Une Semaine de Bonté ou Les Sept Éléments Capitaux, [A… | Sophie Schneideman Rare Books and Prints

ERNST, Max. MERCHER, Daniel-Henri. ~ Une Semaine de Bonté ou Les Sept Éléments Capitaux, [A Week of Kindness, or the Seven Deadly Elements].

Paris Jeanne Bucher 1934

Complete set of the first edition of all 5 cahiers, all with the original wrappers bound in and each no. 502 of 800 copies printed on Navarre. 128 fantastical collages by Max Ernst. 22 x 27 cms. superbly bound by Daniel-Henri Mercher (signed on the front turn-in) in quarter black morocco each side with a replication of one of Ernst’s collages with bands of purple, green, red, blue and yellow colour overlaid with cut out metallic marbled paper beneath clear Lucite, the cut outs reveal the stylised letters ‘DLMMJVS’ (in reverse on the lower cover) standing for the days of the week in French, spine delicately lettered in purple, green, red, blue and yellow, wood-veneer endpapers, tope edge black, others untrimmed; all the immaculate original wrappers bound in plus the woodcut printed on green paper which was originally issued on the outside of the publisher’s slipcase. Superb copy, housed in the black morocco and wood-veneer chemise and slipcase with the same colour lettering as the volume itself.

Max Ernst’s ‘Une Semaine de Bonté’ is one of the great artist’s books and a landmark of the Surrealist movement. Ernst created his 182 images from Victorian encyclopedias, illustrated novels, scientific and technical publications, mail-order catalogues, natural history catalogues and many other sources including wood engravings by Gustave Dore and Max Klinger. His ‘novel without words’ was created while Ernst was on holiday in Italy from the contents of one of his suitcases. The book is splendidly strange and foreboding with images placed at destablilsing angles and places creating enigmatic visual themes of violence, sex, anti-religion, jealousy, murder and death.
The book is divided into seven sections named after the days of the week but was in fact published in five cahiers as the first four publications did not achieve the success Ernst hoped for, therefore the three last days were put together into a fifth and final cahier.
The bold and sympathetic designer binding was made by Daniel-Henri Mercher (b.1944), son of the great Henri Mercher (1912-1976) drawing on Ernst’s colour scheme for the original wrappers of the book - purple, green, red, blue and yellow - and using a reproduction of one of Ernst’s collages over which he placed a sheet of silver and grey cut out in stylised letters to represent the days of the week.

Flety, p.126; Maurer, Images of Dreams and Desire: The Prints and Collage Novels of Max Ernst (p. 78-91).

Stock ref: 11814

Keywords: Artists' & Fine Press, Book, Fine Bookbinding

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