SOUPAULT, Philippe and CHAGALL, Marc — Rose Des Vents

Paris, Au Sans Pareil, 1920. 1 of 9 copies on Japon Imperial paper, Copy No. IV. Softcover. Printed oversize wraps with glassine jacket. Half-title. Title-page with woodcut vignette, and 4 woodcut illustrations by Marc Chagall. (48) pp. Among Marc Chagall's earliest book illustrations, preceded only by appearances in 1914 and 1918. With Andre Breton, Soupault was one of the founders of the Surrealist movement: "Soupault's earliest verse collection, 'Aquarium' (1917), was published with the help of Guillaume Apollinaire, who introduced Soupault to André Breton. In 1919 Soupault, Breton, and Louis Aragon cofounded the review 'Littérature'. Originally drawn to the anti-rationalism of the Dada movement, Soupault soon rejected its nihilism, and he and Breton experimented with other revolutionary techniques. One result of their experimentation was the "automatic writing" of the jointly authored 'Les Champs magnétiques' (1920; 'The Magnetic Fields'), known as the first major Surrealist work. Soupault soon abandoned automatic writing to produce carefully crafted verses such as those in 'Westwego' (1922) and 'Georgia' (1926). As the Surrealist movement became increasingly dogmatic and political, Soupault grew dissatisfied with it and eventually broke with it and Breton" (Encyclopedia Britannica online). Exceptionally rare, one of 9 such copies. VG or better, glassine jacket with minor chipping, few tiny tears no significant loss (microscopic at best) .