Description
ROUSSEL (Raymond).
New Impressions of Africa, followed by The Soul of Victor Hugo.
Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1932 [1933]. — In-18, 187 x 138: (2 ff.), 313 pp., (3 ff., last page blank), printed cover. Paperback, covered binding
Second edition, printed in 1933.
*New Impressions of Africa* is the last work published by Raymond Roussel (1877–1933), and one of the most enigmatic and daring texts in French literature. This long poem, comprising 1,274 alexandrines divided into four cantos, appears to be set in Egypt, between Saint Louis’s captivity at Damietta and the Battle of the Pyramids. Yet this narrative framework is merely a pretext: Roussel constructs a verbal labyrinth in which every element—place, action, description—eludes immediate comprehension.
A fifth part, entitled *L’Âme de Victor Hugo*, brings the work to a close. It consists of a series of quatrains, a sort of poetic meditation that echoes the rest of the work.
The edition is illustrated with 59 full-page black-and-white compositions by Henri-Achille Zo (1873–1933), created according to the author’s instructions but which are very far removed from the text.
A copy on Japanese paper, complete with the 16-page booklet entitled *La Critique et Raymond Roussel*, bound at the top, before the title page.
The pages are largely uncut. The quires are misaligned.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
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
You may also like