Lot 3: ALEXEIEFF, ALEXANDRE, illustrator. 1901–1982. Russian Books and Photographs

POE, EDGAR ALLAN. Colloque entre Monos et Una.Translated by Charles Baudelaire with a forward by Philippe Soupault.Paris:N. Matzneff, Éditions Orion, [1929]. Quarto.78 pp. 11 aquatints and aquafortis (including frontispiece) printed by Les Ateliers Rigal.Original unbound papered covers within glassine dust jacket and papered slipcase.Covers rubbed, fingermarks. No 15 of 50 copies on Montval out of an entire edition of 55, with two extra suites of the plates, one in the final state and the second being proofs printed after copper cutting. R. Coulouma, under the direction of H. Barthélémy, completed the printing in Argenteuil on June 20, 1929. Alexeieff depicts Poe's disembodied spirits in various states of transformation during their dialogue in the afterlife."An extraordinary audacity was required to translate this revelation from beyond the grave into acid and copper," writes historian and translator Georges Nivat."But it was precisely the hand Alexeieff extended to Baudelaire, who extended it to Poe, who held it out to Death which formed one of those chains of transmutation of which Alexeieff knows the secret and the nostalgia. Animus calls to Anima, consciousness leans towards what is exploding up there in the empty sky."OCLC lists only six copies worldwide.Not in NYPL, LC, MoMA or Getty.Bendazzi pp 277-78.