Anthologie de l’humour noir
by André Breton (1896 – 1966)
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
When André Breton published Anthologie de l’humour noir with Le Sagittaire in 1940, under the Occupation, he renewed a collaboration that had begun as early as 1924 with the publication of that major literary work, Le Manifeste du Surréalisme. In this Anthologie de l’humour noir, Breton defines and establishes this literary canon according to the Surrealist aesthetic. Quickly banned, the original edition was seized and destroyed at the request of the Vichy regime, which explains its relative rarity on the market.
For the second edition, published in 1950, again by Le Sagittaire, Breton revised and expanded his text. This literary panorama ranges from Swift (cruel irony), Voltaire (acerbic philosophical humor), Sade (black humor pushed toward blasphemy and cruelty), to Poe (macabre humor and delirious logic), Jarry, Kafka (bureaucratic absurdity)…
The work is adorned with 23 portraits of these authors and artists from the 17th to the 20th century. The deluxe issue comprises only 50 numbered copies, enhanced with a beautiful original color lithograph by Juan Miró as a frontispiece, and signed by André Breton. This choice copy is one of the first 12 on Holland paper, and is bound in a superb binding by Martin.
BRETON (André)
Anthologie de l’humour noir.
Paris, Éditions du Sagittaire, 1950. Octavo, black morocco decorated with a checkerboard design of black and red velvet by P.-L. Martin.
€4,000-€6,000
‘BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS & PRINTS’ AUCTION
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
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