APOLLINAIRE, Guillaume.

£950 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Le Poète assassiné. First edition, first printing. The famous title work of this collection of stories is an autobiographical adventure, following the life of the poet Croniamantal and his relationships with major artists, including "the Bénin bird", a sculptor based on Picasso. Inspired by this story, Picasso designed a monument to Apollinaire after his death in 1918, as the "the Bénin bird" did after Croniamantal's death in "Le Poète Assassiné".Apollinaire assembled these stories while recuperating in hospital from a head wound he suffered in battle on 17 March 1916; the changes in personality he experienced as a result of neurological trauma is now informally known as Apollinaire syndrome. Picasso and other friends organized a dinner party on 31 December 1916 to celebrate the publication of the book.

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