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a book with a red heart on it sitting on a piece of papera close up of a book with a drawing of a bird on itan old book with a drawing of a man and a dogdrawing of a man standing in front of a drawing of a buildinga drawing of a man sitting on the ground with his legs crosseddrawing of three men in underwear standing next to each otheran open book with a drawing of a man laying on the groundan image of a close up of a sign on a wall
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158 - [BOLLIGER, René]. VERLAINE.
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Estimate €2,000 - €2,500
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Description
[BOLLIGER, René]. VERLAINE. Hombres. Produced in Paris, February–March 1967. Large quarto (25 x 31 cm), (14) folios decorated with drawings and handwritten text. On sheets of thick vellum, in a slipcase. An impressive homoerotic manuscript by René Bolliger. With original red chalk drawings by René Bolliger. 11 large, highly free-form full-page red chalk scenes and 5 red chalk figures, including one on the title page. Text of Verlaine’s poems, title and colophon written entirely in ink. A unique copy. Possibly the last created by the artist, as it is unfinished (the list of drawings is still merely a pencil draft), Autograph signature on the title page. Each figure signed with his initials. On white Whatman paper, cut to shape. Originally from Basel in Switzerland, René Bolliger (1911–1971) is known for his illustrations for erotic books, both published and underground, between the 1940s and 1970s. These drawings, which are highly explicit in nature and of homosexual inspiration, circulated under the counter amongst a circle of connoisseurs. Until the 1950s, censorship prohibited their sale through traditional commercial channels. “The poems are copied from the text published by Editions de Paris in 1925. This copy is entirely handwritten and adorned with original drawings by René Bolliger, some of which are enhanced with watercolour.” Gérard Nordmann Library (Christie’s 2006 auction), for one of Bollinger’s other manuscripts from the same series. Included: BOULLET, Jean. Œdipe. Le Terrain Vague, 1958. In-12, (5)-XLV pp. and 45 reproductions of drawings, including scenes of nudity and homoeroticism. Paperback, plain cover with illustrated dust jacket with flaps (spine repaired, very slight wear and tear). First edition. With a dedication by the author, ‘For Pierrot’, dated 1959. Provenance: from the library of Pierre Séjourné. Pierre Séjourné (1930–1993), a Parisian bookseller with a passion for bookbinding, a flautist and an enthusiast of literature and classical music, moved in both the Parisian artistic and literary circles and the world of the Decorative Arts and their schools through his uncle, the architect and Academician Albert Laprade. Also an author and actor, he devoted himself to writing and performing his own plays, which were mainly staged in the Paris region.
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Auction time 10/30/2026 at 2:00 PM
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