First American Edition of the French Edition of VERVE, ISSUE 31/32. Harcourt , Brace, & Co, NY , 1955. Book Printed in France. The cover of this issue was specially designed by Braque. Produced under the direction of Teriade by the Master Printers Draeger Frères as for the heliogravures in black and in colors and by Mourlot Frères for the lithography in colors, In this edition, Georges Braque reveals 30 years of unseen gouache and watercolor sketches, including reproductions from his notebooks. There are 20 colored lithographs pulled by Mourlot, of which several are original lithographs ( one double page) . At the time it was not known that Braque did these now-famous lithographs expressly for this issue of Verve. (Source: Michel Anthonioz, VERVE: The Ultimate Review of Art and Literature:1937-60) All lithographs are in very good condition. Jacket cover does has tears along edges and spine, missing sections along bottom and top of cover along spine. center art is ok. Book, Spine, and pages are intact. 10 1/2 in by 14 1/2 in. VERVE THE INTIMATE SKETCHBOOKS OF GEORGES BRAQUE c. 1955, Georges Braque Cubist Art Sketches, Verve France c. 1955, George Braque Folio Verve magazine, never seen Sketches by Georges Braque, Mourlot Frères, Verve magazine 1955 issue 31-32 printed in France, Verve First Print American Edition 31/32, Draeger Frères, VERVE Coffee table Book, collectible Verve Magazine 31/32, Rare and original Georges Braque sketches / carnet de travail, Original VERVE book cover by Georges Braque, George’s Braque Biography and History, 3 LCBraque trained as a house painter like his father and grandfather. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts from about 1897 to 1899. Then he moved to Paris to study under a master decorator to receive his craftsman certificate in 1901. His fine art career was interrupted by the war. He served in WW I and in 1915, he was injured with a serious head wound that left him temporarily blind and required surgery of drilling into his skull to recover his eyesight. One of the largest contributions he made to the art world was the birth of Cubanism. Though not associated as a founder of this style, together with Picasso, Braque was a progenitor of Cubism.