LITTERATURE REVUE MENSUELLE NR 1. THE FIRST PARIS DADA JOURNA

THE FIRST PARISIAN DADA JOURNAL

Dada
LITTERATURE REVUE MENSUELLE NR 1. Directeurs: Andre Breton, Louis Aragon &
Philippe Soupault
Paris: Litterature, Mars 1919
23 x 14.4cm, 24pp. Original wrappers. Letterpress. The very first number of the dadaist revue founded by the intrepid trio of Breton, Aragon and Soupault. The contents are surprisingly traditional (within the expectations of the contemporary French world of letters) and include poetic works by Gide, Valery, Fargue, Salmon, Jacob, Reverdy, Cendrars,
Paulhan, Aragon and Breton. Some grubbiness to wrappers and the staple is displaying evidence of rust and there are tiny brown indications of spotting internally but this is otherwise an uncut, very good example of a particularly scarce revue - and important in that it was the first journal ever released by Breton et al that lead ultimately to surrealism. Most copies of Litterature were published in runs of 1,500 but at best it is estimated that only 200 copies were sold by subscription (and that thanks to Sylvia Beach's support) the vast majority being unsold. This is an unnumbered copy after the du tete of only 15 copies.