VERHAEREN, Émile.
Les plaines.
Paris, Henri Piazza (colophon: printed by G. Kadar, Paris, 15 February 1934). 4to (23 x 16 cm). With an original watercolour drawing (10 x 10 cm), 35 colour collotype facsimiles of watercolour drawings (1 as frontispiece, the others in the text), some finished by hand, and 70 plates repeating the 35 illustrations: once in black and white and once in colour, all by Henri Cassiers. Contemporary (1934) gold-blocked brown morocco by George Canape and Georges Corriez in Paris, each board with an unidentified (prince's or duke's?) coat of arms in the centre in a frame of rose branches (the roses in red), spine with author and title in gold and rose branches in red and gold, gold fillets on board edges, turn-ins in gold with red roses, decorated cloth doublures and free endleaves (yellow background with multi-coloured flowers all woven), gilt edges. 174, [2] pp. plus 70 plates and 1 watercolour drawing.
€ 4,950
Copy no. 1 (one of the 25 copies of the deluxe issue) of a bibliophile edition of poems by the Belgian writer, poet and art critic Émile Verhaeren (1855-1916), illustrated with 35 colour-printed collotype facsimiles of watercolours by the Flemish artist Henri Cassiers (1858-1944), plus one original watercolour drawing, also by him. As the colophon notes, copies 1-25 are printed on Japanese paper, each including an original watercolour drawing and containing additional plates repeating the illustrations, once in black and white and once in colour. So each illustration appears three times (the hand finishing of the colour illustrations shows differences between the two examples). The edition further included 100 copies on Japanese paper, including the 35 black and white plates (copies 26-125); and 825 copies on Rives paper, without additional plates (copies 126-950). Henri Piazza published it as part of a series devoted to Flanders, Toute la Flandre, containing several works by Verhaeren, all illustrated by Cassiers. Canape et Corriez specialized in bibliophile bindings. They worked together from 1927 to 1937 (Fléty, pp. 37-38).
In fine condition.
Related Subjects:
