Mr. Knife Miss Fork; Translated by Kay Boyle
Paris: The Black Sun Press, 1931. Max Ernst. First, Limited Edition, signed. 8vo, 7 × 4 7/16 inches (178 × 113 mm); [8], 38, [8] pp. 19 original photograms/Cliché-verres by Max Ernst, the first bearing a small SIGNATURE OF THE ARTIST in pencil on the lower right hand corner. Tissue guards captioned in red; rubricated title page. Publisher's black cloth boards, decorated in gilt and blind on design by Ernst in collaboration with A.J. Gonon. Black endpapers; previous owner's pen inscription of free endpaper, small floral plate pasted inside front cover. Spine ends chipped, superficial split to front and back joint, one inner hinge partly cracked but firm; page edges evenly toned, contents fresh and unmarked, photograms clear and bright, all tissue guards with captions present, one detached (p.26). In spite of these minor flaws, an exquisite copy of this important Surrealist work.
One of 200 copies on "finest bristol paper," out of a total edition of 255 copies.
[Roth, The Book of 101 Books, 66-67]
MoMA collection no 300323797 / Harvard P1997.4.
A cornerstone of Surrealist literature, WITH A RARE SIGNATURE of MAX ERNST on the first plate, and one of the most celebrated books of the Black Sun Press. The text was the first chapter of Crevel's novel Babylone, translated by Kay Boyle at the request of Black Sun publisher Caresse Crosby. The illustrations of the book by Max Ernst were produced using a similar process to Man Ray's rayographs. Ernst's images were made by combining rubbings and line drawings on sheets of thin translucent paper, and then using those sheets as negatives to create a reverse image on photosensitive paper. These were then reproduced in the form of negative photograms, with the assistance of Man Ray in his studio after days of trials. "Ernst had developed his frottage technique as a visual counterpart to the Surrealist ideal of 'automatic writing,' a way to get beyond personal intention into the realm of the unconscious." (Roth, The Book of 101 Books, p.67). The dark visions produced for this work perfectly capture the darkness of Crevel's own vision. Ernst chose quotations from the book to appear as titles on the tissue guard for each image. He also collaborated with the book's binder, J.G. Ganon, to produce the black binding with gold tooling that is reminiscent of the bindings of old nineteenth-century sentimental fictions.
The Black Sun Press was founded by Harry Crosby (1898–1929) and published —in small, exquisite editions and with no expense spared— the work of English and American expatriate modernists such as Crane, Eliot, Jolas, Joyce, Lawrence, MacLeish, and Pound.
Condition: Very good +.
Item number: 1550
Price: $12,500.00
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