GIRAUDOUX, Jean. Alexandre ALEXEIEFF, illustrator. ~ Siegfried et le Limousin. Paris: Bernard Grasset ‘aux Aldes’, [1927].
Large 4to (260 × 215 mm), pp. [4], 1-23, 27-59, [1], 63-209, [1], 213-232, [4] (erratically paginated), plus 13 lithograph plates partially coloured in pochoir, plus 2 suites of all the plates in black and sepia (uncoloured) at the end, ornamental initials in red. Original wrappers (the upper cover with an additional coloured lithograph) in contemporary three quarter tan goatskin (unsigned), spine gilt and with flower tools in black, top edge gilt, others uncut. An excellent copy.
Number 47 of 95 copies on Hollande (after three on Vieux Japon and seven on Japon impérial) with superb illustrations by the Russian-born Montparnasse artist Alexeieff, who was later better known for pioneering pinscreen animation. The bold typography is accompanied by large red initials, specially cut and cast for this edition after designs by R. Van Kleen, while the striking lithographs were printed by Duchâtel and coloured at the ateliers d’Art Nervet. Giraudoux’s novel was first published in 1922 and tells the story of the French soldier who forged an unlikely career as a German lawyer following total amnesia brought on by an injury sustained fighting in the Great War. It was published in more than one illustrated edition of the 1920s, but Alexeieff’s strange, teasing and often ambiguous images are especially well suited to the text. Rare: Worldcat cites the Northwestern University copy as the only US institutional holding. No UK copies in LibraryHub.