Lingères légères
One of 35 copies from the deluxe issue on Montval paper (no. XVII).
Portrait of the author by Marcoussis as frontispiece.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Paul Éluard entered a gentle, loving period at the side of his wife, Nusch. In this spirit he wrote a series of poems of the same tenor, celebrating love: Lingères légères opens this cycle, followed by Le dur désir de durer, Une longue réflexion amoureuse and Poésie ininterrompue. But happiness was brief. Nusch died suddenly, far from Éluard, who was away traveling. His last image of his muse: from the departing train, the poet glimpsed the hand of a young woman waving to him. Lingères légères was published on 4 July 1945; Nusch Éluard died on 28 November 1946.
A precious copy bound by Paul Bonet. This is the master’s only binding on this text, executed in January 1948 (by Desmules, gilt by Jeanne). In his Carnets (no. 818), he describes it as “light, elegant, no doubt a little bland and too soft.”
The copy is enriched with the complete manuscript of all the poems in the collection, comprising 11 manuscript leaves, on various papers, of the poems’ first drafts. This is the only known autograph version of Lingères légères.
A very fine copy.
Bookplate of Maurice Juill.