MANIFESTE DU SURRÉALISME, Poisson Soluble

Paris: Editions du Sagittaire, Chez Simon Kr, 1924. First Edition of Breton's first Surrealist Manifesto. This copy is an RARE INSCRIBED PRESENTATION COPY from Breton to the author Pierre Ličvre, noted French writer and biographer of the period, WITH "sympathique hommage". 8vo, in the publisher's original orange paper wrappers printed in black on the upper cover and spine. 190 pp. A beautifully preserved copy, just a bit mellowed at the edges and corners and with very minor toning mostly at the prelims. AN IMPORTANT FIRST EDITION PRESENTATION COPY OF THE FIRST OF BRETON'S SURREALIST MANIFESTOS, issued in 1924 during the Surrealist movement. Leading up to 1924, two rival surrealist groups had formed, each claiming to be true successors of the revolution launched by Guillaume Apollinaire. One group was led by Yvan Goll, and the other, led by Breton, included Louis Aragon, Robert Desnos, Paul Éluard, Jacques Baron, Jacques-André Boiffard, Jean Carrive, René Crevel and Georges Malkine, among others. Goll and Breton clashed openly, even fighting at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées over the right to use the term Surrealism. In the end it was Breton who won the battle, though the history of surrealism from that moment would remain marked by fractures, resignations, and resounding ex-communications, with each surrealist having their own view of the issue and goals, and accepting more or less the definitions laid out by André Breton.
Breton's Manifesto includes examples of Surrealism in poetry and literature, but states that the tenets of Surrealism can be applied to all aspects of life, not just to the worlds of art and literature.