Signed by picasso and iliazd. One of 52 copies, Chevaux de minuit is one of Picasso and Iliazd's most successful collaborations.

'Picasso's stylistic range from the animals of the 1942 Buffon to these horses is a vast one. Here he has restricted himself to an extreme simplification of outline, accented only by the drypoint burr, yet vividly descriptive of movement. The typographic layout by Iliazd carefully balances and sometimes echoes the design of the plates' (Artist and the Book)

The poem Chevaux de Minuit by Roch Grey (pseudonym of Baroness Hélène Oettingen) was edited by Iliazd after her death in 1950. The two had been friends and Ilia Zdanevich felt that the writer's work had been under-appreciated in her lifetime, having not received recognition in either mainstream or avant-garde literary circles. It was his aim, especially in the later part of his career to bring to light the work of marginal writers by collaborating with famous artists, many of whom were his close companions.

Limited edition, one of 52 copies on vieux Japon from a total edition of 68 signed by Picasso and Ililazd; folio (32 x 22 cm); with 12 engravings, of which 2 are hors texte and 10 are in text; pages are folded in three with engraving in centre and text either side; in original vellum wrappers with a drypoint etching on the cover, in a folded vellum sleeve with the spine imprinted with the title, vellum wrappers slightly stained otherwise a fine copy.