L'Ordre des Oiseaux. By Saint-John Perse. 54 pp. Illustrated with 12 original colour aquatints by Georges Braque. Oblong folio, bound in black morocco-backed moiré silk-covered boards by Jean Duval, upper board with onlaid paper collage bird design after Braque, in a new cloth slip case. Paris: Au Vent d'Arles, 1962.

A fine copy of this late masterpiece by Braque, which is also one of his rarest books. Saint-John Perse wrote the text as a tribute to Braque on his eightieth birthday. Braque created 12 colour aquatints of birds, a motif which appears throughout his work from the 1920's on. They
were printed at the Crommelynck workshop which was responsible for some of the finest prints of the twentieth century. Their large size and obvious decorative appeal has resulted in most copies of the book being dismembered. One of an edition limited to 152 copies, signed by the artist and the author on the justification page.