Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the practice of publishing facsimiles of manuscripts became a trend for Symbolist writers. The movement’s chief poet, Stéphane Mallarmé, had issued his manuscript of Poésies in a photo-lithographed edition of 40 copies in 1887. Jarry’s friends Rachilde, Marcel Schwob, and Remy de Gourmont followed suit. When Jarry could not find a publisher for L’Amour absolu, he paid to produce his novel in this fashion in an edition of fifty copies.
Alfred Jarry (1873–1907), L'amour absolu: roman ([Paris: Mercure de France, 1899]). The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of Robert J. and Linda Klieger Stillman, 2017. PML 197024.