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  • Keywords = poetry
  • A collection of 5 illustrated chanson manuscripts, of a type popular in France in the first quarter of the twentieth century, particularly among servicemen. The texts are usually composed of popular songs of the day; the illustrations, often derived (sometimes traced) from popular journals and are brightly, even luridly, coloured. Artistic ability is variable, but the images are frequently romantic and suggestive. While not uncommon, when gathered together these notebooks make an interesting study in contemporary popular culture. by CHANSONS CHANSONS ~ A collection of 5 illustrated chanson manuscripts, of a type popular in France in the first quarter of the twentieth century, particularly among servicemen. The texts are usually composed of popular songs of the day; the illustrations, often derived (sometimes traced) from popular journals and are brightly, even luridly, coloured. Artistic ability is variable, but the images are frequently romantic and suggestive. While not uncommon, when gathered together these notebooks make an interesting study in contemporary popular culture. 1900
    I. 'J.B'. France, c. 1900.

    Folio (335 × 210 mm), pp. [98], plus several blank leaves at end. Text in manuscript, full-page illustrations in crayon or… (more)

    I. 'J.B'. France, c. 1900.

    Folio (335 × 210 mm), pp. [98], plus several blank leaves at end. Text in manuscript, full-page illustrations in crayon or pastel. Lightly browned throughout, fragile at edges with minor fraying, all the result of poor quality paper. In original cloth backed notebook. Binding rather worn. A handsome chanson manuscript, anonymous but for the decorative initials 'J.B'. The songs include: 'Le Pigeon blessé', 'Sous les Platanes', 'Carmen', 'Chagrins d'Amour', 'Juanita', 'La Femme est un jouette' and 'Mort pour la France'.

    II. Émile LEBLOND. Dijon, c. 1904.

    Manuscript, 4to (214 × 170 mm), pp. 1-12, 17-98, 101-102, 105-270, 280-320, several blanks at rear. Evidence of 3 leaves removed, perhaps by the maker. Numerous drawings in ink and crayon, decorative headings. Original cloth notebook. Rather rubbed. An illustrated chansonnier made by a soldier of the First Artillery, stationed at Dijon. This is an especially full example which gives some unusual details as to its making: Leblond occasionally records the number of weeks he has been in service and there is evidence of carbon tracing, demonstrating the use of illustrations from popular journals in making these chansonniers. The songs include: 'Berceuse militaire', 'L'Africaine', 'Chapeai bas devant la Marseillais', 'Vous êtes si jolie', 'Four frou' and 'Ma Ninette'.

    III. Yvan LOREAU. Chemillé-sur-Seine, c. 1909.

    Manuscript, small 4to (216 × 175 mm), pp. [2], 88, ruled paper. Drawings in ink and crayon. Original limp wrappers. Yvan Loreau writes on his title-page that this manuscript was made 'Sur le tour de France' and begun on 11th December 1909. Songs include: 'Voila la Parisienne', 'Le petit coeur de Ninon', 'Ah! Ma p'tit Lili', 'Le ruban bleu de l'hirondelle' and 'Pas sur la bouche'.

    IV. Alexandre MOULLET, 'le gros bâtarde'. Valence, 1913-14.

    Manuscript (on squared paper), 4to (222 × 170 mm), pp. [152]. Drawings in ink and crayon, partially unfinished. Some thumbing and fraying, one leaf loose. Original half cloth notebook. An illustrated chansonnier made on the eve of the Great War for one Alexandre Moullet, picturesquely nicknamed 'le gros bâtarde', of the 5eme Régiment d'Artillerie lourde, 8ème batterie, at Valence (Drôme). Songs include: 'Les petites Toulonnaises'; 'Soldat vierge', 'Marins de Marseille', 'Coeur Crise', 'Sur la Riviera' and 'Le dernier Tango'.

    V. REDON. Valbonne (Ain), 1921.

    Manuscript on paper, small 4to (216 × 170 mm), pp. [117], plus numerous blanks at rear, numerous drawings in pencil, ink and crayon (a couple cut from newspapers or journals, decorative headings. Original half cloth notebook. Songs include: 'Tu voudrais me voir pleurer', 'La vals du pastis', 'Vous rendez tous les hommes fou' and 'Le train fatale'. One verse is subscribed 'Fait a la Valbonne le 12-12-21 une soiré de grand froid'.

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  • La Tartufiade poëme Satiri-comico-burlesque en douze chants. by MESNAGE, Charles. MESNAGE, Charles. ~ La Tartufiade poëme Satiri-comico-burlesque en douze chants. France, [Mayenne] 1849.
    An elegantly produced autograph manuscript in gold ink of Mesnage’s satire in hexasyllables denouncing the arrivistes of the Second Republic. It is apparently unpublished. Born… (more)

    An elegantly produced autograph manuscript in gold ink of Mesnage’s satire in hexasyllables denouncing the arrivistes of the Second Republic. It is apparently unpublished. Born in 1821 at Evron (Mayenne), Mesnage claimed direct descent from Racine and published several poetical works, including Les Fleurs d’Avril (Laval, 1854 of which a copy is included here).

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  • The Phoenix and the Turtle. by SHAKESPEARE, William; Léon GISCHIA, illustrator. SHAKESPEARE, William; Léon GISCHIA, illustrator. ~ The Phoenix and the Turtle. [Paris: Imprimérie Union for Raoul Mortier, 17 February 1944.]
    Number 10 of 250 copies. Shakespeare’s metaphysical poem on the theme of idealised and mystical love was first published in the Supplement to Robert Chester’s… (more)

    Number 10 of 250 copies. Shakespeare’s metaphysical poem on the theme of idealised and mystical love was first published in the Supplement to Robert Chester’s Love’s Martyr (1601). In it, the phoenix and the turtle dove are joined in eternal love and burn themselves alive.

    A leading figure in the Nouvelle École de Paris, Léon Gischia continued to produce and exhibit avant-garde work throughout the German occupation, despite repeated denunciation for degeneracy. He also produced designs for the theatre, notably for the production in French of Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral at the théâtre du Vieux Colombier in 1945. Bland, History of Book Illustration, 321.

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  • Paneros. Some words on aphrodisiacs and the like. by DOUGLAS, Norman. DOUGLAS, Norman. ~ Paneros. Some words on aphrodisiacs and the like. Florence: [Tipografia Giuntina] ‘privately printed for subscribers by G. Orioli, Lungarno Corsini’, [ 1930].
    First edition, privately printed. The limitation notice reads ‘This Edition is issued to Subscribers only and limited to two hundred and fifty copies, numbered and… (more)

    First edition, privately printed. The limitation notice reads ‘This Edition is issued to Subscribers only and limited to two hundred and fifty copies, numbered and signed by the Author. The price will be doubled after first of March, 1931’. This copy is, however, unsigned and unnumbered. The work forms issue no. 5 of The Lugano Series.

    ‘From 1920 until 1937 Douglas was settled in Florence... As his fame grew, he became much visited by inter-war writers, and forged close friendships with D. H. Lawrence and Bryher. During these years he lived with the publisher Giuseppe (Pino) Orioli, who helped him publish several limited editions, most of which were later commercially published in London... In 1937 Douglas was forced to flee Florence after the police made enquiries concerning his friendship with a ten-year-old local girl’ (Katherine Mullin in Oxford DNB).

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  • Satyrae... nunc primum in lucem editae. by ‘SECTANI, Q[uinto]’ [pseudonym of Lodovico SERGARDI]. ‘SECTANI, Q[uinto]’ [pseudonym of Lodovico SERGARDI]. ~ Satyrae... nunc primum in lucem editae. ‘Apud Trifonem Bibliopolam in foro Palladio’ [?Rome], 1701
    Quinto Sectani was the pseudonym used by Sienese born poet and papal official Lodovico Sergardi. His fourteen Latin satires mocked contemporary Roman society and, more… (more)

    Quinto Sectani was the pseudonym used by Sienese born poet and papal official Lodovico Sergardi. His fourteen Latin satires mocked contemporary Roman society and, more particularly, the poet and jurist Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina. In 1690 Gravina was instrumental in creating the Accademia degli Arcadi, founded with the intention of reforming Italian poetry. Gravina’s writing was steeped in influences from the classical past, resulting from his researches into Roman law and history, which was an attitude quite in tune with his fellow Arcadians early attempts to return to classical perfection in poetry. The Academy, however, soon found itself reverting to fashionable baroque style, a tendency deplored by Gravina, who tried to suppress any such decadent backsliding. He alienated many of his former friends and colleagues and was the butt of frequent satires.

    Despite the claim of the title page (‘nunc primum in lucem editae’) the Satyrae first appeated at Rome, with the same false imprint, in 1696 There seem to have been several early pirated editions, as might be expected for a scurrilous work, which accused Gravina of both pedantry and paedophilia (Susan Dixon, Between the real and the ideal: the Accademia degli Arcadi and its garden in eighteenth-century Rome, 2006). Worldcat lists a single copy of this edition (Wake Forest University, NC).

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  • Cats: by “a young lady of colour”
    LINTON, William James, “Hattie BROWN”, pseudonym. ~ Catoninetales a domestic epic. By Hattie Brown. A young lady of colour lately deceased at the age of 14. London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1891.
    One of 330 numbered copies. An eccentric poem about the nine lives of a cat, written and illustrated by the radical liberal wood-engraver and poet… (more)

    One of 330 numbered copies. An eccentric poem about the nine lives of a cat, written and illustrated by the radical liberal wood-engraver and poet William James Linton, an Englishman who later emigrated to the United States. Linton invents a nostalgic biography of the fictional young author, "a young lady of colour", whose humbled origins as the uneducated daughter of field-hands are left behind as her literary genius emerges, before her untimely and premature death. COPAC lists just one copy of this edition, at V&A Libraries. 35 numbered copies printed on Japanese vellum and an unlimited edition were also published by Lawrence and Bullen in the same year; COPAC records an edition printed at the Appledore U.S. Press, Hamden, Connecticut, 188-? (the press owned and run by Linton).

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  • Ovid’s Art of Love, in three books. Together with his amours, and remedy of love. Translated into English verse, by several eminent hands. To which are added, The Court of Love, a tale from Chaucer. And the History of Love. Adorn'd with cutts. by OVIDIUS NASO, Publius. OVIDIUS NASO, Publius. ~ Ovid’s Art of Love, in three books. Together with his amours, and remedy of love. Translated into English verse, by several eminent hands. To which are added, The Court of Love, a tale from Chaucer. And the History of Love. Adorn'd with cutts. London: printed for J. Tonson; and sold by W. Taylor at the Ship in Pater-noster Row, 1719.
    A scarce early edition. Three editions had previously been published, the first in 1709, and this popular title went on to be republished numerous times… (more)

    A scarce early edition. Three editions had previously been published, the first in 1709, and this popular title went on to be republished numerous times during the eighteenth century. The translators are identified in the text as John Dryden, Nahum Tate and William Congreve. 'The history of love' is by Charles Hopkins and 'The court of love' is a metrical paraphrase by Arthur Maynwaring. ESTC gives 7 locations: BL (2 copies), John Rylands, Manchester (2 copies). McMaster University and Universities of Illinois and Waterloo.

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  • courtly and erotic
    Amitiez, amours et amourettes... by LE PAYS, René, Sieur du Plessis-Villeneuve. LE PAYS, René, Sieur du Plessis-Villeneuve. ~ Amitiez, amours et amourettes... ‘Grenoble, & se vend a Paris’: Charles de Sercy, 1664.
    A rare and celebrated courtly collection of amatory letters and verses. Le Pays’ post as a government official at Grenoble apparently left him ample leisure… (more)

    A rare and celebrated courtly collection of amatory letters and verses. Le Pays’ post as a government official at Grenoble apparently left him ample leisure for literary composition, and this, his best-known work was much admired by the duchesse de Nemours, who became his patron. Le Pays seems to have found special favour among female readers, though the author of many of the letters here portrays himself rather as a high-class sex tourist --a curious letter from London extols the splendour of English women’s breasts and their visibility.

    It was reprinted numerous times (several editions appeared in the same year). The first edition (also 1664) bears a Grenoble imprint, Gay denotes ours, with the Paris Sercy imprint, the second. Despite the number of early editions, legitimate or pirated, printed in the same year all appear rare outside France. Gay I, 99.

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  • OVIDIUS NASO, Publius. ~ Metamorphoses [in Latin, edited with commentary by Thomas Farnaby.] ‘Amsterdam: Joannem Blaeu’ [but probably Paris,] 1668.
    An attractive ‘faux Elzevir’ edition, with the notes by the English grammarian Thomas Farnaby (which first appeared in the London edition of 1637). Willems 2142;… (more)

    An attractive ‘faux Elzevir’ edition, with the notes by the English grammarian Thomas Farnaby (which first appeared in the London edition of 1637). Willems 2142; Rahir 3330 (“Faux Elzeviers”, printed by Thiboust, Paris.)

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