GEORGES REMI DIT HERGÉ (1907-1983) - Lot 118

Lot 118
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Estimation :
50000 - 70000 EUR
GEORGES REMI DIT HERGÉ (1907-1983) - Lot 118
GEORGES REMI DIT HERGÉ (1907-1983) The Crab with the Golden Claws Ed. Archives Casterman N°A125 EO, red spine, 4th plate A13, 4 HT color red spine pellior, white endpapers, small pastedown image, pagination 6-105. One of 1050 copies with the strips on page 77 inverted. Copy of this original black & white edition exhumed from Louis Casterman's office (with the stamp "bureau de M.Louis").A very rare album, being one of the first 1050 copies with the strips inverted on page 77. On receiving the albums, Hergé wrote to Charles Lesne on December 2, 1941: "Hélas! Why is it that on page 77, God knows how, there has been an error in the order of the plates, which makes this page completely incomprehensible?" ... "For the albums still to be printed or delivered, can't we do something? Couldn't we number the three strips in question with a stamp, as follows? (Hergé draws a small diagram in his letter).And Charles Lesne replied on December 3, 1941: "How did it happen? In the most stupid way, according to the explanation given to me: the plates are mounted in the composition and the proof printed according to this mounting. The plates, shaped, then go down to the printing press. The form in which page 77 was located fell off, and the worker replaced the plates, making a mistake, of course" ... "Fortunately... during the print run, the printer who was so enthralled by the adventures of Tintin had fun watching the story instead of keeping an eye on his press. Good for him. He noticed the "putty" and stopped the print run after printing exactly 1,050 sheets. And the change was made immediately. I wasn't informed of any of this, and what's more, the workshops had the ingenious idea of reserving the 1,050 bad sheets for the end of production, so that the whole thing would have gone unnoticed, since we were only examining the first volumes to come off the press.In short, an attempt at concealment by the workers that did not escape Hergé's eye! Exceptional mint condition. Mention I2 in pencil on page 1. In our opinion, no other black-and-white album in this condition has come from the archives of Mr. Louis. This Crab with the Golden Claws is at the top of the collection's pyramid.
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