COLETTE

First edition on ordinary paper.
Half red morocco over marbled paper boards, spine lightly sunned in six compartments, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

One top corner very slightly rubbed.
Handsome autograph inscription by Charles Maurras : "A madame Colette Willy, en souvenir de la cocarde."

A substantially cropped print bearing the same penciled number on the back of our photograph (11214), is in the Reutlinger archives at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Album Reutlinger de portraits divers vol. 53, p.3). We have been unable to find any other examples of this photograph in other public collections. A similar photograph belatedly dedicated to Maurice Chevalier went on sale in 2008.

A beautiful, sultry shot of Colette probably taken the year of her banned dance show "Rêve d'Egypte" at the Moulin Rouge where she shared the bill – and a scandalous kiss – with her cross-dressing aristocrat lover Missy.

"Colette was a nude dancer, which at the time meant that she [...] draped herself in vaporous veils, concealing part of her anatomy under animal skins" (Paula Dumont). Colette had already used animal skins, hugging her figure in this picture, as a sensual costume in Charles Van Lerberghe's Pan, accompanied on stage by Lugné-Poe and Georges Wague. This was the first time anyone had dared to go without a flesh-colored body suit. Justifying her choice, she went on to say: "I want to dance naked if the body suit bothers me and humiliates my plasticity".

At the time of this photograph, in 1907, Colette was performing in countless shows, following her debut two years earlier in Nathalie Clifford Barney's Sapphic Salon where Mata Hari also danced. For Colette, dance was synonymous with emancipation in more ways than one - as a means of sustenance and liberation of her body which finally belonged to her after her separation from her abusive husband Willy in 1906. Her undulating, almost gestureless dance was linked by contemporary critics to that of Loïe Fuller and Isadora Duncan; her greatest success remained "La Chair", a risqué mime show she performed two hundred times in Paris and was subsequently produced with a new cast in New York's Manhattan Opera House. It was also in the halls of Parisian dance venues that Colette flaunted herself freely on the arm of her lovers. Her scandalous union with Missy, the virile Marquise de Morny who accompanied her on stage in male costumes, contributed to the fame of her performances.

This is probably the rarest photograph of Colette taken by Reutlinger who also photographed her draped in Grecian style or wearing her costume from "Le Rêve d'Egypte".

A rare visual testimony to a revolution in dance costume brought about by Colette, a key figure in twentieth-century artistic and literary Paris.

Fine autograph letter signed by Colette to her friend Bolette Natanson. Two pages written in ink on blue paper. Horizontal folds inherent to the mailing of the letter.
As ever protective and maternal with her friend, Colette compliments her: "Comme tu es gentille, - comme tu es Bolette". Nineteen years her senior, she praises the youth of "[her] child": "Tu es ma 'provision d'hiver', la jeunesse dont j'aurai besoin, plus tard, bien plus encore qu'à présent. Soigne-toi bien ma jeunesse en grange".
Having grown up from early childhood in artistic circles—she was the daughter of Alexandre and the niece of Thadée Natanson, the founders of the celebrated Revue Blanche—Bolette Natanson (1892-1936) formed friendships with Jean Cocteau, Raymond Radiguet, Georges Auric, Jean Hugo, and Colette.
Passionate about dressmaking, she left Paris for the United States with Misia Sert, a close friend of Coco Chanel, and was employed at Goodman. With her husband Jean-Charles Moreux, they opened in 1929 the gallery Les Cadres on boulevard Saint-Honoré and moved in the company of numerous artists and intellectuals. Their success was immediate and they multiplied commissions: the fireplace for Winnaretta de Polignac, the decoration of the Château de Maulny, the arrangement of Baron de Rothschild’s townhouse, the creation of frames for the industrialist Bernard Reichenbach, and finally the design of the shopfront for Colette’s beauty institute in 1932. Bolette Natanson also framed the works of her distinguished painter friends: Bonnard, Braque, Picasso, Vuillard, Man Ray, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, and others. Despite this dazzling ascent, she took her own life in December 1936, a few months after the death of her father.

First edition, complete with all 12 issues of this luxurious and short-lived review founded and directed by Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, one of the exceedingly rare copies on japon, the only deluxe paper, with four states of the colour engravings.

Bound in half sand-coloured cloth, morocco lettering pieces, marbled paper boards, spines and wrappers preserved for each issue, a fine copy with wide margins.

Our copy indeed contains the four colour states reserved for the deluxe issue, printed on various papers, of each of the 23 photogravures in Arts & Crafts, Symbolist, Renaissance, Art Nouveau, and Classical styles, after Maxwell Armfield, Henri Saulnier Ciolkowski, Léonard Sarluis, Bernardino Luini, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, Gustave Moreau, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Pollaiolo, Correggio, Piero della Francesca, Rubens, Jose de Ribera, Francisco Goya, Mederhausen Rodo, Cardet, and statues and steles from the museums of Naples and Athens.

The elegant cover design is by George Auriol, master of Art Nouveau typography.
Contributions by Laurent Tailhade, Émile Verhaeren, Renée Vivien, Colette Willy, Joséphin Peladan, Jean Moréas, Henri Barbusse, Arthur Symons, Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, J. Antoine-Orliac, Paterne Berrichon, Jules Bois, Jean Bouscatel, Tristan Derème, Léon Deubel, André du Fresnois, Maurice Gaucher, René Ghil, Henri Guilbeaux, J.-C. Holl, Tristan Klingsor, Ernest La Jeunesse, Gabriel de Lautrec, Abel Léger, Legrand-Chabrier, Louis Mandin, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Francis de Miomandre, John-Antoine Nau, Maurice de Noisay, Julien Ochsé, Edmond Pilon, Ernest Raynaud, André Salmon, Valentine de Saint-Point, Robert Scheffer, Tancrède de Visan...

A very handsome and extremely rare copy on japon, of the first French homosexual review.

Beautiful autograph letter signed by Colette addressed to her friend Bolette Natanson. Two pages written in ink on blue paper. Transverse creases inherent to the folding of the missive.
This letter was probably addressed to Bolette following a gift made to her "old friend": "Ah! dangerous Bolette! I can say nothing in front of you. Here are the two charming thick little vessels that emigrate to my home." This is an opportunity for Colette, very pleased with this new gift, to humorously devalue the designer's previous works: "From now on your frames are ugly, your mirrors troubled like an honest man's conscience, and your butterflies are - horror! - faithful!" The famous "butterflies", naturalized and enclosed in glass frames, are visible in several photographs of the writer in her home.
Having evolved since her earliest childhood in artistic circles - she is the daughter of Alexandre and niece of Thadée Natanson, the creators of the famous Revue Blanche - Bolette Natanson (1892-1936) became friends with Jean Cocteau, Raymond Radiguet, Georges Auric, Jean Hugo and also Colette.
Passionate about sewing, she left Paris for the United States with Misia Sert, great friend of Coco Chanel, and was hired by Goodman. With her husband Jean-Charles Moreux, they created in 1929 the gallery Les Cadres on boulevard Saint-Honoré and frequented numerous artists and intellectuals. Their success was immediate and they multiplied projects: the creation of the fireplace for Winnaretta de Polignac, the decoration of the château de Maulny, the arrangement of Baron de Rothschild's private mansion, the creation of frames for industrialist Bernard Reichenbach and finally the realization of Colette's beauty institute storefront in 1932. Bolette Natanson also framed the works of her prestigious painter friends: Bonnard, Braque, Picasso, Vuillard, Man Ray, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, etc. Despite this meteoric rise, she would end her life in December 1936 a few months after her father's death.

Fine autograph letter signed by Colette addressed to her friend Bolette Natanson. Two pages written in ink on blue headed paper from the Marignan building, the writer's residence between 1936 and 1938. Transverse folds inherent to the folding of the letter for mailing.
Moving letter addressed by Colette to her close friend following the death of her father Alexandre Natanson: "[...] ce dimanche va être un dimanche bien pénible. Je t'écris à l'heure juste où tu conduis ton père." ["this Sunday is going to be a very painful Sunday. I am writing to you at the very moment when you are laying your father to rest."] Conscious of the suffering and "chagrin" ["grief"] of her "chère Bolette" ["dear Bolette"], she affectionately offers her support "On croit toujours que la pensée, qui est une force, touche son but aussi bien qu'un message écrit." ["We always believe that thought, which is a force, reaches its target as well as a written message."], ending her letter with a very beautiful declaration: "Beaucoup de visages humains se penchent vers le tien et tu ne les aimes pas tous. Le mien, que tu ne verras pas, te suit de loin et s'inquiète de toi." ["Many human faces lean toward yours and you do not love them all. Mine, which you will not see, follows you from afar and worries about you."] Bolette would commit suicide a few months later.
Having evolved since her earliest childhood in artistic circles - she was the daughter of Alexandre and the niece of Thadée Natanson, the creators of the famous Revue Blanche - Bolette Natanson (1892-1936) became friends with Jean Cocteau, Raymond Radiguet, Georges Auric, Jean Hugo and also Colette.
Passionate about couture, she left Paris for the United States with Misia Sert, a great friend of Coco Chanel, and was hired at Goodman. With her husband Jean-Charles Moreux, they created in 1929 the gallery Les Cadres on boulevard Saint-Honoré and frequented numerous artists and intellectuals. Their success was immediate and they multiplied their projects: the creation of the fireplace for Winnaretta de Polignac, the decoration of the château de Maulny, the arrangement of Baron de Rothschild's private mansion, the creation of frames for industrialist Bernard Reichenbach and finally the creation of the storefront for Colette's beauty institute in 1932. Bolette Natanson also framed the works of her prestigious painter friends: Bonnard, Braque, Picasso, Vuillard, Man Ray, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, etc. Despite this meteoric rise, she would end her life in December 1936, a few months after her father's death.