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170 - Henri MICHAUX. A Certain Phenomenon Called Music.
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Estimate €1,500 - €2,000
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Description
Henri MICHAUX. A Certain Phenomenon Called Music. [1958]. Printed proof, 2 double-sheets, large quarto. First edition: offprint without a cover, printed in a run of 30 copies numbered at the typesetting bench (no. 26). Michaux’s second text devoted to music. *A Certain Phenomenon Called Music* appeared in 1958 in *L’Encyclopédie de la musique*, edited by François Michel and published by Fasquelle. (Imbert, no. 204.) “There is what we call music. It is also a matter of waves, very tiny ones, and of playing with them—not, of course, by receiving them on wet feet, but only, so tiny are they, in the very depths of the ear, which receives them vibrating and as if they were a secret. Invisible, they arrive in circular lines, which soon surround him as if they were coming from everywhere, and in the immense vat keep him bathed. […] ‘Music, that marvellous thing which preceded fire; we needed it all the more.’ With a long, warm autographed dedication to Jean Paulhan. Following an accidental fall in 1957 which left him with a fractured right elbow and post-traumatic osteoporosis, Michaux had to learn to write with his left hand and did not regain the use of his right hand until much later, which explains the awkward handwriting in the dedication to Paulhan, his companion during his early mescaline experiments. To Jean Paulhan. / Kind regards. / a certain phenomenon / which we / call music / A piece of writing so full of mistakes / that it almost foreshadowed an accident, / written with a left hand that has / learnt little[,] a tribute / that seems like a forgery, / this is what I hesitated / to send to you. / Henri Michaux Thank you for your note. Things are improving overall. But I can still / only take a few steps; my right hand remains numb and swollen / and my arm is very weak, resisting rehabilitation. / It’s all the work of a dunce. But I went along with it and wrote ‘the broken arm’. Michaux would indeed recount the experience of his accident and the loss of his ‘right arm’ in *Bras cassé* (1962).
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About the sale Henri Michaux, the Sven Pitsey collection
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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