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an old black book with a picture of a man in a boatdrawing of a woman laying on her stomach with a hat ondrawing of a man on a skateboard on a sheet of paperdrawing of a man with a bird on his shoulder and a bird on his shoulderpencil drawing of a nude woman sitting on a bed with her legs crossedpencil drawing of a hand reaching for something on a tablepencil drawing of a nude woman laying on a bed with a pillowpencil drawing of a man sitting on a horse with a hat on his headdrawing of a woman sitting on a bench with her legs crossedan old handwritten letter from a man who is holding a piece of paper with writing on it
ALDE

25 - [BATAILLE (Georges)]. Under the pseudonym Lord Auch.
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Estimate €50,000 - €60,000
Sale commission
Description
[BATAILLE (Georges)]. Under the pseudonym Lord Auch. *Histoire de l’œil*. New edition. With six original etchings and chiselled engravings. Seville, [Paris, K. Editeur], 1940 [1947]. In-8, paperback, padded cover, slipcase, case, black morocco slipbox (Atelier Laurenchet). Second edition of the text, revised and corrected by Alain Gheerbrant at the publisher’s request, illustrated with six unsigned etchings and burin engravings by Hans Bellmer. Although dated 1940, this edition was produced in July 1947 with the aim of circumventing censorship. Printed in a run of 199 copies; this is one of 10 printed on Johannot pure-fibre vellum for contributors, signed by Bellmer. A precious, enriched copy comprising: - two sets of illustrations, one in black and white, the other in colour, - the original copper plate for the fourth illustration, - a signed proof on pink paper of the first etching, and five superb erotic pencil drawings, two of which are on graph paper by Hans Bellmer. Four of the drawings are signed, and the two on squared paper are also dated 1946. Also included is a precious letter from Georges Bataille to Hans Bellmer, dated 1 April 1946 in Vézelay, 3 pages in-12, concerning the publication of the book, which demonstrates the great care Georges Bataille took with this edition of his erotic masterpiece: ‘You cannot imagine the difficulties I am having with the Gheerbrants over simple proof corrections.’ Regarding the copperplate engravings: It is true that I am responsible for the format. It is, in fact, the page format enlarged by about 1 cm on each side. Marginless etchings are not all that rare in bibliophilia, and they are easy to distinguish from reproductions because the lines are raised. In any case, this gives you the freedom to give the images exactly the dimensions you wish, within the limits of the sheet. It is indeed advisable to stick to the text’s format, but in that case we would need to send you a sheet specifying precisely how much of the vertical space the text occupies. I shall inform him that he should receive advance payments from Gheerbrant. Should you encounter any difficulties whatsoever, please do write to me about it. For my part, I would write saying: ‘Bellmer tells me that…’ The back of the envelope is addressed to ‘Jean Bellmer’. The artist has dated it 4 April 1946. The set is housed in a superb slipcase made of black morocco leather and Plexiglas, crafted by the Atelier Laurenchet. Each of the five drawings and the letter are mounted under Plexiglas and can be alternately placed beneath the slipcase’s transparent front cover. One of the finest examples of this edition that can be found. Provenance: given by Hans Bellmer to a friend who had put him up in the Roussillon during the war. Pia, 630 – Dutel, no. 1699.
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About the sale Eros & Thanatos – Selected extracts from the L-D S library
Auction location
Auction time 10/07/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits:
ALDE
See original version (French)
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