Der Jäger Gracchus numbered seven out of fifteen copies on Vieux Japon was translated by Henri Parisot in 1939 and is one of the earliest Franz Kafka's stories published in French. A six-page story written in 1917 it was found posthumously among Kafka's papers. The tale is about the long-dead Hunter Gracchus who is destined to wander aimlessly and eternally at sea unable to find peace. The surrealist dreamlike imagery of the story explores themes of loneliness alienation and the human condition. This work represents a model for Kafka's later writing and a Kafkaesque dilemma "two worlds that cannot make themselves understood by one another." Emrich Sondue Sounded by Gisèle Prassinos is numbered two out of fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. A French artist and writer she was discovered by André Breton in 1934 who declared "the tone of Gisèle Prassinos is unique: all the poets are jealous of it." When she was just fourteen her first book La Sauterelle Arthritique The Arthritic Grasshopper was published. For many her personification of animals in this story was reminiscent of Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Hailed as a prodigy by the surrealists Sondue a novella-length narrative was published when she was just 19 and considered macabre humor. Prassinos used automatic writing sometimes referred to as free writing a common surrealist technique. This was the last story she published before the start of World War II. She would not publish any writing again until 1958. This "Biens Nouveaux" collection was beautifully printed on Vieux Japon known for its velvety texture and substantial weight and only used by Guy Lévis Mano for premium projects. René Char French poet and member of the French resistance explained "When the passion to give life to a collection.unites with.the art of printing it brings us admirable successes and restores the object to its lasting plenitude. Guy Lévis Mano is the only one today who satisfies this haughty concern. He devoted his faith his competence his generosity and his enthusiasm to it." Char 745 1. Marcel Duchamp. Rrose Sélavy. Paris G.L.M. 1939. First Edition. Small quarto 165 x 115 mm original wrappers; glassine. Small closed tear to glassine at front base otherwise fine. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon this one number 2. 2. Lewis Carroll. La Canne du Destin The Cane of Destiny. Paris G.L.M. 1939. Small quarto 165 x 115 mm original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon this one number 13. 3. Franz Kafka. Le Chasseur Gracchus The Gracchus Hunter. Paris G.L.M. 1939. Small quarto 165 x 115 mm original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon this one number 7. 4. Gisèle Prassinos. Sondue Sounded . Paris G.L.M. 1939. First edition. Small quarto 165 x 115 mm original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon this one number 2. References: André Breton. Translated by Richard Seaver and Helen R. Lane. Manifestos of Surrealism. University of Michigan Press 1969. René Char. In the Poet's Studio. Gallimard "Quarto" collection 1956. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Franz Kafka." Encyclopedia Britannica December 2 2022. Wilhelm Emrich. Translated by Sheema Z. Buehne. Franz Kafka. Frederick Ungar Publisher 1961. Alexander Hawkins. "Meet Rrose Sélavy: Marcel Duchamp's Female Alter Ego." AnOther Magazine. December 1 2015. Gisèle Prassinos. Translated by Ellen Nations. Surrealist Texts. Black Scat Books 2014. Rachel Rivenc and Kendra Roth eds. Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials in Contemporary Art. Getty Conservation Institute 2022. GLM unknown books
