La Vue (The View)

Roussel, Raymond. La Vue (The View). Paris: Jean-Jacques Pauvert, 1963. Reprint. Octavo. 144, [4]pp. Original printed wrappers. Title page in red and black lettering. Poet, novelist, playwright, and chess enthusiast, Raymond Roussel (1877-1933) was one of the French belle époque’s most compelling literary figures. This work contains Roussel’s trio of intriguingly two-dimensional poems titled “La vue” which offers a 60-page description of a miniature beach scene set into the lens of a pen-holder, while “Le Concert” and “La Source” focus in turn, with equally demented precision, on the letterhead of a piece of hotel stationery and the label of a bottle of mineral water. Spine slightly discolored, with minor rubbing along edges. Text in French. Wrappers in overall good+, interior in very good condition. g+ to vg. Softcover. (38207) $45