Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

La Faune des Dancings [SIGNED- Unique Copy]

Auscher, Jean (Wash drawings by); Francis de Miomandre (Preface by)

Paris: Published by the author, ND (1925). Limited First edition. Hardcover. Folio (16 1/2 x 14 3/4"). Unpaginated. [8]pp (Title, Preface, Table of Contents, Limitation page), 10 leaves (Plates), 10 leaves (Suite of the plates). Original gilt-tooled full vellum, with gold lettering to spine. Marbled endpapers. Title page in red and black lettering. Jean Auscher's striking series of 10 wash drawings highlighted in pochoir render a vivid, joyful, pittoresque, and at times acerbic vision of people dancing at Parisian nightclubs in the 1920s. The ten drawings are followed by a suite of the same plates without the pochoir highlighting. Each illustration measures appr. 8 1/2 x 11", and is tipped in onto heavy cardstock. Text pages on Japan paper. One of the 50 Hors Commerce copies this being the only known HC copy printed on Japan Nacre from, a total edition of 1,178. Minor and sporadic rubbing along edges of binding. Covers slightly warped. Text in French. Binding in overall good+, interior in very good condition. g+ to vg. Item #44706

About the artist: Jean Auscher (1896-c. 1950) was a 20th century French artist, caricaturist, and illustrator. Auscher was a pupil at l’Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. His work was exhibited at Le Salon d'Automne and Le Salon des Tuileries between 1923 and 1933. His most characteristic work recorded the life "des Années Folles" in the Paris of the 1920s, including scenes in the casinos, gambling clubs and dance halls, evoking the decadence of the demi-monde. He also recorded the theatrical community with portraits of actors, some in their famous roles, such as Louis Jouvet as "Le Trouhadec indigne" and the clown Grock. His best-known work appeared in limited edition folios published by the artist himself ("La Faune des Dancings," 1925 and "Le Baccara," circa 1926). Many copies of the lithographs contained in these were heightened with watercolor. He contributed to the satirical journal "Le Rire"; he also illustrated works by Irène Némirovsky, who was rediscovered when "Suite Française" was republished in 2004. Andre Haguenauer ("Les Amertumes," 1925) and Alfred Machard ("Printemps Sexuel") provided Auscher with subject matter that was again towards the margins of conventional attitudes to sexuality. (From Wikipedia).

Price: $3,750.00