EXCEPTIONAL FIRST ISSUE OF VERVE, AMERICAN EDITION, 1937, WITH EXHIBITION-SIZE COLOR LITHOGRAPHS BY MATISSE AND OTHERS

TÉRIADE, Efstratios (ELEFTHERIADES, Efstratios). Verve. Volume 1, Numbers 1. Paris: (Imprimerie des Beaux-Arts), 1937. Folio (10-1/2 by 14 inches), original paper wrappers. $1700.

First American edition of the first issue of Verve, published in Paris in 1937, featuring cover art by Matisse, along with numerous heliogravures (many full color), original lithographs by artists such as Leger and Miró, along with articles by Dos Passos, Garcia Lorca, and Gide, and much more.

"Fifty years ago in Paris, the magazine to look for was Verve, which first came out in December 1937 and kept going in one form or another till 1960. That first cover (by Henri Matisse) sang out from the other side of the street in a way that made us run across the road to look at it more closely. And when we turned its pages, Verve had a bosomy, full-fleshed, slightly slithery quality that this former subscriber would know in his sleep" (John Russell). Art critic Efstratios Eleftheriades, under the nom de plume "Tériade," founded Verve, with the financial assistance of David Smart, publisher of Esquire. "The magazine, a quarterly review of arts and letters, was lavish in design and challenging in content. Teriade's view of the world of art and literature was personal, bold and compelling" (Rick Gagliano).

In addition to the original lithographic front wrapper by Matisse, this volume's premiere issue of Verve (Vol. 1, No. 1) features original lithographs by Miró and Leger, heliogravures of photographs by Man Ray, Brassaï, articles by Matisse, Gide, Dos Passos and Garcia Lorca, previously unpublished letters and drawings by Cezanne, and the first printed illustration of Picasso's Guernica. First American edition, published same year as the French, with text translated into English by Robert Sage. Hanneman C278. Slocum C93. Contemporary owner signature. Small gold label subscription information on title page.

Plates and text fine, expert repairs to text block and original wrappers.