Album Secret. Présentation et notes par Jean-Paul Goujon.

VIVIEN, Renée; Natalie Barney; Eva Palmer.

Edité par [Muizon, France:] Éditions A L'Ecart, 1984

First edition, sole impression, limited issue, number 19 of 100 copies on vergé de lana from a total edition of 140 copies. This rare work reproduces 20 photographs taken by the ménage à trois, 19 of which appear here for the first time and 16 of which are nudes. It also includes a selection of romantic letters and poems by the Sapphic artists, many of which were previously unpublished. "In 1900, in an early exploration of lesbian eros, Natalie Clifford Barney collaborated with her former lover Evaline Palmer (born about 1876) and her then current lover, poet Renée Vivien (Pauline Mary Tarn, 1877-1909) in making nude studies of each other in Bar Harbor, Maine. Barney took the negatives to Paris to be developed and printed" (Summers). The resulting images are reminiscent "of the beaches of Lesbos, a setting that is both theatrical and mythological" (Goujon). After their trip, Barney and Vivien drifted apart, while Palmer tired of her frivolous Parisienne lifestyle and moved to Greece, where she married the poet and playwright Angelos Sikelianos. These intimate images represent perhaps the trio's "last moments of unblemished happiness" (ibid.) Goujon is a French literary critic and specialist in "1900 writers", including Pierre Louÿs, Renée Vivien, and Jean de Tinan. Claude Summers, The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts, 2012. Quarto. 32 leaves, unbound as issued, laid into original light brown stiff card wrappers, spine and front cover lettered in dark red, photographic illustration on front cover in dark red. In the original card chemise and slipcase. With 20 reproductions of photographs tipped-in. A little offsetting from glue to a few pages, else a fine copy. N° de réf. du vendeur 166116

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : Album Secret. Présentation et notes par ...
Éditeur : [Muizon, France:] Éditions A L'Ecart, 1984
Edition : Edition originale