Lot Essay
THE ENGLISH POET, RUTHVEN TODD, CAME TO NEW YORK IN THE MID-1940S WHERE HE GOT TO KNOW S.W. HAYTER AND THROUGH HIM THE GROUP OF SURREALIST ARTISTS WORKING AT ATELIER 17. THE EXPERIMENTAL NATURE OF THESE PRINTS AND ESPECIALLY OF WHAT HE CALLED POLYTYPES OR THE SURFACE PRINTS, IS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE WORK WHICH EMERGED FROM THE MOST INNOVATIVE PRINT WORKSHOP OF THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY.
TODD'S INTEREST IN BLAKE'S PRINTING METHODS HAD BEEN AWAKENED BY HIS INTEREST IN THE POETRY AND HIS SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS. HE WROTE IN NOVEMBER 1948, 'FOR OUR FIRST EXPERIMENT WE TOOK A PLATE BY M. MIRó, BITTEN AS A RELIEF ETCHING, AND INKED AN UNENGRAVED PLATE OF THE SAME SIZE BY RUNNING A ROLLER AGAINST THE FACE. THIS WE PLACED CAREFULLY UPON THE TOP OF THE ENGRAVED PLATE AND WORKED OVER IT WITH OUR HANDS TO TRANSFER THE INK TO THE OTHER SURFACE. NEXT THE PLATES WERE SEPARATED, LEAVING THE BITTEN ONE WITH A RETICULATED LAYER OF INK. WE THEN TOOK A PULL OF THIS IN AN ORDINARY ROTARY PRESS AND FOUND THAT IN EVERY RESPECT EXCEPT THAT OF THE PLATEMARK THE PRINT, SPEAKING TECHNICALLY, RESEMBLED ONE OF BLAKE'S OWN PRINTING, (INCIDENTALLY NOTICING THE IMPRESSION OF THE RELIEF ETCHING REMAINING UPON THE BLANK PLATE, WE TOOK A PULL OF THAT AND GOT A KIND OF POLYTYPE WITH THE PRINT A REVERSE OF THAT PRODUCED FROM THE ENGRAVED SURFACE)' [RUTHVEN TODD, THE PRINT COLLECTORS QUARTELY XXXIX, NO. 3, (NOVEMBER 1948)].
THE PRINTING SEEMS, THEREFORE, TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE BETWEEN 1947 AND 1949 WHEN THE PLATES WERE DELIVERED TO AIMé MAEGHT IN PARIS IN AN ATTEMPT TO INTEREST HIM, AS MIRO'S DEALER, IN A COMMERCIAL EDITION, THEY APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN SUBSEQUENTLY LOST. HAYTER LEFT NEW YORK FOR PARIS IN 1950. THE TITLE SHEET WHICH ACCOMPANIES THIS LOT AND WHICH RECORDS A DATE OF 1951 IS THE ONLY EVIDENCE FOR THIS AS A DATE OF PUBLICATION.
THIS GROUP LACKS THE ETCHINGS BY MASSON, RATTNER, AND TANGUY CALLED FOR BY THE TITLE PAGE AND SEVEN SURFACE PRINTS BY ERNST, MASSON, MIRO, PHILLIPS, RATTNER, AND TANGUY. HOWEVER ALL OF THE PRINTS ARE OF THE GREATEST RARITY. VARIOUS TRIAL PROOFS BEFORE TEXT EXIST OF THE MASSON AND OF SEVERAL OF THE MIRO'S, WHICH ALSO EXIST AS EXPERIMENTAL COLOR PROOFS. NO IMPRESSIONS OF THE RATTNERS HAVE BEEN TRACED. THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY HOLDS A GROUP WHICH IS COMPLETE EXCEPT FOR THE ETCHING AND THE CORRESPONDING SURFACE PRINT BY THIS ARTIST.
TODD'S INTEREST IN BLAKE'S PRINTING METHODS HAD BEEN AWAKENED BY HIS INTEREST IN THE POETRY AND HIS SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS. HE WROTE IN NOVEMBER 1948, 'FOR OUR FIRST EXPERIMENT WE TOOK A PLATE BY M. MIRó, BITTEN AS A RELIEF ETCHING, AND INKED AN UNENGRAVED PLATE OF THE SAME SIZE BY RUNNING A ROLLER AGAINST THE FACE. THIS WE PLACED CAREFULLY UPON THE TOP OF THE ENGRAVED PLATE AND WORKED OVER IT WITH OUR HANDS TO TRANSFER THE INK TO THE OTHER SURFACE. NEXT THE PLATES WERE SEPARATED, LEAVING THE BITTEN ONE WITH A RETICULATED LAYER OF INK. WE THEN TOOK A PULL OF THIS IN AN ORDINARY ROTARY PRESS AND FOUND THAT IN EVERY RESPECT EXCEPT THAT OF THE PLATEMARK THE PRINT, SPEAKING TECHNICALLY, RESEMBLED ONE OF BLAKE'S OWN PRINTING, (INCIDENTALLY NOTICING THE IMPRESSION OF THE RELIEF ETCHING REMAINING UPON THE BLANK PLATE, WE TOOK A PULL OF THAT AND GOT A KIND OF POLYTYPE WITH THE PRINT A REVERSE OF THAT PRODUCED FROM THE ENGRAVED SURFACE)' [RUTHVEN TODD, THE PRINT COLLECTORS QUARTELY XXXIX, NO. 3, (NOVEMBER 1948)].
THE PRINTING SEEMS, THEREFORE, TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE BETWEEN 1947 AND 1949 WHEN THE PLATES WERE DELIVERED TO AIMé MAEGHT IN PARIS IN AN ATTEMPT TO INTEREST HIM, AS MIRO'S DEALER, IN A COMMERCIAL EDITION, THEY APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN SUBSEQUENTLY LOST. HAYTER LEFT NEW YORK FOR PARIS IN 1950. THE TITLE SHEET WHICH ACCOMPANIES THIS LOT AND WHICH RECORDS A DATE OF 1951 IS THE ONLY EVIDENCE FOR THIS AS A DATE OF PUBLICATION.
THIS GROUP LACKS THE ETCHINGS BY MASSON, RATTNER, AND TANGUY CALLED FOR BY THE TITLE PAGE AND SEVEN SURFACE PRINTS BY ERNST, MASSON, MIRO, PHILLIPS, RATTNER, AND TANGUY. HOWEVER ALL OF THE PRINTS ARE OF THE GREATEST RARITY. VARIOUS TRIAL PROOFS BEFORE TEXT EXIST OF THE MASSON AND OF SEVERAL OF THE MIRO'S, WHICH ALSO EXIST AS EXPERIMENTAL COLOR PROOFS. NO IMPRESSIONS OF THE RATTNERS HAVE BEEN TRACED. THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY HOLDS A GROUP WHICH IS COMPLETE EXCEPT FOR THE ETCHING AND THE CORRESPONDING SURFACE PRINT BY THIS ARTIST.