[DALI, SALVADOR]
SYMONDS, JOHN ADDINGTON [trans.]. The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1946. Deluxe edition, one of 1000 signed by Dali (dated 1945), a presentation copy inscribed by Dali to John Perona on the recto of the first blank, written in black ink, signed Dali and dated 1945 (and signed and dated again "Salvador Dali 1946" in minute script under the drawing), the lower half of the page with a very fine pen drawing of a heroic figure astride a stallion, to the left two naked female figures, one tied to a stake like Andromeda. Publisher's blue cloth pictorially stamped in gilt. 9 3/8 x 6 1/2 inches (31 x 23 cm); 442 pp., illustrated throughout by Dali in black and white and colors. Spine slightly toned, a near-fine copy lacking the slipcase.
With an accomplished and far from perfunctory drawing, this is a fine example of Dali's work in pen and ink. Part of a group of volumes given over time to the proprietor of the legendary nightclub El Morocco, at which Dali was a frequent guest, the inscription reads in part "Pour John/Homage aimiable de cette/preuve de fidelite a l'Italie/Bon Jour!/Dali/1946" and incorporates two of his signature ants.