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170 - MARINETTI (Filippo Tommaso).
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Estimate €300 - €400
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Description
MARINETTI (Filippo Tommaso). Mafarka the Futurist. An African novel. Paris: E. Sansot & Cie, 1909. — In-18, 172 x 124: 310 pp., (1 blank folio), printed cover. Paperback. First edition of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s first novel, written in French. Mafarka is a Futurist and eclectic work, blending mythology, symbolism and adventure. The story follows Mafarka-el-Bahr, an Arab king at war with his uncle Boubassa. After putting an end to a violent scene involving the ‘rape of Black women’, he uses cunning to sow discord amongst the enemy. The death of his brother Magamal, killed by rabid dogs, drives him on a mournful journey into the Hypogea. To ease his grief, he creates Gazourmah, a mechanical being endowed with melodious wings, destined to fly ‘along the curve of the earth ’. But Gazourmah rebels, challenges the Sun and the Sea, then takes flight, realising ‘the great dream of total music’. This allegorical novel celebrates artistic creation, rebellion against the past and the drive towards a technological and poetic future (Barbara Meazzi, *Mafarka the Futurist or the Mythological Imposture of Futurism*, Presses Universitaires Blaise Pascal, 2003, pp. 301–315). A copy belonging to Aurélien Lugné-Poe (1869–1940), a French actor and director, a leading figure in Symbolism and the theatrical revival, enriched by this autograph dedication signed by the author on the second blank flyleaf: to my dear friend // Lugné Poe // in homage // with profound // intellectual // admiration // F. T. Marinetti Founder of the Théâtre de l’Œuvre (1893), Lugné-Poe played a decisive role in promoting Marinetti’s Futurist works in Paris, notably by staging *Le Roi Bombance* (1905) at the Théâtre Marigny. A very well-preserved copy. Provenance: Aurélien Lugné Poe, with a dedication and bookplate stamp. – Bernard Roy, with bookplate.
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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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