C'est Les Bottes de 7 Lieues: Cette Phrase "Je me vois"

<p><em>C’est les bottes de 7 lieues: Cette Phrase “Je me vois”</em> is a book illustrated with four etchings printed on laid Arches paper published in 1926 in an edition of 112 copies. The Ryerson and Burnham Libraries’ copy is signed in ink by both André Masson, the book’s illustrator, and Robert Desnos, its writer. They were known to experiment with practicing their crafts in altered states of consciousness, using practices such as automatism, a Surrealist technique in which creative actions are executed without voluntary thought. Masson created his illustrations by randomly marking plates before delineating more legible images based on the initial markings. Desnos wrote the twelve poems for <em>C’est les bottes de 7 lieues: Cette Phrase “Je me vois”</em> while in a hypnotic, dream-like state. The book’s unusual title, which refers to “seven-league boots,” may be an allusion to a French folktale in which magical boots enable wearers to travel several kilometers in a single step.</p>