This book documents the history of Duchamp’s boxes – miniature museum, doll’s house, stormy-weather pack, catalogue of works and first-aid kit all rolled into one. With over 500 illustrations, each item is examined in detail, revealing the ingenious techniques and artistic strategies Duchamp brought to the making of the boxes and their individual components.

One of the most important and influential, but also one of the least known, of twentieth-century works of art is the famous Boite-en-valise (Box in a Valise) by Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968).

This book documents Duchamp's box - minia ture museum, dolls' house, stormy-weather pack, catalogue of works and first-aid kit all rolled into one-item by item, in full-page colour illustrations; for the first time, this legendary masterpiece can thus be seen by a wide public. With the active support of the estate of Marcel Duchamp, Ecke Bonk has spent years meticulously researching the genesis and making of the Boite. The wealth of information unearthed by him, most of it published here for the first time, has enabled him to decipher the ingenious techniques and strategies of craftsmanship and of art that Duchamp brought to the making of his boxes and of their individual components.

1 Make an imprint

2 The Plates

 Cette boite dolt contenir 69 items

 This box is to contain 69 items

2.1 boite, Nos. 1-18

2.2 Feuilles libres, Nos. 19-81

3 The making, assembly and publication of the edition, de ou par MARCEL DUCHAMP ou RROSE SELAVY, 1935-1971

3.1 The making of the 69 items, 1935-1940

3.2 The assembly and publication of the BoTtes, 1941-1971

4 Inventory Cette boFte dolt contenir 69 items This box is to contain 69 items

4.1 Bofte, Nos. 1-18

4.2 Feuilles libres, Nos. 19-81

5 The twenty BoTtes-en-valise

6 de ou par MARCEL DUCHAMP ou RROSE SELAVY The seven series of Boites, 1941 -1968

7 Biographical data 1 887-1934

8 Bibliography

9 List of works

 Photo credits