[MANUSCRIPT POEM] VERLAINE'S BIBI-la-PUREE-- Dédicaces. Nouvelle édition, augmentée. Paris: Léon Vanier, 1894. de Paul VERLAINE (1844-1896) - 1894: One of 55, this copy with autograph poem 'a Bibi Purée’, and signed by Verlaine

Verlaine's tribute to Bibi la Purée— le roi de la Bohme— immortalized by Picasso & other artists.

Paul VERLAINE (1844-1896).

Dédicaces. Nouvelle édition, augmentée. Paris: Léon Vanier, 1894. Small square octavo (7 1/8 x 5 in; 181 x 127mm), with 'un piece autographe': in this case, this is a 1p. folding manuscript version, signed, of 'a Bibi Purée' (Some toning, neat repairs to verso of title using archival 'Filmoplast P' paper mending tape).

Red half morocco, marbled endpapers, original upper and lower wrappers bound in, top edges gilt (worn, front inner hinge split, endpapers with 'airbrushed' layer over the marbled endpapers and the bookplate).

Provenance: 'Mr. Louis' (autograph presentation inscription from the author 'a Mr. Louis / bien sympathetiquement / Paul Verlaine' ; Max Boehn (bookplate); J.K. Mitchell III (inscription dated 1906); by descent.

A presentation copy of the limited edition of fifty-five copies of the 'tirage de tete' printed on 'vergé de Hollande', this copy numbered '43' ('justifié' and initialed by the publisher in green ink on the half-title), accompanied by 'un piece autographe' signed by the Author: in this case, this is a 1p. manuscript version, signed, of 'a Bibi Purée' (the 86th poem, see pp. 185-186). Second edition, but enlarged with the majority of the poems appearing for the first time. The work was originally published in 1890 and consisted of just 41 poems, the present edition with 109 is therefore one of Verlaine's largest published collections.

"Bibi la Purée was a picturesque figure in the bohemian circles of Montmartre and the Latin Quarter. A former actor turned vagabond, he was affable and eccentric and survived by shining shoes, stealing umbrellas and drinking absinthe. He occasionally acted as private secretary to the poet Paul Verlaine, who dedicated a sonnet to his friend [the present work]." (https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/press-and-media/press-releases/rarely-seen-picasso-portrait-goes-on-display-at-the-national-gallery ).

"Dédicaces est le titre du huitième recueil de poèmes en vers de Paul Verlaine, publié en 1890 puis enrichi en 1894 chez l'éditeur Léon Vanier.

Ce recueil de circonstance, explorant la poésie de l'hommage, bien loin de l'" Art Verlainien " des Poèmes saturniens (1866) ou des Fêtes galantes (1869), est composé, comme son titre l'indique, de cent-neuf poèmes dédicacés chacun à des artistes, amis, directeurs de revue, journalistes ou autres connaissances de l'auteur." (wikipedia).

Vicaire VII, 996; Montel, pp. 59-64; Van Bever & Monda, pp. 43-44; Carteret Romantique II, p. 428.