Champagne & Centre

Paris: Librairie Dorbon-Ainee. Collection of 52 offset lithographs hand-colored with watercolor. Slim 4to, original linen wrapped boards (stained at front cover, ties missing). Paris: Librairie Dorbon-Ainee, 1916. Signed and dated by the artist on the front board. Number 56 of 450 limited copies.<br/> <br/> Impressive collection of World War I military portraits and scenes in color. Complete with plates depicting various French military officers, battle scenes, and important sites in the Champagne/Centre region during WWI. Plates are unbound, with list of illustrations on paste-downs. Includes additional plate not listed. Colophon reads (in French), "This war sketchbook - the fifth in the series by the painter Lucien Jonas, reproduced by the Librarie Dorbon-Ainee, 19 Boulevard Haussmann, in Paris, was printed in 450 numbered copies including: 350 in black, 50 hand-colored, and 50 deluxe: these contain, in addition to a double series of plates, one in black, the others in color, an original sketch of the artist. This album will never be reprinted." Lucien Jonas (1880-1947) was French painter and illustrator who gained notability during the First World War. He served as an official military painter, and many of his depictions from the front lines were published in newspapers, magazines and books. OCLC 28010937<br/> <br/>