La Folie Tristan.
[LELY, Gilbert; Alberto Giacometti].
La Folie Tristan.
Definitive Limited Edition of Gilbert Lely's Translation of La Folie Tristan; Signed by Him and the Illustrator Alberto Giacometti with an Original Double Etching
Paris: Jean Hugues, 1959.
$8,800.00
In Stock
Item Number: 151301
Definitive limited edition of this 12th-century Anglo-Norman poem about the medieval legend of Tristan and Iseult. Duodecimo, written in French, bound in three-quarters bordeaux morocco with gilt titles to the spine in five compartments within raised bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, original wrappers bound in. One of 50 numbered copies on vellum, this is number 43. Signed by French poet, translator, and literary scholar Gilbert Lely on the limitations page to the rear. Additionally signed by the illustrator Alberto Giacometti with two original etchings between pages 13 and 15. Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, and printmaker associated with the Surrealist movement and later with existentialist currents in postwar European art. Renowned for his distinctive elongated bronze figures, Giacometti sought to capture the fragility and isolation of the human condition, themes that resonated strongly with the philosophical climate of mid-twentieth-century Europe. In near fine condition.
La Folie Tristan (1959), translated by Gilbert Lely, is a modern rendering of the medieval Anglo-Norman poem recounting the legend of Tristan and Isolde. Lely’s translation preserves the structure and meter of the twelfth-century original while presenting the text in a form accessible to modern readers. Issued in Paris by Jean Hugues as the first volume in the Le Cri de la Fée series, the edition was produced as a limited fine-press publication printed on rag vellum paper and illustrated with etchings by Alberto Giacometti, the renowned modernist sculptor and artist.
