Michel HOUELLEBECQ. Lot n° 183

The Grey Expanse. Saumane, Le Renard Pâle Éditions (collection Festina lente), 2014. In-12: in sheets, in filled cover, publisher's laminated pewter slipcase bearing, attached to the second cover, a printed, accordion-folded photograph (width: 1.6 meters). First illustrated edition. The poem first appeared in 2013 in the collection Configuration du dernier rivage published by Flammarion. Limited edition of 35 copies on Arches paper, signed by the author and the artist. Unnumbered contributor's copy with autograph mailing signed by the publisher to her patron, Jean-Paul Kahn: "For JPK with the friendship of the Renards pâles." The illustration includes 2 original photographs by Gabriela Morawetz printed by herself in pigment print on 100% Hahnemühle rice paper. The first one printed in red (8 x 6 cm) is laminated at the end of the poem, signed and dated by the photographer. The second one, printed in black and white, is folded into an accordion (17.5 x 160 cm) and attached to the bottom cover of the publisher's laminated pewter case. It is signed and dated by the photographer on the flap. The model of the book is enclosed, including a proof of the text with "bon à tirer", two prints of the red photograph with colour indications, a sample of 160 gr. Arches paper, two test prints of the folded photograph and a prototype of the pewter case. Also enclosed are three photographs taken at the signing of the copies: one of Michel Houellebecq alone, one showing the photographer, the editor and the author, and a general view of the copies. Geneviève and Jean-Paul Kahn have been patrons of the Éditions du Renard Pâle created by Patricia Dupuy and Bernard Soria since they began in 2000. It is the latter who has made the laminated tin-covered slipcase.