HENRY (Maurice). - Lot 83

HENRY (Maurice). Les Métamorphoses du Vide. Paris : les Éditions de Minuit, [1955]. -In-4, 271 x 209 : (32 ff.). Illustrated boards, openwork front cover, green cloth spine (publisher's boards). Vignes, Bibliographie des Éditions de Minuit, no. 198. First edition of this picture story about Adrien's dreamlike, poetic journey. The book is the work of poet, painter and illustrator Maurice HENRY (1907-1984), a close associate of the Surrealists. It is considered one of the most beautiful object books of the 20th century. It comprises 64 color plates on 32 leaves, 16 of which are openwork. "Like the enchanting, dreamlike journey of the character, who has left terra firma to travel through fantastical landscapes, in turn aquatic, plant and mineral, these ajournements induce a new logic in the reading and disrupt its temporality: each turned leaf is a step towards a surprise. Imbued with surrealism, these Métamorphoses, quite apart from Maurice Henry's work, also contain images of key reminiscences of his life, bringing together the figures of fellow travelers such as René Daumal, poet of the Grand Jeu, and André Breton" (presentation by Editions des Sandres for the book's reissue in 2018). One of the rare copies with the first version of the cartonnage, i.e. in color and openwork, which was soon abandoned "due to the technical difficulties of perforation" (Vignes), in favor of a non-openwork cartonnage printed in black and blue. Spine detached, otherwise a very well preserved copy."