Joan Miró's First Artist's Book Il était une petite pie: Rare Book of the Week

Shapero will be staging a special exhibition of prints and artists' books at this year's Frieze Masters running October 15-19 in Regent's Park including those by Joan Miró and other émigré artists including Picasso.

Among them is Miró's first artist's book, one of only 20 copies on Japon, Il était une petite pie (trans: There was a Little Magpie) from 1928 which was bound by Colette and Jean-Paul Miguet at a later stage. Written by Lise Deharme, a Surrealist muse whom André Breton referred to as "La Dame au Gant" or The Lady with the Glove in his book Nadja. She was also photographed by Man Ray and hosted salons popular with the leading artists and writers of the time such as James Joyce and Picasso. 

Although her legacy mainly remains in the shadow of the prominent male members of the Surrealist movement, she was not merely a hostess but a prominent writer and editor of the magazine Le Phare de Neuilly. This copy is signed by both the artist and author.

Colette and Jean-Paul Miguet were active between 1951 and 1981. They were among the most prolific designer bookbinders of the second half of the 20th century.

There will be a corresponding exhibition in Shapero Modern's gallery on New Bond Street in London.