Apollinaire GuillaumeBiblio.com
Calligrammes
1918#26<p>Guillaume Apollianire</p><p>Calligrammes. Poèmes de la paix et de la guerre 1913–1916. Ondes – Étendards – Case d'Armons – Lueurs des tirs – Obus couleur de Lune – La Tête étoilée.<br />With a portrait of the author by Pablo Picasso wood-engraved by R. Jaudon.<br /><br />Paris Mercure de France 1918.<br /><br />Binding signed by Paul Bonet. Full black morocco. On each cover a rectangular frame 1 to 2.5 cm wide is blind-tooled and bears the title and author's name inlaid in beige morocco; at the center of the upper cover Calligrammes in large interlaced letters inlaid in red green blue mauve pink beige and orange; at the center of the lower cover Apollinaire inlaid in the same manner. Smooth spine with two blind-stamped bands gilt title top edge gilt beige paper doublures and endleaves. Original beige wrappers printed in black and red and spine preserved. Half black morocco chemise and slipcase. Carnets no. 529 and plates 171 and 183.<br /><br />First edition. One of 33 copies on vat-made wove paper no. 35 the only deluxe issue after 4 copies on Japan paper and 3 copies on China paper not for sale. With the second portrait of the author by Picasso etched by R. Jaudon.<br /><br /><strong>A magnificent copy superbly bound by Paul Bonet who wrote of it: "One of my finest bindings of Calligrammes."</strong><br /><br />Paul Bonet executed this binding between July and November 1941. He produced 15 bindings on the first edition of Calligrammes. The first dates from 1931; this is the fifth. It was exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in 1942 and at the Librairie Jean Loize in 1949.<br /><br />In his Carnets Bonet noted of this binding: "One of my finest bindings of Calligrammes." A demanding artist often critical of his own work he could justifiably take pride in this achievement.<br /><br />This binding achieves a perfect balance between restraint and freedom. The risk with this title—where the poet Guillaume Apollinaire himself plays with typography arranging the words of his poems in inventive visual forms—is to fall into imitation or excess.<br /><br />With remarkable subtlety Bonet plays on color and on the arrangement of the letters of the title and the author's name which intertwine and overlap at the center of the covers while remaining strictly framed within a blind-tooled rectangular panel where the title and author are repeated.<br /><br />The color chosen for this typography is the same beige as that of the original wrappers echoed in the doublures and endleaves whose very texture recalls the cover.<br /><br />This superb and highly intelligent binding by Paul Bonet once again demonstrates not only his immense talent but also his deep understanding of the spirit of the works he adorned.</p> Mercure de France
