FORNERET (Xavier), Untitled—Another Year of Untitled, by a B - Lot 160

FORNERET (Xavier), Untitled—Another Year of Untitled, by a Black Man with a White Face—Scraps of Thought—Vapor, Neither Verse Nor Prose—Nothing, Something—And the Moon Shone and the Dew Fell Paris, Arcanes, 1952. In-12, paperback, black and red printed cover. Collective first edition published in the “Humour Noir” series under the direction of Willy-Paul Romain, preceded by a text by André Breton. This significant volume brings together several of the most iconic works by Xavier Forneret, a singular and long-overlooked figure of French Romanticism, celebrated by the Surrealists for the strangeness of his imagination, his dazzling aphorisms, and his visionary black humor. A poet, playwright, and prose writer who defies categorization, Forneret remains one of the most original writers of the nineteenth century. His work, rediscovered by André Breton and the Surrealists, occupies a special place in the history of French literature, straddling dark Romanticism, the fantastic, and a foreshadowing of the absurd. This edition by Les Arcanes played a major role in his rediscovery among bibliophiles and lovers of avant-garde literature. Limited edition announced at 1,000 numbered copies, plus a few copies printed on high-quality paper. Paperback copy preserved in its original cover. Cover in fine condition. Interior in good condition, paper slightly and uniformly yellowed.