GENET (JEAN) Le condamné a mort, LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY TO BORIS...

GENET (JEAN) Le condamné a mort, LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY TO BORIS KOCHNO, inscribed to him on title-page, 16pp., with 4 manuscript corrections in ink, loose sheets as issued within cream printed wrappers, some creasing and small hole to front wrapper, preserved in black cloth solander box, 8vo, Fresnes, Privately Printed, September 1942 Footnotes: THE FIRST POEM WRITTEN BY GENET AND HIS FIRST PUBLICATION, INSCIRBED TO BORIS KOCHNO. Written in 1942 while serving a prison sentence in Fresnes for theft, use of false papers, vagabondage, lewd acts and other offences, Le condamné à mort was printed at the author's own cost in 1945. The poem is dedicated to Maurice Pilorge, a young assassin who was guillotined on 4 February 1939 in Rennes (March 17 in the poem). The young man fascinated Genet and is the object of the many fantasies described in the poem. Boris Kochno (1904-1990), Russian dancer, librettist and ballet director, was Sergei Diaghilev's secretary and occasional lover who went on to become his collaborator at the Ballets Russes. Upon Diaghilev's death in 1929, he moved with the Ballets Russes to Monte Carlo and then to France where he became a major influence on post World War II French ballet. He associated with eminent figures such as Jean Genet, Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso. Kochno's later lover, the artist and designer Christian Bérard, designed the sets for Genet's Les Bonnes. Provenance: Boris Kochno, inscription to him from Genet on title-page. See also following lots. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: • • Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing