Opium The Diary of an Addict by Jean Cocteau first edition 1933

London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1933 
 
8vo., bright green boards with motif of an armless figure in red to the upper board; lettered in red with decorative borders to spine; together in the unclipped dust jacket (5s. net), printed in green; pp. [iv], 188; with frontis and a further 26 illustrations by the author; boards faded, as usual; and lightly sunned at spine tips; upper edge a trifle dust soiled, light spots to edges of text block, and mild offsetting to endleaves; the exceptionally clean dust jacket just a tad darkened along the spine, with some chips to head and foot, particularly at folds and spine; one small closed tear (2cm long), to foot of front panel; a very good copy.  
 
The rare first UK edition, seldom found thus, in the publisher’s dust jacket. 
 
Jean Cocteau was one of the foremost artists of the surrealist, avant-garde, and Dadaist movements of the 20th century. In the 1920s, subsequent to the death of his close friend, the poet Raymond Radiguet, Cocteau became prey to an opium addiction, the effects of which dramatically changed his literary style. His most notable work, Les Enfants Terribles, was written over the course of one week, during which time he was in the process of weaning himself off of the drug. He further went on to recount his experiences with addiction, and the process of recovery, through writings and vivid pen-and-ink illustrations. Here, he explores the psychology of addiction, with the notes dating from a clinic he attended at St. Cloud between December 1928 and April 1929. The strange, graphic and often terrifying illustrations were made primarily while he was under the influence. 
 
In his introduction, Cocteau writes: “I am describing a case of disintoxication: a lingering injury. The drawings which follow might be described as lingering cries of pain, while the notes are the stages in the transition from a state considered abnormal to a state considered normal.”