JARRY (Alfred). Les minutes de sable mémorial. Paris, Mercur - Lot 504

JARRY (Alfred). Les minutes de sable mémorial. Paris, Mercure de France, 1894. In-16 square, [4] f. (1 bl. f., justification, title, advertisement), IX p., p.[5]-210 p., [10] f. (errata, pl., imprint, 2 bl.), pl., modern midnight-blue basane, five-rib spine decorated with gilt stippling, gilt author, title, date and fleurons, gilt fleurons and fillet framing the covers, gilt head boards, covers preserved, untrimmed (slight browning p.41). First edition of Alfred Jarry's first book. It is illustrated with 9 woodcut plates by the author, printed in blue, black or bistre, and a woodcut vignette of his coat of arms, printed in black on the r° of the justification, and again in gold on the cover. Issued in an edition of 216 numbered copies (197 on Arches laid paper and 19 on colored Ingres petit raisin), this one on unjustified Arches laid paper. Autograph signed letter from the author to Gustave Kahn. A symbolist poet, G. Kahn (1859-1936) was also a regular literary critic in the literary journals of the day, such as La Vogue, of which he was director for a time, La Revue indépendante, La Revue blanche and Mercure de France. Alfred Jarry was for a time secretary of the Mercure de France, and very close to its director Alfred Valette. Little is known, however, about the nature of Jarry's relationship with Gustave Kahn, so this autographed copy is an invaluable document. "It's not easy to define the relationship between Gustave Kahn and Alfred Jarry, at least not on the basis of biographical data. Friends? The term is perhaps an exaggeration; or else, we must specify that it was a 'literary friendship', born in the camaraderie of salons, editorial rooms and evenings at the theater." (P. Bernier, "Gustave Kahn et Alfred Jarry : échanges énigmatiques", in Gustave Kahn, un écrivain engagé, P.U. Rennes, 2013, p.113 sq.).