Manifeste du Surréalisme. Poisson Soluble

Paris: Aux Éditions du Sagittaire, Chez Simon Kra, 1924. First edition. 190 pp. Publisher's printed wrappers. Wrappers toned, softened old crease to front cover, spine darkened with some chipping and a short closed tear at the front hinge. Endleaves browned. Noted "S.P." service de presse copy.

Prior to the publication in October 1924 of Breton's manifesto, many skirmishes and quarrels had taken place around the use and meaning of the word "surrealism." Various factions had laid claim to the word and definition of the movement. Several weeks earlier Yvan Goll had published his own "manifeste du surréalisme" in the single issue of his journal Surréalisme. But ultimately it was Breton's that became the definitive statement. Originally conceived of as a theoretical introduction to his collection of automatic writings Poisson Soluble, the manifesto "quickly acquired the status of an independent text, delineating the goals and challenges of surrealism, even if its insistence on the supremacy of the poetic image was due to its originally intended application." Inscribed by Breton on the front flyleaf. Bookplate of Guido van Suchtelen, Spinoza scholar and active member of the Dutch Resistance, on the verso of the front flyleaf.