Literature illustrated with engravings, lithographs, photographs, first edition drawings, beautiful illustrated books and artists' books

First edition with a frontispiece by Félicien Rops. Original wrappers preserved. Posthumous edition. Mallarmé and Huysmans, executors of Villiers's estate, undertook to establish this edition with Léon Dierx, for the benefit of the writer's widow and their son Victor. Complete with the 2 leaves of the publisher's catalogue.
Publisher's inscription on the half-title: "A Eugène Marchal, en souvenir de notre bonne camaraderie. L'éditeur..." ["To Eugène Marchal, in memory of our good friendship. The publisher..."] (illegible signature, probably Léon Dierx).
Contemporary Bradel binding in half wine-red morocco. Smooth spine decorated with mirror tools. Gilt title. Top edge gilt. Spine uniformly faded. One corner slightly bumped.
Fantaisies, Pamphlet et souvenirs.

New edition, illustrated with 10 etchings by Léopold Flameng and engraved by André Salmon. A handsome edition, carefully printed on Dutch laid paper. Title pages in red and black.

Contemporary half-shagreen binding with corners. Spine with raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and inlaid with a central black fleuron. Gilt titles and date at foot. Separating fillets on boards. Top edge gilt. Uncut copy.

A very fine copy in superb condition.

Edition illustrated with 16 original copper engravings by Jean-Emile Laboureur, one of 25 numbered copies on vieux Japon à la forme, deluxe issue.
Full green box calf binding, smooth spine decorated with inlaid pieces of brown and red box calf forming a pattern of alternating diagonal lines extending onto the boards, a gilt fillet and a palladium fillet on the covers, black watered silk endpapers and doublures framed with a wide strip of green box calf and a geometric composition of red box calf framed in gilt on the doublures, original wrappers and spine preserved, all edges gilt, elegant Art Deco binding dated and signed by Geneviève de Léotard, 1931.

A precious copy housed in an elegant box calf binding with watered silk doublures, an original Art Deco creation by Geneviève de Léotard, pupil of Pierre Legrain: "At the height of Art Deco, Geneviève de Léotard […] was the only binder to rival Rose Adler in elegance. […] Her originality and inventiveness clearly distinguish her." (Yves Peyré, Histoire de la reliure de création, 2015, p. 184). As Fléty notes, "her well-constructed bindings, with very pure decoration and harmonious tonalities, display a reasoned originality which enabled [her] […] to always rank among the top entries at the exhibitions in which she participated. (Julien Fléty. Dictionnaire des relieurs français ayant exercé de 1800 à nos jours. Technorama, 1988. p. 111).
Bookplate pasted onto the front free endpaper.
Our copy, like the copies of the deluxe issue on Japon, is complete with the suite of original engravings.

First illustrated edition. Collection Edouard Guillaume Lotus bleu. The cover is dated 1896, the title page 1897. A frontispiece in double state, black and sanguine, 6 plates and head-pieces, tailpieces... The whole delicately erotic by Mittis. Printed on white glazed laid paper. Ordinary issue after 50 numbered copies on Japan paper and 50 numbered copies on China paper. Original wrappers preserved.

Contemporary full black shagreen binding. Smooth spine decorated with 2 small mirrored tools at head and a stylized tulip on spine. Gilt fillet frame on covers. Interior border. Top edge gilt. Wide margins. Some occasional pale scattered foxing.

Very handsome copy.

Prehistoric novel featuring one of the best-known characters from Rosny Aîné's prehistoric universe, Vamireh. In his wanderings, he encounters Elem, a young girl from another tribe, whom he captures. He must fight this clan to keep his conquest. We find the author's incredibly dense and lyrical style, typical of this fin de siècle period. With different groups of hominids, Rosny Aîné is the only and first author to give a plausible and realistic version of prehistory.