CENDRARS, Blaise & Alfred LATOUR (illustrator). Comment les Blancs sont d'Anciens Noirs [volume III of "La Collection de Plaisir de Bibliophile"], [printed at Argenteuil]: 1930, 8°, number 230 of 500 numbered copies on vélin, with wood-engravings in two tones by Latour, original printed wrappers. With a post card of Cendrars; 3 typed letters written to John Gondrexon on behalf of Paul ELUARD by Marcel Knoll, dated Paris May-October 1927, 2 counter-signed by the poet; a manuscript letter from Knoll to Gondrexon; and a one-page manuscript letter from ELUARD himself to the publisher, embossed Grand Hôtel du Mont-Blanc and franked 22-2-33, discussing his movements and promising to send a photograph of himself, all these items loosely inserted.

Details
CENDRARS, Blaise & Alfred LATOUR (illustrator). Comment les Blancs sont d'Anciens Noirs [volume III of "La Collection de Plaisir de Bibliophile"], [printed at Argenteuil]: 1930, 8°, number 230 of 500 numbered copies on vélin, with wood-engravings in two tones by Latour, original printed wrappers. With a post card of Cendrars; 3 typed letters written to John Gondrexon on behalf of Paul ELUARD by Marcel Knoll, dated Paris May-October 1927, 2 counter-signed by the poet; a manuscript letter from Knoll to Gondrexon; and a one-page manuscript letter from ELUARD himself to the publisher, embossed Grand Hôtel du Mont-Blanc and franked 22-2-33, discussing his movements and promising to send a photograph of himself, all these items loosely inserted.

Lot Essay

Of the three typed letters from Noll, two are relatively brief. In his first letter of 26 May, Noll makes it plain that the poet is refusing to write more letters ("Il me charge de vous dire qu'il n'écrit plus de lettres") though he does agree to let Gondrexon publish a dedication. In the second and longest letter of 1½ pages, dated 2 July, Noll reaffirms that he is acting as go-between because Eluard has given up letter writing ("il y a assez longtemps qu'il n'écrit plus à personne, ni à ses amis"). Eluard would be glad to receive Gondrexon's books. It is probable that he will let Gondxrexon publish the manuscript of "Mourir De Ne Pas Mourir," and asks if a limited edition of his own poems that Gondrexon has already published can be forwarded. The third typed letter, dated 8 October, concerns the time of a meeting between the three men. All three letters are on notepaper of "La Révolution Surréaliste," decorated with a black swan and crab motif, and like the rest are preserved in their original envelopes.

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