LOUIS BRODER BOOKS
Valuable Books
Louis Broder was a Swiss national who became popular whilst working in France as a publisher for pioneering artist’s books. He published original artworks by famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Arp, Andre Masson and Georges Braque in small print runs which makes them harder to find hence the high values achieved at auction. He also published suites of original plates. The difference between the suites and the books is that the books have text so are not classed as suites. The suite plates and the book plates are the same size. The print run of the suites is usually smaller than the published book edition and 50 is an average. He combined these original artworks with modern letterpress and chants from famous poets within his books which were published during the 1950’s to the 1970’s.
These books and the plates within them are often loose pages in a chemise (dust jacket like thick paper cover) or slipcase and are very valuable. They do however come up for auction sometimes and it is interesting to see how the estimated price to the hammer price on the day wherever they come up for auction in the world. I have tried to obtain the latest prices at auction but as the print run is low and some collectors keep hold of them for investment, some have broken them up and framed as artworks the times they come up for auction are few and far between. Private sellers usually charge what they want which is often much higher than auction prices after fees (if they know the true value of what they are selling so you can compare auction estimates even if it was some years ago to get an idea of how sought after that particular Louis Broder book is). The price that they are worth depends of several factors including-:
- The artist – the more famous the artist the higher the value
- If the plates are signed this adds to more to the value
- It the book itself is signed this too adds value
- If the book has been rebound by a famous binder this can add extra value
- If the print run is lower than others this will also increase the value
- Signed and numbered limited edition/deluxe copies
- Condition of the book
Un Poeme Dans Chaque Livre
Written by Paul Eluard in 1956 Un Poeme Dans Chaque Livre was published by Louis Broder in a print run of 120 numbered copies and 20 hors commerce copies with Roman numerals. There are 16 original artworks in this book including original lithographs, original drypoints, original etchings and original woodcuts. Two are by Pablo Picasso and one by each of these artists; Marc Chagall, Joan Miro, Fernand Leger, Max Ernst, Andre Beaudin, Valentine Hugo, Andre Masson, Hans Arp, Henri Laurens, Jacques Villon, Alberto Giacometti, Oscar Dominguez and Max Ernst. Full copies tend to be quite rare as the plates are sold separately. One plate from one of the 120 copies was estimated at €12,000-€18,000 at Sotheby’s in December 2019 and it fetched €45,000 on the day. It was finely bound in its original wrappers and spine and signed by all the artists. Individual plates sell for around £5,000 so if all plates sold for this price for example, then all 16 would sell for £80,000. This is why the plates are broken up and sold separately. The buyer of this book at €45,000 got a bargain. The value would likely be much higher today and the hors commerce copies would be valued much more.
Chroniques Des Temps Heroiques
Written by Max Jacob and published by Louis Broder in 1956 with a print run of 150 in Arabic numerals and 20 hors commerce/deluxe copies in Roman numerals. All 170 copies are signed by Pablo Picasso on the justification page. There are 30 original illustrations in this book; 3 original drypoint etchings by Picasso printed in black, 3 original lithographs, a black one as the frontispiece of Max Jacob, and 2 original colour lithographs and 24 original woodcuts of Picasso’s drawings engraved by Georges Aubert. A hors commerce/deluxe copy was estimate by Christies in May 2022 for €2,000-€3,000 and it sold for €4,032 on the day.
La Bibliotque Est En Feu
Written by Rene Char and published by Louis Broder in 1956 with a print run of 120 numbered copies and 26 copies reserved for Rene Char. The 120 copies contain an original aquatint etching by Georges Braque as the frontispiece. They are signed by Rene Char and Georges Braque. The 26 hors commerce copies do not contain the original artwork. In May 2021 one of the 120 copies was estimated to be worth €1,000-€1,200 by Artcurial. The hammer price was €3,033.
Autre Chose Que De L’Enfant Beau
Written by Antonin Artaud and published by Louis Broder in 1957 with a print run of 120 numbered copies in Arabic numerals, 20 deluxe copies with Roman numerals and 15 hors commerce copies. This title includes an original colour etching by Pablo Picasso which acts as the frontispiece. A copy from the 120 copies was given the estimate of €1,000-€1,500 by Christies in March 2024. It sold well over the estimate at €3,780. One of the reasons for the higher estimate is that this is the only colour etching that Picasso did specifically for a book.
Mines De Rien
Written by Robert Desnos and published by Louis Broder in 1957 this book had a print run of 115 signed on the justification page and numbered copies and 15 deluxe copies. The book contains 4 colour aquatints by Andre Masson. One of the 120 copies was estimated at €700-€1,000 in March 2024 and it sold below the estimate at €504.
La Bague D’Aurore
La Bague d’Aurore by Rene Crevel was published by Louis Broder in 1957 with a print run of 115 copies, numbered and signed by Joan Miro on the justification page plus 15 hors commerce, special, not for sale to the general public, but special copies reserved for the artist and publisher. These were numbered by Roman numerals. This book contains six original etching by Miro; five in colour and one in black as the cover. One of the 115 copies was estimated at €3,000-€4,000 in March 2024 at Christies and sold for €4,410 on the day.
Nous Avons
The book Nous Avons by Rene Char was published by Louis Broder in 1959 and contain original Joan Miro artworks. There were 170 copies published, 40 of these were deluxe copies with two additional suites of the etchings signed by the artist and the author. You can see two of the signed and numbered Joan Miro plates framed on a wall in the image above. The standard copies of the book contain five original unsigned, colour etchings by Joan Miro plus an unsigned woodcut for the cover of the book.
A signed deluxe copy; one of only 40 was estimated at Christies in March 2024 for €15,000-€20,000. It sold well over the estimate at €40,320 on the day. Compare this to the ordinary copies.
An unsigned standard copy of Nous Avons was estimated at €1,000-€1,500 at Christian Hesse Auctioneers in Germany in May 2026 and the hammer price on the day was €1,000. This price was achieved even though the artworks had foxing throughout. Foxing are the brown rust-like spotting marks on pages which make plates look old and grubby. Had this book been in better condition without the foxing it no doubt would have attracted more buyers pushing up the hammer price.
Feuilles Eparses
This title written by Rene Crevel was published by Louis Broder in 1965. The print run was 120 numbered copies with Arabic numerals, 20 numbered copies in Roman numerals and 15 hors commerce copies. This book contains 14 original artworks including etchings, lithographs, aquatints and woodcuts two by Hans Bellmer and one by other artists including Man Ray, Andre Masson, Joan Miro, Jean Arp, Alberto Giacometti, Valentine Hugo, Stanley William Hayter, Wilfredo Lam and Wols. A copy sold for €5,040 in May 2022 just a little more than its lower estimate of €5,000-€7,000 at Christies despite it being bound by Georges Leroux and being in fine condition.
Le Lezard Aux Plumes D’Or
Written by Joan Miro and published by Louis Broder in 1971 with a print run of 150 numbered copies in Arabic numerals, 20 numbered copies with Roman numerals and 15 hors commerce copies. One of the 14 plates of the hors commerce edition sold for £2,304 by Bonhams in June 2024 so the full 14 artworks within the book would fetch in excess of £32,000.