This exceptional lot brings together the only three publications issued by the independent press Éditions Mithra-Mythe: Refus global by Paul-Émile Borduas (1948), Le Vierge incendié by Paul-Marie Lapointe (1948), and Projections libérantes by Borduas (1949). Together, these rare limited editions form a cornerstone of Quebec’s cultural and intellectual history. The opportunity to acquire the complete output of Éditions Mithra-Mythe in a single lot is exceptionally uncommon.

The present copy of Refus global (1948), numbered 144 of 400, includes an additional copy of Borduas’s text En regard du surréalisme actuel and previously belonged to the sculptor Charles Daudelin. Authored by Borduas, Refus global, often translated as “Total Refusal”, stands as one of the most consequential texts in Quebec history. It announced a decisive break with prevailing social and cultural conservatism and laid essential groundwork for the transformations that would culminate in the Quiet Revolution. As the foundational manifesto of the Automatist movement, it introduced Quebec to the cosmopolitan, postwar avant-garde. The publication comprises the manifesto itself, two essays by Borduas on language and Surrealism, three short plays by Claude Gauvreau, an essay on dance by Françoise Sullivan, a text on pictorial art by Bruno Cormier, a poem by Fernand Leduc, and photographs by Maurice Perron. It was co-signed by fifteen artists and intellectuals, including Madeleine Arbour, Marcel Barbeau, Marcelle Ferron, Pierre Gauvreau, Muriel Guilbault, Jean-Paul Mousseau, Louise and Thérèse Renaud, Françoise Riopelle, Françoise Sullivan, and Jean Paul Riopelle, who also designed the cover.

The copy of Le Vierge incendié (1948), numbered 175 of 400, represents Lapointe’s first published collection of poetry. A seminal work of Quebec modernism, it embodies the radical spirit shared by the Automatists. The cover features a lithographic reproduction of a drawing by Pierre Gauvreau.

Finally, Projections libérantes (1949), from an edition of 1,000, is Borduas’s lucid and personal essay on his artistic philosophy and on his dismissal from the École du meuble following the publication of Refus global. This copy bears the inscription “F. Gagnon donné par Mme Borduas, été 1968” on the colophon and may have belonged to the late François-Marc Gagnon, the eminent art historian, critic, and foremost biographer of Borduas and specialist of the Automatist movement.

Together, these three volumes constitute a coherent and deeply resonant ensemble, documenting one of the most radical and influential moments in the cultural history of Quebec.