The complete portfolio, 2005, comprising ten engravings over photogravure with drypoint and aquatint, six with hand colouring, plus one engraving with drypoint, each initialled in pencil, the justification signed in pencil, numbered 16/30 (total edition includes 12 artist's proofs), the plates conceived after those included in the 1947 edition inscribed with their plate numbers, loose (as issued), on Arches Infinity wove paper, with the title and text pages from the 1947 edition, published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, contained in the original linen-covered portfolio

With full margins, in good condition, occasional areas of very pale discoloration and traces of stray ink and very minor soiling to the text and protective pages, a tear in the paper slipcase, contained in the original linen-covered portfolio.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Louise Bourgeois had initially intended for He Disappeared into Complete Silence to be released in an edition of 54 in 1947; however, at the time, only a small number of the books were completed. As such, ‘for over twenty years,’ as Deborah Wye explains, ‘Bourgeois … talked to this author about completing the project.’ This task was impeded by the fact that the copper plates for the book’s illustrations had been lost, so that only the text pages from the 1947 edition remained in Bourgeois’ possession. ‘For Bourgeois, … a born archivist’, Wye states, this loss was ‘especially painful.’

In pursuit of her enduring motivation to fulfil the project, over several years, Bourgeois recreated the plates from the 1947 edition in order to produce ten of the prints that are included in the 2005 edition. She combined these reworked images with a new illustration, an engraving and drypoint entitled Spider, while sh💯e also, as was originally envisaged for the 1947 edition, made hand additions in watercolour to several of the illustrations. These reworked and new images are combined in the book with the original text pages that the artist had held on to since 1947. The book is therefore ‘a new artwork’, as Wye describes, while it is also a synthesis of the past and th♔e present, the historical and the novel.

In the foreword to this edition of He Disappeared into Complete Silence, Wye ar𒀰gues that ‘for Louise Bourgeois, no artwork is ever finished.’ Wye thus points to the qualities of continuity, recurre♋nce and renewal that were of great significance to Bourgeois' creative process; qualities which are clearly and evocatively captured in the work of art offered here.