HERGÉ

Lot 48
Go to lot
Estimation :
60000 - 80000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 93 600EUR
HERGÉ
TINTIN The 7 Crystal Balls (T.13), Casterman 1948 Original illustration, title page published in the first edition of the album, accompanied by its coloring in the hand of Edgar P. Jacobs. India ink on paper 13 × 14.7 cm (5.12 × 5.79 in.) THE TERRIBLE RASCAR CAPAC The Curse of the Inca On the train to Moulinsart, Tintin had just learned from his diary of the return to Europe of the Sanders-Hardmuth expedition, which brought back from Peru the mummy of the Inca king Rascar Capac. "Remember All-Ankh-Amon, young man!", his travelling companion, who was reading over his shoulder, had told him. The man was obviously alluding to the alleged curse that had struck one after the other the scientists who, in 1922, had participated closely or remotely in the discovery - and therefore in the desecration - of the tomb of the famous pharaoh. Published in the daily newspaper Le Soir between December 16, 1943 and September 3, 1944, interrupted by the liberation of Brussels and completed at the end of the year for publication in an album, Hergé's new story is entitled The 7 Crystal Balls. The author connects there the effects of a possible curse of this Rascar Capac, an anathema of which would be the object the seven members of this expedition, namely the film-maker Clairmont, the professor Sanders-Hardmuth, the professor Laubépin, the anthropologist Marc Charlet, Mr. Paul Cantonneau, Mr. Hornet, curator of the Museum of Natural History and finally the professor Hippolyte Bergamotte, who holds at his place the famous mummy. Of the attacks of which these seven people are victims during the episode, the readers could discover only the material circumstances: "small spherical bulbs" containing a mysterious product were thrown towards them and, by breaking, plunged them into "a kind of lethargic sleep". Hergé was careful never to show the author of these facts, nor even to sketch his gesture. By varying his way of presenting the first six attacks and by exposing them in a story where, as always, the strokes of humor are mixed with suspense, the author has increased the tension. And it is with Professor Bergamotte that this tension reaches its peak. [...] Please refer to the catalog or to the PDF of the sale to read the rest of the commentary
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue