About the cover:

Full-grain binding Front cover black, back cover white box calf, fractured geometric decoration in black and white leather overlay supplemented with a few thin black or white lines, smooth spine with black and white leather overlays and black and white embossed title, Gilt head edge, black and white engraved capital, mirror and endpapers in light grey suede, half-leather chemise with front board in black box, lined with molton, covered in white chromolux, slipcase framed in black box and covered in white chromolux.

About the content:

Max Jacob: Chronique des temps héroiques

With singed lithographs and woodcuts by Pablo Picasso

Ex. No. 108 of 170 on Vergé Montval

Louis Broder, Paris 1956 The meeting between Max Jacob (1876-1944) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) led to a close friendship. In 1935, Max Jacob was commissioned to write the foreword to the memoirs of the deceased merchant Paul Guillaume. This text became a fundamental treatise on Cubism, but it was not published until 1956 by Louis Broder in a limited edition with etchings by Picasso. It is a vivid and direct testimony to the adventures of modern art.

About the artist: P.-L. Martin came to Paris at the age of 14 and attended the École Estienne with Charles Chanat and Robert Bonfils. After working for various bookbinders, he ended up at A.-J. Gonon in 1936, where he came into contact with painters and writers, which helped him in his development of binding designs. In 1940 he set up his own studio and received beautiful binding commissions from the bibliophile Rodocanachi. His skills were also recognised by the Société de la Reliure Originale, which awarded him a prize in 1948. He later became a member himself.

His style is characterised by geometric constructive rigour. Later, constructed lettering was added as a design element. His team included the gilders Robert Paris and Guy Rapheël, as well as Constant Dreneau as bookbinder.