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4to. (276 x 228 mm). [4 bifolia: 8 unnumbered leaves]. Leaf with title with small vignette, frontispiece by Appel verso, following leaves with verse by Claus and full-page illustrations, all composed as spreads with Appel's illustration at left and Claus' verse at right, final leaf with justification verso; photocopy text and illustration throughout, all of Appel's illustrations are signed in the plate and feature colouring by the artist by hand. Sheet size: 270 x 210 mm. Original publisher's tan photocopy card portfolio with flap, title after Claus' manuscript to front cover with illustration by Appel across covers and spine coloured by the artist by hand. A very rare presentation copy of Karel Appel and Hugo Claus' photocopy artist book with the illustration with additional colour by Appel by hand. From the edition limited to 200 numbered copies signed by Appel and Claus in blue ink to the title; Appel's presentation is in blue ink to the same leaf: 'VOOR / ALDO. / 25-12-'50'. The first and only number of this very rare early CoBrA publication produced while the Belgian poet (Claus) and the Dutch painter (Appel) lived in Paris. Claus and Appel attempted to solicit subscriptions for what was to be a series of publications (each issue would be available for three guilders) however only three copies were, in fact, subscribed for and the project was abandoned after this sole number. Produced in its entirety using a prototype photocopy method ('een Foto-copy systeem'), the illustrations were coloured individually by Appel by hand using vibrant primary colours. Many copies also include the original subscription announcement (a single sheet with text and a single illustration) and the fact it is not present here, combined with the number of the present example - '3' - and the date of the presentation ('25-12-'50') and the date of publication ('December 1950') suggest that this is one of those three copies that were in fact subscribed for. 'De Blijde En Onvoorziene Week' (The Happy and Unforeseen Week) features a poem by Claus for each day - it begins with Sunday ('Zondag') and ends with Saturday ('Zaterdag') - combined with Appel's characteristic illustrations. Appel created his illustrations spontaneously while Claus' poems were written using matches dipped in ink. The pair anticipated that each issue of the 'Hand-Reeks' would require a single afternoon to produce, however, the dearth of orders ensured that no further numbers were produced and the project was abandoned. 'De blijde en onvoorziene week valt op door de ongepolijste directheid van het materiaal, de tegelijk speelse en agressieve toon, de associatieve techniek en de grensvervaging tussen mens en wereld. De tekeningen zijn door Appel in primaire kleuren met de hand ingekleurd, de gedichten zijn met in inkt gedoopte lucifers geschreven. Tussen tekst en tekening bestaat geen dwingend verband. Ze staan naast elkaar: de tekeningen zijn niet bedoeld als illustratie van de gedichten, de teksten zijn geen bijschriften bij de tekeningen.' (Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience). Aldo van Eyck (1918 - 1999) was an influential Dutch architect of international repute with intimate connections to the pre- and post-war avant garde. In the 1940s Aldo and his wife Hannie (also an architect of major repute) lived in Zurich where through Siegfried Giedion and Carola Giedion-Welcker they met a number of the artists and poets connected to dada: Arp, Tzara, Ernst, Brancusi and others. Connected too to the Dutch Experimental Group and to CoBrA and, of course, through the architecture they held in common, Constant (Constant and Aldo van Eyck produced the 1953 book 'Voor Eeen Spatiaal Colorisme'), the van Eycks had an important collection of art and artist books related to CoBrA and the wider European avant garde. 'De Blijde En Onvoorziene Week' is scarce in institutions: OCLC reports examples in the Netherlands (3 copies at the Stedelijk, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek and Leiden), Spain (a sin.
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