ERNST (Max) - LECLERCQ (Léna). - Lot 197

ERNST (Max) - LECLERCQ (Léna). La Rose est nue. Paris : Jean Hugues, [1961]. - In-4, 321 x 247: frontispiece, 47 pp. (4 ff. last 2 blank), 5 plates, printed cover. Black box, boards decorated with a hollowed-out decoration of irregular geometrical shapes featuring a stylized rose in the center, revealing a pink box background in the center and gray all around, crossed with black leather bands, smooth spine with two hollowed-out oval compartments revealing a gray box background each decorated with two bands of ornate black leather and adorned with the names of the illustrator and poetess in gilt letters, title of the work in pink letters in the center, pink wood paper lining and endpapers, gilt edges on witnesses, cover and spine preserved, black box spine and cover bands folder, lined slipcase (Leroux 1962). Original edition of 300 copies of this poetic collection by the poet Lena Leclercq (1926-1987). One of the first 90 copies, including 6 original color etchings outside text by Max Ernst (1891-1976), justified and signed by the publisher, as well as signed by the author and artist at the justification. A precious copy, bound in the period by Georges Leroux, and enriched with a trial proof of the book's penultimate etching, justified and signed by Max Ernst, mitered at the head. In a 1954 catalog, bookseller Jean Hugues highlights a modest binding by Georges Leroux, then virtually unknown, for a precious manuscript: Aragon's translation of La Chasse au Snark, offered to Man Ray. Leroux, passionate about literature and surrealism, found decisive support in Jean Hugues, who introduced him to his circle of enthusiasts and helped him overcome his material difficulties. Despite their differences (the expansive bookseller and the shy, introverted bookbinder), an unfailing friendship and a shared passion for poetry unite them. Leroux, more of a "bookman" than a traditional craftsman, sought to reconcile bookbinding and contemporary plastic arts, a vision shared by Jean Hugues. Thanks to him, Leroux gained access to an exceptional clientele and even joined the intimate circle of "samedistes" on rue de Furstenberg. Later, Max Ernst entrusted him with bindings for his library, on the advice of Jean Hugues. The latter, fascinated by Leroux's unpredictable, disconcerting genius, made him a mainstay of his bookshop, although he sometimes preferred more sober bindings for his own books (cf. Jean Hugues. Libraire-éditeur. Paris: Éditions des Cendres, 2004). Leroux produced at least one other binding identical to this one, but in different shades, which appeared successively in the sale of the library of Renaud Gillet (1913-2001) in 1999 (Sotheby's London, October 27, 1999, lot no. 101) and in that of Pierre Brossette in 2005 (Sotheby's Paris, May 22, 2005, lot no. 113). Very well preserved copy. Brown mark on first endpapers, not serious. Provenance: N. Harwich, with bookplate.