Maurice Toesca – Pablo Picasso
Six contes fantasques
Paris: Flammarion, 1953. In-4.
A unique atelier “chapel copy”, printed for the printer Pierre-Jean Mathan, preserving an exceptional body of preparatory material documenting the conception and production of the book.
The volume is illustrated with six original burin engravings by Pablo Picasso, accompanied by six decorative woodcut initials designed and engraved by Pierre Bouchet.
Printed on vélin de Montval, this unnumbered copy originates directly from the printer’s workshop and constitutes a true preparatory atelier example, preserved together with unique working documents created during the development of the publication.
Preparatory Atelier Material
This copy is enriched with a remarkable and entirely unique group of preparatory documents, including:
• A separate suite of the six woodcut initials, printed on papier vergé d’Auvergne.
• Five preparatory drafts for the title page, comprising four manuscript layout designs and one printed proof, all bearing the early project wording “douze burins et lettrines de Picasso” and dated 1944, revealing the earliest stage of the editorial conception.
• Two in-4 leaves of preparatory drawings and graphic studies for the lettering, with numerous hand-drawn sketches and compositional experiments.
• Six abandoned lettering designs, painted in gouache on individual sheets, representing alternative decorative initials rejected during the design process.
• An additional preparatory study for the cartouche appearing on page 33.
Significance
This ensemble forms a true printer’s working prototype of the edition, preserving the stages of typographic design, graphic research, and compositional experimentation preceding the final publication.
The drawings, drafts, and annotated layouts are hand-executed preparatory materials that exist only in this copy and were never reproduced, making this a unique documentary example of the creation process behind the book.
Such an atelier survival offers rare insight into the collaboration between Picasso’s engraved illustrations and Bouchet’s typographic ornamentation.
Condition
Original chemise and slipcase with minor wear and restoration to the spine; occasional foxing, including on some plates.
Overall a well-preserved and historically important atelier example.
