Number 5 of 9 hors commerce exemplaires de collaborateurs on Vélin d’Arches (total edition 186). A Rimbaud collection with a set of exquisite engravings by Vieillard, an artist who adopted an unusual method for his engraved work, adding stucco to the plate to create a relief effect in the paper, visible in these highly original interpretations, often consisting of dynamic dancing figures surrounded by an array of dots and lines in black and white..see full details
FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE ARTIST AND AUTHOR.more...
A collection of twelve poems by the artist Verdet, an interesting figure from the circle of Braque, Picasso and Matisse, who expressed himself in numerous media, including poetry, painting and glass sculpture. There are seven etched plates of a Rothkoesque quality by the artist Papart who initially worked in a post-Cubist style before evolving towards the abstraction present in these wonderful prints. The collage inscribed ‘pour Claude Jobin’, dated 1968 and signed by both Verdet and Papart is a clear homage to Braque. Martin Stone’s pencil note in French indicates it was offered by him at the annual Luberon (Provence) book fair, of which he was was a devoted supporter. Number 62 of 100 copies on grande vélin de Rives, (total edition 128)..see full details
An illustrated Revelation, a particularly delightful interpretation by a Russian-Jewish artist with Polish heritage, Simon Segal (1898-1969), who created vibrant and imaginative lithographs with a childlike, expressionist quality. Segal first exhibited his work in Paris in 1935 and from then on he had numerous exhibitions in London, Paris, Milan and Brazil, both during his lifetime and after. Number 14 of 30 examples on vélin pur chiffon de Rives for the artist (total edition 150)..see full details
First edition with illustrations by Lars Bo.more...
An illustrated edition of Jean Valjean’s dream from Les Miserables: a nightmare in which he walks around a deserted city followed by numerous silhouettes of silent, standing men before eventually realising he himself is dead. Bo’s work illustrates episode with ghostly clarity. Number 87 (for Madame Charles Sarget) of 100 copies on grande vélin de Rives (total edition 150)..see full details
A collection of characteristic homoerotic lithographs by Jean Boullet, an openly homosexual artist who proclaimed himself simply as a ‘painter of masculine beauty’. Number 181 of 467 copies on Vélin de Lana, (there are a further 33 examples on Vélin d’Arches, with an original drawing, total edition 500)..see full details
One of 500 copies, a typically-French literary celebration of progress, technology and telecommunications, commissioned by the Société anonyme de Télécommunications (established 1924). Sorel’s contribution is entitled, ‘La diplomatie et le progrès’. Demeurisse’s fine plates are twentieth-century emblems of technology and progress..see full details
FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, number 16 of 50 copies on Arches.more...
The text is a poem by the philosopher, painter, engraver, poet and animateur, Charaire, with a fine engraved plate showing Adam and Eve naked in the Garden surrounded by dancing silhouettes—a tapestry design by the decorative artist Naly, who produced designs for the Gobelins and Aubusson. Both text and plate are present in three states: one on a single sheet of Arches paper, uncut and unopened, with plate signed and numbered; one on a single sheet of pale blue paper also uncut and unopened, and one on Arches, opened..see full details
The fourth of Colucci’s series ‘Monumentale’: A vibrantly-illustrated version in woodcut and with specially-made type, coloured and rubricated by hand by Ferrariello, ‘maître enlumineur’. Italian-born artist Colucci had studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts and worked on numerous books, including editions of Dante’s Inferno and Barbey d’Aurevilly’s Le plus bel Amour de Don Juan and later decorated the Armenian cathedral of Cairo (Benezit). With its jovial tarot-card like graphics and quasi-medieval type the book is a delightful fusion of modernity and antiquity. Number 10 of 25 copies on papier auvergne pur chiffon with an additional suite in monochrome (total edition 125)..see full details
A very quaint, well-illustrated book by the little-known female artist Chantal de Hemptinne (pupil of the Belgian engraver Joris Minne) which tells an anthropomorphic story. The plot begins with two characterful tortoises, Charles-Eugène and Denise who fall in love, they get married and spend their time going on many adventures. However, the lure of the human world attracts Charles who leaves Denise to subit l’amertume de la separation. Denise then drinks a magic potion from a sorceress and becomes human, where she joins a dance troupe. Charles meanwhile becomes tired of travelling and dreams of going home. The two are eventually reunited and Denise becomes a tortoise again. A lovely book.
Number 82 of 950 examples sur vélin pur fil, (after 50 copies on Hollande Van Gelder, 30 numbered I to XXX and 20 hors commerce. Total edition 1050). .see full details
The plates by Couy are typical of his lyrical abstraction. At the age of eight he had been struck by an illness which left him bed-bound for several months, during which he fed on his books and dreams, an event which left its mark on the spirit of his future works. One of 285 copies (number 110 on papier murier du japon)..see full details
FIRST EDITION, the four plates signed and numbered in pencil by the artist, one of 100 copies on vélin de Rives (after 55 copies on japon impérial, total edition 155).more...
Illustrating the history, architecture and life around the old Lille stock exchange, built in the early seventeenth century. It had remained the centre of commercial life in the city until 1921 when a new Bourse was constructed. The etchings and ornaments here were created by Lille artist Bouchery, a painter and engraver of genre and landscape scenes, who studied at Palais de Beaux-Arts de Lille and was renowned for his unrivalled handling of chiaroscuro..see full details
FIRST EDITION THUS, including an original signed watercolour.more...
Number 7 of 20 on Shanghaï spécial (total edition 1070). Spanish-born artist Zamora worked in Paris during the twenties, supplying designs for both the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergères. His style was clearly inspired by Georges Barbier and his aptitude for fashion drawing is much in evidence in the illustrations here, which render the fluttering eyelashes of Carmen rather convincingly..see full details
Contes Cruels (1883) is one of the aristocratic symbolist writer, Villiers’ most successful works, a short story collection expressing his disdain for the bourgeoisie and outlining the wrongs of society (the first English edition of 1927 had been entitled Sardonic Tales). ‘The Duke of Portland’ tells the tale of the eccentric and troglodytic William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck (1800-1879). This edition is illustrated by Avati, known for his prowess in mezzotint. The etchings are characterful and semi-abstract, the artist using a series of rough lines to create chiaroscuro, lending his illustrations a unique (and appropriate) dappled effect. One of 220 copies on grand vélin de Rives, this copy for M. Bernard de Peyerimhoff de Fontenelle..see full details
A poem by Ghika, translated by Jacques Dupin (poet, critic and Miró specialist) paired with three brilliant abstract dry-point etchings, with a lovely quality of line, each signed in the plate by Villon (pseudonym for Gaston Duchamp), elder brother of Marcel Duchamp and arguably the only cubist who managed to create a purely graphic language for Cubism. Number 159 of 200 examples on vélin de Rives, (there are a further 7 on vélin d’Arches with a double suite. Total edition 207)..see full details
Coupled with Chimot’s voluptuous plates, this novella, based on a genuine Moroccan legend (The Rose of the Souk) is a prime example of French colonial North African exoticism. One of six copies reserved for the artist, this one inscribed to Madame George Haviland with two original drawings and a signed letter from the artist, plus an additional suite of proofs (total edition, 225). The two additional drawings are a male nude in pencil and a preliminary sketch on tracing paper. .see full details
FIRST EDITION, EACH OF THE THREE PARTS SIGNED AND HAND NUMBERED BY THE ARTIST, number 25 of 30 copies, each handcoloured by Madeleine Smets-Lefrancq.more...
An extraordinarily dramatic graphic interpretation of Revelation, with linocuts by the Franciscan monk and sceptic Fieullien (1903-1976), who had studied at l’Académie de Bruxelles under the Belgian painter Oswald Poreau. He worked in sculpture, stained glass and paint, but his best work was in his remarkable illustrated books, with their idiosyncratic lettering and unsettling (occasionally lurid) religious imagery..see full details
FIRST EDITION illustrated by Jouvancourt, printed on the Indian Ocean island of Réunion.more...
A collection of poems first published in 1862 Leconte de Lisle, leader of the Parnassian movement. In this Réunion edition, the poems are hand set in Deberny and Peignot types; with wood engravings by Jouvancourt (an artist of whom we know relatively little) with their strong black lines and simple forms, with a striking graphic quality. Number 27 of 400 copies on Johannot pur fil (total edition 420)..see full details
An urbane wartime short story, stylishly-illustrated by Lepape (son of Georges Lepape, who had worked for Vogue and the Ballet Russes). Number 22 of 46 copies on vélin ivoire with two suites of engravings (total edition 426)..see full details
FIRST EDITION of this illustrated French translation of the fifteenth-century De duobus amantibus historia.more...
One of 100 copies on Madagascar, this one with an additional signed watercolour drawing, (after 13 copies hors commerce, total edition 113). A translation of Piccolomini’s 1444 story about two lovers Euryalus and Lucretia: an apology for carnal love, though with the author remarking in the last chapter that love gives more bitterness and worry than pleasure. Maurice Lalau specialised in elaborate colour-printing processes for illustrated books in a quasi-medievalist style, with rich colours and very delicate, decorative detail often embellished with gold. The typography is by Marthe Fequet..see full details
Number 56 of 100 examples on pur fil du Marais, with an additional suite (total edition 176). An erotic book by the bohemian novelist and songwriter Mac-Orlan; illustrated in pochoir by Picart Le Doux, an impressionist artist who created washy and seductive night-scenes, most of which are depictions of prostitutes. He was well-known for his female nudes, was friends with Renoir, and also illustrated works by Verlaine and Baudelaire. He was best known as a tapestry designer..see full details
