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[Frank Herbert]. Alejandro Jodorowsky. Dune. Suresnes: Aviaplans Ateliers Industriels de Reprographie, no date [but ...
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Description
Jodorowsky's Dune Bible
A Legendary Relic of Science Fiction and Pop Culture
[Frank Herbert]. Alejandro Jodorowsky. Dune.
Suresnes: Aviaplans Ateliers Industriels de Reprographie, no date
[but circa 1975]. Oblong octavo. 220 x 305 mm. [1, title],
268 monochrome photographic reproduction plates, rectos only, [1,
imprint] pages + eleven color plates after Christopher Foss, Jean
Giraud-Moebius, and H.R. Giger. The plates feature the film's
storyboard with dialogue, captions, and stage directions in French
and English, along with full character studies and depictions of
the sets and vehicles. Bound in blue cloth, printed cloth label to
spine, with a photographic reproduction of the film poster pasted
to the upper board, after the original by Foss.A legend in the worlds of science fiction and pop culture, the basis for a cult classic termed "the best film you will never see," from the mind of acclaimed Chilean-French film director Alejandro Jodorowsky, and one of only four known copies.
The idea for Jodorowsky's Dune began in 1974 after the film rights were purchased by Jean-Paul Gibon from Apjac International (APJ), then headed by film producer Arthur P. Jacobs. Gibon, along with French businessman and film producer Michael Seydoux, tapped Jodorowsky to helm the film.
From the outset, Jodorowsky wanted Dune to be "a film that gives LSD hallucinations without taking LSD... to change the young minds of all the world." To help execute his vision, he brought together some of the most talented and creative artists of his time. Swiss visual artist H.R. Giger, the French comic book artist Jean Giraud (alias Moebius), and Christopher Foss, a British artist and science fiction illustrator, were hired to produce the initial artwork, conceptual designs, and storyboard, eventually resulting in the present book, complete with approximately 3,000 drawings with descriptions of the point of view, movement of the camera, and dialogue of each scene, along with numerous color and monochrome designs visualizing Jodorowsky's world. Progressive rock groups Pink Floyd and Magma were settled on to produce the music for the film, while Dan O'Bannon would provide the special effects. David Carradine, Mick Jagger, Gloria Swanson, Salvador Dalí, and Orson Welles were hired as the film's principal actors, with Jodorowsky's own son, Brontis, to star as the film's messianic figure, Paul Atreides. Dalí, who was tapped to play the mad galactic emperor, had his mind set on being the highest paid actor in Hollywood, demanding that he be paid $100,000 per hour - consequently, Jodorowsky cut his lines so that they would only need him on set for a single hour, with the rest of his lines and actions done through an animatronic look-alike. Orson Welles initially declined his invitation to star in the film and only agreed to it after Jodorowsky told him he would pay for dinner at his favorite restaurant in Paris every day of the shoot.
Alas, the film was never produced: perhaps it was because Hollywood couldn't understand or, many contend, properly appreciate Jodorowsky's vision for the film, or maybe it could not reconcile itself with the whopping 10 to 15-hour runtime (Herbert himself made the remark, upon seeing this book, that "it was the size of a phone book" - and indeed, we can attest that it is). Ultimately, the film stalled for financial reasons as Jodorowsky and his team could not come up with the final $5 million to round out the $15-million total budget. Despite the efforts of Seydoux and Jodorowsky, who produced this book for Hollywood studios as a marketing and persuasive tool, Hollywood, perhaps understandably, was wary of funding the film. The film rights eventually lapsed in 1982, at which time they were purchased by Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, who released his 1984 version helmed by David Lynch and starring Kyle MacLachlan.
Though Jodorowsky's vision for Dune was never realized, the work was not in vain. Many of the set designs, character studies, and other visual ideas for the film made their way into The Incal, a French graphic novel written by Jodorowsky and illustrated by Giraud. Originally published in Métal Hurlant from 1980-1988, the series has since resulted in two sequels, one prequel, and three spin-off series, and is now widely considered one of the best comic books of all time. The set designs, costume pieces, and frankly surrealist elements presented here have also gone on to inspire countless generations of Hollywood science-fiction films, including Star Wars, The Fifth Element, Flash Gordon, Terminator, Blade Runner, and The Matrix. The Jodorowsky-assembled team of Dan O'Bannon, Foss, Giger, and Jean Giraud (alias Moebius) even went on to collaborate on one of the most successful and influential science-fiction and horror films of all time: the 1979 film classic, Alien. Indeed, one can almost see the first inklings of the model for the creature in Giger's set piece for the Harkonnen Castle, with its elongated head and distinctly biomechanical flavor. Interestingly, it was Giger's work on another cult science-fiction book that caused Ridley Scott to hire him to produce the artwork and conceptual designs for Alien: H.P. Lovecraft's fictional grimoire, the Necronomicon (1977).
This copy is numbered "5" on the rear pastedown. Though no records survive, the print run is estimated to have been between ten and twenty copies. We are aware of only four other copies, including two offered at auction, one in the possession of Jodorowsky as shown in Frank Pavich's intriguing documentary, and another in private hands which has been partially reproduced online. OCLC locates no institutional holdings.
Condition: Shaken due to weight of the text block; some edgewear, corners bumped and rubbed, spine sunned, photographic upper board toned, scattered staining, spine label a touch rubbed, spine lightly soiled, remains of press-stud clasp. Text block edges toned, scattered staining, some edgewear; hinges cracked, endpapers faintly foxed. Page edges toned, title loose. Internally clean. Very good.
References: Frank Pavich, Jodorowsky's Dune, Sony Pictures Classics, 2013.
Provenance: Christie's, Paris, November 22, 2021, lot 116; sold for $2,900,000.
Auction Info
2023 July 8 Historical Platinum Signature® Auction #6275 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
July, 2023
8th
Saturday
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