My Mother's Gray Room Written on Water n°3/20 Original Drawing Rejected Plate

  

Francis de Miomandre, Written on Water, with etchings by Grau Sala, Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, 1947, 266 p. Loose sheets in illustrated cover, publisher's slipcase and box. Cover, frontispiece in colors, 30 blue illustrations in the text: 15 full-page copperplates + 15 headers. All copperplates, related to the title of the work, are printed in shades of blue: midnight blue, electric blue, ultramarine, indigo, navy, sapphire. Limited edition of 400 numbered copies: 50 on Arches vellum from 1 to 50 and 350 on Lana vellum from 51 to 400.

The first 20 copies include an original drawing, a first state suite, and a final state suite, the next 30 include a suite. Our copy is number 3 of the deluxe edition. It contains as announced in the colophon: 1 original drawing in ink. Signed in red, by hand, by Grau Sala. This is the original drawing of the 4th plate, p.

1 first state suite of the 31 engravings. 1 final state suite of the 31 engravings. It is also enriched with a rejected plate with the mention "rejected plate" and the hand signature of Grau Sala. In gray pencil, not indicated in the colophon. Written on Water was published in 1908, at the author's expense, in five hundred copies by a Marseille house: Le Feu, directed by Émile Sicard. The novel was awarded the Goncourt Prize that same year, beating Henri Barbusse, Amédée Rouquès, and Jean Violis. When the verdict signed by Léon Hennique, president of the academy, was announced, only a dozen of the five hundred copies remained and were sold within the hour. Sicard and his printer rushed to Paris determined to flood the booksellers with the new edition of this unexpected Goncourt. But, ill-equipped and so happy to discover the charms and pleasures of the capital towards which they rushed, they did not find the time for this reprint.

When the volumes finally came out of the press, it was too late. Miomandre admits, without any regret or resentment, that it took over seven years to sell the three thousand copies he had planned for his glory. The novel invites us to follow the sentimental journey of young Jacques de Meillan (alter ego of Francis de Miomandre) through the Marseille of the early twentieth century. The theme is playful and the writing, light and without any stylistic pomposity, exudes a quaint and vaporous charm when read. A kind of ode to youth and love of a very young man whose sap flows through body and mind with bubbling desires.

In the preface, Miomandre warns his readers of the time: "It requires no effort to be read. Whether you open it in the middle, it will be as intelligible as if you approached it from the first chapter. Like eternity, it has no beginning or end, but it is shorter." André Gide, perplexed, in the Nouvelle Revue Française, notes about Written on Water: "In what tone to speak of this light book? Light as a bubble, inconsistent, bizarre, it eludes criticism and seems constantly evolving.

It could be unbearable; it is charming. Exceptional set in excellent condition. Deluxe edition with additional material. Sumptuous illustrations and original drawing signed by Grau Sala.

Careful shipping, with tracking and insurance, worldwide. Photos in the listing show the 3 states of a selection of plates and the 4 states for the one with the original drawing in ink. Additional photos available upon request.