The French Bookbinders of the Eighteenth Century: None

Chicago: The Caxton Club, 1904. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. None. Translated by Mabel McIlvaine From an edition of 252 printed on handmade paper, 1 large volume in-4 (32 x 24.5 cm) of 133- (1) pages, numerous illustrations in the text and inset. Heliogravure headbands by Paul Avril. Red half-canvas publisher cardboard, gray paper covers. Rare foxing in the inner margins on a few leaves. Beautiful print on beautiful handmade rag paper. 20 inset boards of 18th century art bindings, 14 vignettes in the text (18th century bookbinders labels - Derome - Lemonnier - Etc.), 6 banners historiated in watercolor by Paul Avril reproduced in heliogravure. Printed in only 252 copies of which 243 were sold. 3 copies were printed in Japan, 2 of which were sold at the annual meeting of the members of the Caxton Club. It was delivered to the public around March 10, 1904. The price was $ 18. Each member of the Caxton Club could only subscribe in his name for one copy (but could nevertheless register for a second copy within the limit of the copies still available.) Subscriptions were payable in advance and had to be made at by Mr. Gookin, Treasurer of the Caxton Club. Very beautiful book, richly illustrated with inset plates drawn in monochrome in various colors. Some illustrations are printed on laminated skin papers, a marvel of finesse. The text by Octave Uzanne was translated into English by Miss Mabel McIllvaine. Miss Mabel McIlvaine was a librarian, historian and scholar; she took a keen interest in the history of art bookbinding. The Cary Library keeps a file which records this research and the contacts it may have had, in particular with Octave Uzanne. We learn that Octave Uzanne was planning to write a historical and documentary study of the illustration of books, from the 14th to the 17th century through the Grolier Club. This volume never saw the light of day. Spine label and cloth have deteriorated due to wear and insect damage. The pages are clean and bright, the endpapers are foxed around the glue line indicating a highly acidic glue used in the production of this volume. Oversized or heavy volume, additional shipping charges will apply. Please ask for additional photos prior to purchasing. We are happy to send additional photos. 1LR