Le Potomak 1913-1914. Précédé d'un prospectus 1916.
Paris: Librairie Stock, Delamain, Boutelleau & Cie. (1924). 341 pp.
Item #8944
The first illustrated edition of one of Cocteau's strangest early works, a sardonic example of automatic writing involving a monstrous jellyfish that inhabits "a subterranean aquarium in the Place de la Madeleine and thrives on a diet that includes olive oil, gloves, and rich items fed it by an American gentleman." (See Steegmuller, Cocteau @ 90-91.) Illustrated with 57 enigmatic ink drawings inspired by Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps. The drawings differ markedly from his later work and he often signed them "Jim" (the name of his dog). Un des 25 copies of the édition de tête (#5) printed on Japon impérial. Very good in pink wrappers, foredges un-trimmed, light browning to edges, laid into a silk clamshell box.
Price: $600.00