G. de Gonet

First edition of this posthumous work illustrated with 15 hand-coloured steel engravings by Charles Geoffroy, including two frontispieces and a portrait of Grandville.
Publisher’s full pictorial cloth binding, the spine slightly faded, signed "Haaraus" in the plate, original yellow endpapers and pastedowns a little soiled at the margins. Discreet restoration to the head of the upper joint.
Foxing to the half-title, the first endpaper and some leaves, also affecting the tissue guards and, more lightly, the plates.
A splendid publication, undoubtedly one of Granville’s most poetic works, in which—as in his Fleurs animées—the artist personifies the celestial bodies as young women.

First edition, illustrated with a repeated frontispiece and 30 plates by Gavarni engraved on steel by Geoffroy. Printed on fine vellum. Copy from the deluxe issue with plates finely heightened in watercolor; These engravings are presented in very beautiful frames with lace-cut margins. Illustrated orange-tinted covers preserved (spine and back covers with advertisements also preserved).
Half lemon yellow morocco binding with corners, late 19th century. Spine with false raised bands richly decorated with roses in compartments ornamented with stars and other decorations. Red morocco title labels, second title labels in soft green shagreen. Some rubbing. Small brown spots on the leather of the upper cover. Uncut copy, shorter titles in margins. Some occasional foxing.
Handsome copy.
Méry's texts are short stories centered around a precious stone or jewel. The engravings illustrate various feminine adornments, in the first volume around jewels, pearl, reliquary, pendant, rosary, sapphire, bracelet... in the second volume, shawl, muff, mantilla, turban, bouquet, crown...

First edition and first issue, illustrated with 16 hors-texte engravings by Paul Gavarni engraved on steel by Charles Geoffroy and heightened in colors. Each plate features lace-cut decorative borders standing out against a pink paper background.
Publisher's full pictorial boards, original yellow paper endpapers and pastedowns somewhat soiled at margins as usual. Some corners slightly rubbed, as well as the headcaps; rear joint very slightly opened. Scattered foxing more pronounced on certain leaves.
Very handsome publication preserved in its romantic pictorial boards.

First edition of this posthumous work illustrated with 15 insert steel-engraved plates by Charles Geoffroy and enhanced in color, including two frontispieces and a portrait of Grandville.

Publisher's binding with full historiated cream boards, first board illustrated, browned endpapers as is usual for this period.
Rare interior foxing.

Superb publication, arguably one of Grandville's most poetic, in which – as for his Fleurs animées – the artist represents celestial bodies with young women.

First edition, illustrated with a repeated frontispiece and 30 steel-engraved plates by Gavarni engraved by Geoffroy on China paper laid down. Printed on fine white wove paper. Blue or neutral tissue guards. Illustrated orange-tinted covers preserved (spine and back covers with advertisements also preserved).
Half lavender morocco binding with corners and long grain signed Mercier (1920) at the top of the first endpaper, in Romantic style. Spine with false raised bands richly decorated with two complex mirrored tools in each compartment, blind fillets and rolls on the bands. Separation fillets on the boards. Uncut copy, full-margined. Perfect paper freshness. Light rubbing traces, impact at foot of the Parures volume with a dent of 0.8cm.
Very handsome copy, rare in this condition.
Blue leather bookplate P. Villeboeuf, with his gilt monogram also at top of pastedowns.
Méry's texts are short stories centered around a precious stone or jewel.

First edition.
This edition is often mistakenly confused with the Garnier edition Chants et chansons populaires de la France (in one volume and in several), yet it is rigorously different both in illustration and content. It is illustrated with 48 steel-engraved plates printed in bistre after Gavarni, Travies... and numerous wood engravings.
Half brown shagreen. Spine with false raised bands decorated with thick and thin compartments. Wine-colored percaline boards. Edges gilt. Boards discolored in places (borders). Joints of volume 1 rubbed in places. Tissue guards browned. Occasionally some foxing in margins or around tissue guards. Overall quite fresh and clean.
The two volumes offer nearly 1400 songs covering all styles, often accompanied by historical and literary notes.

First edition of this posthumous work illustrated with 15 unpaged steel-engraved plates by Charles Geoffroy and enhanced in colour, including two frontispieces and a portrait of Grandville.
A beautiful binding, with full boards illustrated by the publisher, spine a little faded and signed Haaraus on the panel stamp, original yellow paper endpapers a little soiled in the margins. Corners slightly rubbed. First and last sheets of the text a little browned, minor and typical for this period.
Superb publication, arguably one of Granville's most poetic, in which - as for his Fleurs animées - the artist represents celestial bodies with young women.

L'Empire des légumes. Mémoires de Cucurbitus I^er. Drôleries végétales
First, rather rare edition, illustrated with a frontispiece and 24 plates finely engraved on steel with watercolor decoration (on papier fort), representing anthropomorphic vegetables in various situations, delightfully sketched by Amédée Varin. Each plate is a voyage of discovery, brimming with imagination, whimsy, and irony. One of the masterpieces of Romantic caricature.
Half brown shagreen binding, spine in five compartments decorated with gilt floral motifs, handmade endpapers, contemporary binding.
Contemporary political and social satire. On the Boulevard des Maréchaux in Paris, the narrator discovers an unknown world, the empire of vegetables governed by Cucurbitus I, who can be clearly recognized as Napoleon III and his government. A prophetic satire since the French empire would be proclaimed on December 2, 1852, betraying the first act of universal suffrage that had elected it. Cucurbitus I is depicted as an oriental despot, dressed in the Turkish custom. Although the practice of satire produced many famous texts (Louis Reybaud and his Jérôme Paturot, Le Diable à Paris, Scènes de la vie privée des animaux), none sketched the portrait of Napoleon III and his politics so directly.

NUS Eugène & MERAY Antony
watercolor by VARIN Amédée
L'Empire des légumes. Mémoires de Cucurbitus Ier. Drôleries végétales
[The Empire of Vegetables: Memoirs of Cucurbitus Ier. Vegetable Drolleries]
G. de Gonet, Paris n. d. [1851],
19 x 26,7 cm, 20th-century full shagreen
First, rather rare edition, illustrated with a frontispiece and 24 plates finely engraved on steel with watercolor decoration (on papier fort), representing anthropomorphic vegetables in various situations, delightfully sketched by Amédée Varin. Each plate is a voyage of discovery, brimming with imagination, whimsy, and irony. One of the masterpieces of Romantic caricature.
20th-century full red shagreen. Spine in compartments with 4 open leaves. Author and title gilt. Upper board with angular leaves and the words “Drôleries végétales” in the center, last board with 4 anglaur leaves. Gilt edges. Very slight wear and tear at four top corners. All the engravings are protected by a serpente. Very fine copy, still fresh, with a few rare scattered foxing (spotting on pages 112 to 119).
Contemporary political and social satire. On the Boulevard des Maréchaux in Paris, the narrator discovers an unknown world, the empire of vegetables governed by Cucurbitus I, who can be clearly recognized as Napoleon III and his government. A prophetic satire since the French empire would be proclaimed on December 2, 1852, betraying the first act of universal suffrage that had elected it. Cucurbitus I is depicted as an oriental despot, dressed in the Turkish custom. Although the practice of satire produced many famous texts (Louis Reybaud and his Jérôme Paturot, Le Diable à Paris, Scènes de la vie privée des animaux), none sketched the portrait of Napoleon III and his politics so directly.
$ 1 800