Poil de carotte

Second edition with some parts in first edition (with 5 added tales), Félix Vallotton's illustrations in first issue, one of 20 numbered copies on japon, only deluxe issue.
Bradel binding, brown 3/4 cloth, smooth spine with floral motif stamped in gilt at center, twice ruled in gilt at foot, slightly chafed morocco title-label, marbled paper boards, original covers and spine preserved, contemporary binding signed Carayon.
Small clear stains to the top edge of first board, one corner slightly rubbed, a spot of foxing at foot of the first few pages. 
Illustrated with 50 drawings by Félix Vallotton.

Rare and handsome copy housed in a contemporary binding by Carayon.  

Renard and Vallotton, the “foreign nabi”, had met in the offices of La Revue Blanche, a famous avant-garde journal which frequently featured Vallotton's woodcuts and published numerous contributions by Jules Renard.

The writer invited Vallotton to illustrate this "other first edition” of Poil de Carotte, which includes 5 previously unpublished stories: “My dear Vallotton, Would it amuse you to illustrate - in complete freedom - Poil de Carotte for Flammarion?” Renard wrote him in a letter dated June 21, 1902. Vallotton was chosen ahead of Toulouse-Lautrec and Alexandre Steinlen, two other great artists of the time who had shown an interest in the project. Renard's affinity with Vallotton's style is easy to understand, as Vallotton's raw simplicity perfectly matches Poil de Carotte's incisive depiction of a loveless childhood: “A few words, a few lines are enough for these two artists. They both ruthlessly cut away the superfluous” (Léon Guichard, L'Interprétation graphique, cinématographique et musicale des œuvres de Jules Renard).