Max Ernst
Une semaine de bonté ou Les sept éléments capitaux.
Paris, Aux Editions Jeanne Bucher, 1934. Five vols., each 28 x 22,5 cm, (44)pp.; (36)pp.; (50)pp.; (36)pp.; (70)pp.; original wrappers (each cahier a different colour), b/w ill.; in original publisher's slipcase with ill. label. Fine condition without the usual fading to the bright colours of the covers.
 
First edition. One of 800 numbered copies on papier Navarre, in fine condition. Every 'cahier' of this collage-novel treats a day of the week, and an element, also giving an example : 1. Dimanche; La Boue; Le Lion de Belfort. 2. Lundi; L'Eau. 3. Mardi; Le Feu; La Cour du Dragon. 4. Mercredi; Le Sang; Oedipe. 5. Jeudi; Le Noir; Le Rire du Coq/L'Ile de Pâques/Vendredi; La Vue; L'intérieur de la vue/Samedi; Inconnu; La Clé des chants. - Werner Spies discusses at length the sophisticated construction of this collage-novel without words in "Max Ernst - Collagen. Inventar und Widerspruch" (Köln, 1974). The different levels, marked by the titles and the colours of the cahiers' covers - Ernst's ambition to recreate here the intensity of the silent film and the interest in 'special murderers' (an interest he shared with other surrealists) - make "Une semaine de bonté" the 'strongest and most recognizably concentrated expression'of the themes of Ernst's work in that period
    

Une semaine de bonté ou Les sept éléments capitaux.