Les Grèves. by BONA, illustrator. GRENIER, Jean.

16mo (200 × 145 mm), pp. 23, [1]. Original printed tan wrappers. Vignettes by Bona to upper cover and colophon. Presentation letter (dated 1 February 1957), signed, from the author to Jacques Brunner loosely inserted. An excellent copy.

First edition, number 144 of 200 copies. Excerpts from the French philosopher Jean Grenier’s forthcoming autobiography (Gallimard, 1957) published for the ‘Chemin des Sources’ series by the Librairie Franco-Egyptienne in Cairo. It includes two small vignettes by Bona de Mandiargues (née Tibertelli), one a flying bird, the other a surrealist crouching fish-woman. Grenier is perhaps best remembered as mentor to the young Albert Camus at the Grand Lycée of Algiers. At the time of publication Bona was married to poet Pierre de Mandiargues, and was integrated into the surrealist circle around André Breton. Rare: Worldcat lists the Bn and Bibliothèque Jerôme Doucet copies in France, the Harvard copy in the US and another at the American University, Cairo.