MARVILLE (Jean) - VLAMINCK (Maurice de). The Song of Kou-Singa. Paris: À la belle édition, [1919]. — In-8, 239 x 157: (28 ff.), illustrated cover. Paperback. First edition of this collection of poems by Julien Maigret (18..–1956), published under the pseudonym Jean Marville. A journalist for *Le Monde colonial illustré*, an explorer, director of the Sangha-Oubangui Forestry Company, and a pioneer of radio, Maigret compiled twenty-six poems written in Africa, which he himself described as “canvases for dreams.” Kou-Singa—which means “wire” in the indigenous language—is the nickname the local people gave the author. The edition was printed in a run of 252 copies by the renowned typographer François Bernouard. The cover is illustrated with an original woodcut by the painter Maurice de VLAMINCK (1876–1958), printed in two tones and inspired by African masks. One of 250 copies on Arches Ingres laid paper (No. 5), accompanied by an autographed letter from the author addressed to the writer, critic, and editor of a literary journal Jean Paul Vaillant (1897–1970): To Jean Paul Vaillant // a collegial tribute // Julien Maigret Cover is discolored. Traces of tape on the first and penultimate pages. Provenance: Jean Paul Vaillant, with a dedication from the author.