Four plaquettes, illustrated by Miro, Picasso, Duchamp, and Valentine Hugo

1940. HUGNET, Georges. Complete set of all four "butterfly books," each in original wrappers as issued; oblong 16mo., 95 x 145 mm, in a cloth folding box. Paris: [The Author], 1940-1941. Each of these four pamphlets was clandestinely printed at the beginning of the German occupation and distributed only among close friends of the artist and poet Georges Hugnet (1906-1974), an active figure in Dada and Surrealist circles. The first in this series, "Non vouloir," is one of only 20 copies printed on verge antique, from an edition of just 26 total, it is printed in red and features a reproduction of an illustration by Miró on the title-page verso, and is inscribed by "a Cecile(Eluard) de tout coeur, Georges Hugnet".. The second in the series, "Pablo Picasso," is one of 200 copies printed in brown with black zincographs by Picasso engulfing the text throughout. The third is "Marcel Duchamp," from an edition of 200 copies, printed in blue, features a single print tipped onto the title-page verso, of the "Moustache and Beard of L.H.O.O.Q." -- arguably the cornerstone of Dadaism -- in which Duchamp's original metal stencil was applied in graphite on paper by pochoir. "Like the smile of the Cheshire Cat, Duchamp's graffiti additions to the Mona Lisa now hover in space" (d'Harnoncourt & McShine, p. 304). "The stencil was originally made for the addition of those details to the reproduction of L.H.O.O.Q. in The Box in a Valise" (Bonk, p. 241). The final one "Au 'depens des mots,'" is one of an edition of 200 printed in gold with black accents on the title-page. Inscribed "a ma petite Cecile(Eluard) de tout coeur, Georges Hugnet". Each of the butterfly books is a rare survival; together, they form an outstanding group, much like the artists themselves. A rare survival in immaculate condition. Goeppert, Pablo Picasso: The Illustrated Books 35. Schwarz, The Complete Work of Marcel Duchamp 483. Johnson, Artists' Books in the Modern Era 1870-2000, 115. Naumann 5.33, p. 143. (Inventory #: 173060)