68. # GUI ROSEY (1896-1981) & RENE MAGRITTE (1898 -1967) Signs of survival in times of love Double state etchings by Magritte Paris, Georges Visat, 1968. In-4 (280 x 225 mm), 41 pp. 5 ff. 3 coloured etchings by Magritte (double state), one of which is the frontispiece, with the artist's signature reproduced in heliogravure and numbered '25/150 27.6 x 22 cm. In sheets, in a cloth-covered slipcase and folder. Six etchings in all, 3 on Rives and 3 on japon. First edition of the poems by Gui Rosey, printed at 175 copies on Rives vellum and first edition of the engravings by Magritte. One of twenty-five off-market copies, accompanied by the original coloured etchings in double state: on vélin de Rives in the book and on japon nacré for the suite. All the etchings are justified in pencil and bear the stamp "Atelier René Magritte, original etching", embossed in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. The three etchings by Magritte are : Le Prêtre marié (pommes masquées), after the 1961 canvas, La Leçon de musique (l'oreille-cloche) after the 1965 canvas and Le Seize Septembre (arbre-lune) after the 1957 canvas. These three images, among the painter's most famous, encapsulate his world. Gui Rosey took part in Surrealist activity in the 1930s. He contributed to the collective collection Violette Nozières, wrote for Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution, and published an epic poem about André Breton with Editions Surréalistes in 1933. Most of his poetic work was published in three volumes by José Corti in the 1960s under the general title Œuvres vives. René Magritte illustrated another work by Gui Rosey, Les Moyens d'existence, also published by Georges Visat in 1969. In an interview, when asked "What do you expect from humour?", the painter replied: "A little health of spirit, when humour is not 'vulgar' and when it is 'magical' as my friend, the poet Gui Rosey, describes it." Georges Visat (1910-2001), a printer by training who had worked for Adrien Maeght, founded his own publishing house in 1961, specialising in books illustrated with original works, published with the greatest care. The most important artists of his time collaborated with him: Max Ernst, Hans Bellmer, Roberto Matta, Man Ray, Geneviève Asse, Pierre Alechinsky... A particularly meticulous book, magnificently illustrated by René Magritte. Provenance Private collection, France. Private collection, France (acquired from the latter).