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pencil drawing of a hut in the middle of a tropical areaa black and white drawing of a woman carrying a basket on her head
Ader

132 - DEMAISON (André) – CAMI (Robert).
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Estimate €200 - €300
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Description
DEMAISON (André) – CAMI (Robert). Beasts on Earth and in the Sky. [Paris]: Les Amis bibliophiles, 1961. — In-4, 325 x 253: (3 blank folios), 118 pp., (6 folios, the last 3 blank), printed cover. Unbound, cover pasted in, with the publisher’s slipcase and box. Partly original edition, with a foreword by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and illustrated with 40 original engravings by Robert Cami, including 12 full-page plates. This is a collection of four tales inspired by Africa: ‘Beasts on Earth and in the Sky’; ‘Legend of the Savannah’; ‘The Man, the Hare and the Crocodile’; ‘The Elephant King’. The first of these tales, which gives the book its title, appears here for the first time. Félix Houphouët-Boigny describes it as follows in his foreword: ‘Once they start speaking, anything is possible for animals. This marvellous, previously unpublished tale, *Beasts on Earth and in the Sky*, shows them building a house from various materials – a house in which a woman appears as an intruder – before accepting an invitation from the god of beasts to a feast at tables laden with food and drink. We enter a strange yet familiar world where strength is both feared and mocked, whilst folly is lamented and ridiculed. But, unlike *The Tale of Reynard* or La Fontaine’s *Fables*, one should not look for a sometimes cruel satire or even a rudimentary moral in our storyteller’s work. Demaison tells stories for the sheer pleasure of storytelling, describing the animals in their joy of living amidst the vast gardens offered to them by an exuberant natural world.” A limited edition of 186 copies on Rives vellum paper, this copy being one of the 170 reserved for members of the Société des Amis bibliophiles, numbered 72 and specially printed for Master Roger Child. It has been supplemented with: - 4 menus from the dinners hosted by the Amis bibliophiles on 26 May 1959, 26 March 1960, 22 March 1961 and 11 December 1961, each illustrated with an original engraving signed by Robert Cami, - 6 original drawings used to illustrate the book, comprising 2 preparatory drawings and one final drawing for page 60, and the same for page 63. - A set of engravings in their first state on Arches paper. A very well-preserved copy, despite the spine of the cover being worn.
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About the sale Claude Mozis Library – Black Africa and the African diaspora
Auction location
Auction time 10/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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