GEORGES HUGNET AND MARCEL DUCHAMP

Property from the Collection of Carlos Alberto Cruz

GEORGES HUGNET AND MARCEL DUCHAMP

LA SEPTIÈME FACE DU DÉ. PARIS: JEANNE BUCHER, (1936)

4to (11 ½ x 8 ¼ in.; 292 x 210 mm). Text and text vignettes printed in greenn by Grou-Radenez, 20 fine reproductions of photo-collages ("poemes-découpages") by Hugnet printed by Duval and with some hand-coloring; right margins with six perforations. Original stiff green wrappers designed by Duchamp, sewn in Japanese fashion, front cover lettered with display capitals, headed by a carefully silhouetted and mounted photograph by Duchamp of his "Why not sneeze Rrose Sélavy?" Wrappers encased in special additional wrappers comprising stiff card with 4 mounted color photographs ("Couvertures-cigarettes"), 2 on each cover; some wear at edges, photographs lifting slightly at edges.  

Cigarettes stripped bare.

A unique copy of one of the finest of all surrealist publications, signed by Hugnet and Duchamp. In all, 314 copies of this book were printed. 20 lettered copies were printed on blue paper for Hugnet. The present copy is on blue paper, but is out-of-series. This may be explained by the fact that the binder originally made the perforations for the binding in the right margin, rather than the left, of the sheets. Also, this copy is bound in the extra covers (Duchamp's "Couvertures cigarettes") used only for the 20 copies of the deluxe edition. 

Arturo Schwarz explains Duchamp's rare "Couvertures cigarettes": "For the … front and back covers of the deluxe edition of 20, he began with a print of an oversize, hand-colored photograph of three cigarettes 'stripped bare' of their wrappers. He created the front cover by cutting down the images, slicing off one lone cigarette and overlapping it with the other two so that only two cigarettes are immediately visible. Then he repeated the process on the back cover. The photographs are glued on the inner side only, and the outer side remains free." Unlike the copies Schwarz describes, the photographs here are glued at all edges.

REFERENCE:

Schwarz, Complete Works 444