STAËL (Nicolas de) - LECUIRE (Pierre). - Lot 272

STAËL (Nicolas de) - LECUIRE (Pierre). Letters from Nicolas de Staël to Pierre Lecuire. [Paris: Pierre Lecuire, 1966]. -In-4, 379x264: (4 blank ff.), 119 pp. (16 blank ninth and last two ff.), illustrated cover. Leaves, filled cover, publisher's hardback folder and slipcase. First edition of this beautiful correspondence between painter Nicolas de Staël and publisher Pierre Lecuire. It is illustrated on the cover with an original color lithograph by Nicolas de STAËL (1914-1955). "This edition contains all Nicolas de Staël's letters to Pierre Lecuire, with the exception of a few names of persons designated by the letter N..., and a few brief passages of a personal nature, marked by three dashes in brackets. Nicolas de Staël's correspondence preserved by Pierre Lecuire runs from 1949 to 1955. Letters written between 1945 and 1949 have not been found. They were few in number and must have been lost or destroyed. The concern to make this publication as complete as possible has led us to include, in addition to the important letters, bills, missives and postcards, even those of secondary interest." The edition was limited to 250 copies. This one is certainly one of the most precious, being one of the first 25 on Richard-de-Bas Mill paper. Above all, it is copy no. 1, specially printed for Mr. Daniel Sicklès. Like all the first 25 copies, it includes a proof of the cover in color, justified "épreuve sur canton", four facsimile letters from Nicolas de Staël on Canton de Richard-de-Bas paper, an envelope containing a letter from Nicolas de Staël to Pierre Lecuire and a tricolor postcard from Pierre Lecuire to Nicolas de Staël, both in facsimile. But there is also an additional leaf on which the publisher has indicated that this copy no. 1 also contains a letter, in facsimile, from Pierre Lecuire to Colonel Sicklès, a bibliophilic bulletin relating to this edition (2 ff. in-12 oblong), an invitation to the presentation of the book and original letters at Pierre Lecuire's home in June 1966, and A PREPARATORY PROOF IN TWO COLORS OF THE COVER, on wove paper and justified by the printers. A very well preserved copy. Provenance: Colonel Daniel Sicklès.