Arcana:

(DUCHAMP, MARCEL). Lebel, Robert, Andre Breton. H.P. Roché & Marcel Duchamp. Paris: Editions Trianon, 1959. First Edition. 4to. Cloth in Illustrated Jacket. Catalogue Raisonné. Very Good -/Near Fine. 193pp, profusely illustrated in b&w and color. Designed by Marcel Duchamp. Text in French. With a bibliography. This graphically striking publication is Robert Lebel's catalogue raisonné of two hundred and seven works executed by Marcel Duchamp between 1902 and 1958 that includes a design by the pioneering Dada and Surrealist master. An internally most handsome example of the 1959 French first printing showing minor abrading to the cloth over the tips of the boards at both ends of the spine along with some mottling and light discoloration of the cloth in a bright, well preserved English language Trianon Press dust jacket housed in the publisher's unprinted chipboard slipcase bearing the BOLDLY SIGNED PRESENTATIONS "Cher Emily / Cher Georges / Staempfli / Anges de Cadaques / et pas du ski nautique / affecteusement / Marcel 1961" and "lu et apprové (pas le livre, la dedicace) / Robert Lebel 1961" in blue ink across the portrait of Duchamp on the second preliminary. Swiss-born George William Staempfli moved to New York in 1935 where he later worked for Knoedler Gallery before becoming the curator of paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. In 1959 he and his wife Emily opened the Staempfli Gallery in Manhattan, and the following year the couple purchased a home in Cadaques, Spain where they frequently hosted their close art world friends including Salvador and Gala Dali - who the gallery showed - and Marcel and Teeny Duchamp. Inventory Number: 025647