Oeuvres Libres: Les Amies Femmes
[Paris]: Aux Dépens Des Deux Cent Cinquante Disciples Hippocrate, ND (ca 1942). Limited First edition. Softcover. 1/25. Quarto. 70, [8] loose pages, as issued. Uncut and unopened copy. Original glassine over printed dust-jacket and blind wrappers. Portfolio housed in its original blue cardboard slipcase. Title page in red and black lettering. This striking interpretation of Paul Verlaine's erotic poems is printed on Vélin de Rives paper, and is splendidly illustrated with 13 in-text b/w illustrations and 12 explicitly erotic color lithographs attributed to Louis Berthommé-Saint-André. One of 25 copies for the collaborators lettered A to Z, with a suite of the plates on Japan paper, of which this is copy T. Minor shelf wear to slipcase. Glassine slightly sunned and foxed. Text in French. Slipcase and glassine in overall good+, dust-jacket, wrappers and interior in very good condition. vg. Item #38998
About the illustrator: Louis Berthommé-Saint-André was born in Barbery, France in 1905. He studied with Paul Laurens at l'École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. He exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1924-1929, he won a silver medal in 1928. His works were shown at the Salon d'Automne beginning in 1928, at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts from 1934-1936, at the Salon des Tuileries after 1935. In 1956 he began exhibiting at the Salon des Peintres Témoins de leur Temps. While he painted a wide range of subject matter, he is especially known for his paintings of attractive young women, boudoir scenes, nudes, and showgirls. In addition to painting, he illustrated works for Zola, Maupassant, and Colette. Works are in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Narbonne, France. Berthommé died in 1977.
Price: $2,250.00