20th century art books by great masters of modern art: Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Dufy...

First edition printed with 750 numbered copies on Arches Velin and planned for the exhibition of Léger's works organised at the Louis Carré gallery from 19 November to 31 December 1954, for which the catalogue has been published only two years after the retrospective.

Work illustrated with original lithographs by Fernand Léger: 6 unpaged colour plates, two of which are double pages, 5 black and white unpaged plates and 10 within the text.

A beautiful copy despite slight rubbing to the caps.

First edition of this exhibition catalogue held at 32, place Saint Georges in November–December 1903.
Bound in contemporary chocolate brown morocco-backed marbled boards, spine plain, corners in matching morocco, marbled endpapers, gilt top edge, original wrappers and spine preserved; signed binding by Lortic.
Pasted on the rear pastedown is the invitation card to the exhibition, illustrated by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen.
Preface by Anatole France.
A handsome copy finely bound by Lortic, son of Charles Baudelaire’s bookbinder.

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on China paper, the only deluxe copies with 50 on Japan.
Work decorated with illustrations by Abel Boyé.
Half brown morocco with corners binding, smooth spine decorated with a gilt cartouche decorated with floral decorative motifs with pieces of brown mosaic morocco, gilt date at foot, some slight rubbing to the headcaps, gilt fillets frame on the marbled paper covers, endpapers and pastedowns of pebbled paper, covers in duplicate state and spine preserved, top edge gilt, elegant binding signed Canape.
Handsome copy beautifully executed.

First edition, one of 450 numbered copies on Holland paper.
Work illustrated with 35 original woodcuts by Fernand Siméon.
Full brown morocco binding, smooth spine decorated with a vertical band of black mosaic morocco, black roulettes on the headcaps, slight rubbing to the upper headcap, gilt title struck to the center of the first cover, covers decorated with a large diamond and a wide horizontal band of black mosaic morocco, endpapers and pastedowns of paper with gilt floral motifs and moiré effect, frame of vertical and horizontal bands of black mosaic morocco on the pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, double black fillets on the leading edges, slipcase with brown morocco entry, covers of paper with gilt floral motifs and moiré effect, perfect Art Deco binding signed A. Pinard-Lefort.
Handsome copy perfectly executed in a beautiful Art Deco binding.

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies reimposed on Japan Imperial paper, ours being one of the few hors commerce copies, deluxe edition after 1 unique copy on Japan Imperial and 19 old Japan.
Illustrated work, as frontispiece, with a portrait of Charles Maurras consisting of an original drypoint by Edouard Chimot and original lithographs by Wassily Schoukhaeff.
Half chocolate brown morocco binding with corners, spine with five raised bands, gilt date at foot, black roulettes on headcaps, black fillet frame on wood-effect paper boards, wood-effect paper endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, perfect unsigned binding.
Very handsome copy perfectly executed and complete, as stipulated in the justification page, with the double state of Edouard Chimot's drypoint with remarques, 1 proof of the cancelled plate and 1 suite of the lithographs on Japan.

French translation by Adolphe Van Bever and illustrated with 40 original wood engravings by Louis Jou, one of the numbered copies on Rives vellum.
Half black morocco binding, spine with two thick raised bands set with gilt fillets, imitation white wood paper boards, small foxing to boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt, original wrappers preserved, elegant contemporary binding signed by Creuzevault.
Handsome copy in a beautiful Art Deco binding by Creuzevault.

Signed limited edition, one of 750 copies signed by the artist.

Original publisher's cloth, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, front cover with elaborate design in gilt.

Colour frontispiece and colour plates mounted on cream paper, captioned tissue-guards, by Edmund Dulac. Cloth soiled, some foxing to margins. With a loose leaflet advertising the exhibition of the original drawings at Leicester galleries in 1909.

An album containing 14 gouaches on silk, including 12 erotic paintings. The first painting on each side of the folding shows a bird and on the other side maple leaves, thus masking on each of the first pages the erotic aspect of the collection. Shunga is the generic Japanese term that designates erotic art, it literally means Spring Image, spring being a euphemism and figure of style expressing sexuality. The term Shunga having been reserved for a long time for prints, collections or albums have often been designated by the appellation Pillow Books, or notes for the pillow, etc. (Utamaro: The Song of the Pillow, 1788).
Japanese accordion album covered with damask silk with flowers and birds in pale gold. Silk band on the first cover serving as a label but mute. Each painting 12.8x16cm is mounted on cardboard. The cardboard folding sections are covered with cream paper speckled with gold. Very fine condition, edges rubbed, with small lacks to fabric.
The paintings respect the canons of Japanese erotic representation: oversized genitals, body hair, women with white skin and men of flesh color. No decorative element comes to distract the eye from the sexual act (only one painting contains a mirror), the bodies being most of the time clothed in rich kimonos. These collections were still in the modern era offered to newlyweds, particularly to women. The whole is of fine workmanship, the 2 introductory paintings, the bird and the maple leaves are particularly successful.
This type of representation was forbidden in Japan and therefore contains no signature, it is however evident that there existed painters whose profession and specialty this was and whom one went to see for private commissions; it is also not forbidden to think that the painter made several on his own initiative and that he offered them for sale, as was done with collections of colored photographs at the end of the 19th century.
Precious and rare ensemble in superb condition.