Sotheby's France SA (Paris)

Two volumes (30.5 cm), I (11 October 2006): 318 pp., illustrations (most in colour). Lots numbered 1-269. II (12 October 2006): 287 (1) pp., illustrations (most in colour). Lots numbered 270-518. Publisher’s printed boards, slipcase. - Collection of the Romanian chemical engineer Fred Feinsilber, ostensibly documenting the forerunners of Surrealism (Souren Melikian, “A passion for rare books inspires a journey into the past” in The New York Times, 6 October 2006). The first quarter of the sale was devoted to older (pre-1900) books; the most spectacular was the coloured copy of the 1610 Voyage du Roy à Metz from the library of Jean Ballesdens (€67,200); the peak of the sale came with the holograph manuscript of Camus “Le mythe de Sisyphe”, bound by Bonet (1958), for which Benoît Forgeot paid €404,000 (now Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, GEN MSS VOL 408). Saleroom report in The Book Collector, Winter 2006, pp.566-569. ¶ Unmarked copy. Laser-print price list loosely inserted (lots 1-518).