CALI (François). - Lot 46

CALI (François). Sortilèges de Paris. Designed and produced by Claude Arthaud. Grenoble, Arthaud, [circa 1958–1960]. Large quarto, publisher’s hardcover with an illustrated photographic dust jacket. A beautiful volume dedicated to Paris, in which photographer François Cali offers a poetic and intimate vision of the capital. Far from being a mere tourist album, *Sortilèges de Paris* offers a sensitive stroll through the streets, quays, bridges, and historic neighborhoods, captured at dawn, dusk, or in the winter mist. The photographs, primarily in black and white, are accompanied by texts of great literary quality that establish a dialogue between the image and the city, transforming Paris into a space of memory, dreams, and mystery. The elegant layout designed by Claude Arthaud fully contributes to the book’s aesthetic, characteristic of the fine-art photography books published by Arthaud during the 1950s and 1960s. The collection as a whole offers a refined portrait of Paris before the major urban transformations, where atmosphere takes precedence over documentary description. A beautiful copy in its illustrated dust jacket.