Ça suit son cours

Year: 1975
Author: Edmond Jabès (1912 - 1991)
Artist: Antoni Tàpies (1923 - 2012)
Publisher: Fata Morgana

Split

Jabès was born in Cairo (Egypt), but 'inherited' his Italian nationality from his Jewish parents. He grew up in an Arab nation, on the edge of the desert, but still surrounded by French culture. His schooling, for instance, took place at a typical French Lycée. His 'split' heritage,and his older sister's death in 1924, influenced his eventual development into a writer. Besides themes like Jewish identity,otherness and death, other issues like the status of language and reading and writing itself form regular motifs in his work.

Rags, minerals

Jabès asked Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies (1923) to illustrate his book personally. Jabès' poetry held a fascination for Tàpies, and he considered the request a rare challenge. The versatile artist Tàpies experimented with rags, minerals in paint, cardboard, paper and unusual techniques. During the difficult war years, he developed into the first renowned artist of the Spanish avant-garde generation after Picasso, Gris and Miró.

Collograph

The cover Tàpies produced for Ça suit son cours is very striking: words have been printed in deep relief on the thick paper. For this design, Tàpies made use of the text featured on page eleven. He cut up that text's printing plate, and then printed the words scattered around randomly in a typeface twice as large. This 'collagraph technique' creates a web in which new word combinations, and therefore—in a certain sense—a new text emerges.

The cover also features brown, vague letters that combine to form the seemingly hand-painted title. On the spine of the cover, a cross is visible that can also be read as a T (Tàpies' initial). Tàpies also produced four etchings for this edition. These etchings also make striking use of embossed printing. The technique is different from the one that was used for the cover. For these etchings, Tàpies had the plate corroded and the paper dampened; this allowed the plate to be pressed deep into the paper without ripping it. The resulting texture is typical for Tàpies, who thereby materialises the text, illustrations and thoughts by giving them a three-dimensional aspect.

Bibliographical description

Description: Ça suit son cours / Edmond Jabès ; ill. de Antoni Tàpies. – [Montpellier] : Fata Morgana, 1975.- [123] p. : ill. ; 28 cm

Printer: Imprimerie de la Charité (Montpellier) (text), Morsang (Paris) (etchings)

Edition: 102 copies

This copy: Number 70 of 102 on Arches

Typeface: Bodoni

Note: Signed by the artist and the author

Bibliography: Bénézit 13-465 ; Monod 6292

Shelfmark: KW Koopm A 638

References

• Didier Cahen, Edmond Jabès. Paris, Belfond, 1991
• Paul van Capelleveen, Sophie Ham, Jordy Joubij, Voices and visions. The Koopman Collection and the Art of the French Book. The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands; Zwolle, Waanders, 2009
• Paul van Capelleveen, Sophie Ham, Jordy Joubij, Voix et visions. La Collection Koopman et l'Art du Livre français. La Haye, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Bibliothèque nationale des Pays-Bas; Zwolle, Waanders, 2009
• Démosthènes Davvetas, Écriture poétique & langage plastique, Tome 2: Antoni Tàpies. Paris, Au même titre, 2000
• Roger Eliot Stoddard, Edmond Jabès in bibliography: A record of the printed books. 2nd ed., rev. and enlarged. Paris, Lettres modernes Minard, 2001
• Steven Jaron, Portrait(s) d'Edmond Jabès. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1999
• Daniel Lançon, Jabès l'Egyptien. Parijs, Jean Michel Place, 1998
• Fata morgana, 1966-1993. Saint-Clément-la-Rivière, Fata Morgana, 1993
• Tàpies: Escriptura material: llibres. Barcelona, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, 2002
• Mariuccia Galfetti, Tàpies: Das graphische Werk. St.-Gallen, Erker-Verlag, 1984