Pablo Picasso; Michael Leiris and Rebecca West. PICASSO AND THE HUMAN COMEDY, A SUITE OF 180 DRAWINGS BY PICASSO. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1954. First American edition; from the French edition Verve 29/30. Hardcover. Red and blue paper-covered boards with illustration by Picasso, in red illustrated dust jacket with removable mylar cover. Folio; unpaginated, with full-page color and b&w illustrations throughout.

14 5/16 x 10 5/8 in.

From the Collection of Professor Roberto Severino, Washington, D.C.

"Pablo Picasso, at the age of seventy-two, opened his sketch-book on the twenty-eighth of November, 1953, and went on drawing in a frenzy of industry until the third of February, 1954. In those nine weeks he produced one hundred and eighty drawings of great beauty. . . . Picasso simply set down on paper the images which passed through his mind during those nine weeks, which were for him a period of acute emotional disturbance. This volume takes us, therefore, inside the mind of the most gifted artist of his time..." - Rebecca West, p.[21]

Light scratches to back cover, corners rubbed, spine lightly sunned with one small dent, some separation from textblock at head; wear at front hinge and small separation at rear hinge with glued repairs, cracking at hinges, pages mildly toned with occasional light mark, otherwise clean; jacket lightly toned with edgewear, small tear and one dent at spine, not price clipped. Good condition in very good or better jacket.