Divine Horsemen. The Living Gods of Haiti
London: Thames and Hudson, 1953. 1st Edition. Octavo, publisher’s blue cloth, spine and upper board gilt, original illustrated dust jacket, prospectus slip on blue paper laid in.
Inscribed first edition sourcebook to experimental filmmaker Maya Deren’s black-and-white ethnographic documentary film on Haitian religious rituals. Shot between 1947 and 1954, Deren's "dream poem" features footage from her fieldwork studying Haitian Voudoun dance rituals, offerings, invocations, songs, deities, and possession. Left incomplete at her death in 1961, the film was edited and released by her husband, Japanese composer Teiji Ito, 23 years later. This ethnography, based on the film in progress and written under the guidance of anthropologist Gregory Bateson, comprises Deren’s own account of her experiences observing and becoming a part of a Haitian village. Preface by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell, who considered the book "the most illuminating introduction that has yet been rendered to the whole marvel of the Haitian mysteries as facts of the mind" (the book was issued as the second title in the series "Myth and Man" under Campbell's editorship). Illustrated in black-and-white with film stills, photos, and diagrams; with endnotes, glossary of Creole terms, references, and index. Inscribed by Deren to p. v: "For Sam - / The large house, but tremendous / Maya -." A prospectus for a release of Haitian sound recordings captured by Deren and to be issued by Elektra Records is laid in. (The prospectus also mentions the upcoming "immediate release" of Deren's 16mm films of Voudoun ceremonials.) Some embrowning to endpapers from binder's glue, some rubbing to spine-ends; unclipped dust jacket with upper panel detached at upper joint, with significant chipping to spine-ends, upper panel and edges, and some toning and soiling. Good. Rare and desirable inscribed. Item #12690
$1,400.00