ars libri ltd.
rare and scholarly books
on the fine arts
Catalogue 130-N: Modern Art: Rarities of the Avant-Garde
ars libri ltd.
rare and scholarly books
on the fine arts
Catalogue 130-N: Modern Art: Rarities of the Avant-Garde
32
BOGZA, GEO
Poemul invectiva. Cu amprentele digitale ale autorului. 39, (1)pp. Frontis. (a halftone of the author’s fingerprints). Lrg. 8vo. Wraps. (a bit worn, front cover lossening). One of 45 numbered hors-commerce copies on Omnia paper, from the limited edition of 250 in all. This volume of erotic verse was confiscated by the authorities, and is consequently of even greater rarity than the edition size would suggest. With a thirteen-line inscription by Bogza in ink on the front flyleaf, dated 7.ii.1933. Very rare.
Bucuresti (Editura UNU), 1933. $2,000.00
Ilk K443, illus. p. 96
33
(BONNARD) Longus
Les pastorales de Longus, ou Daphnis et Chloé.... Lithographies originales de P. Bonnard. Traduction de J. Aymot.... Revue et corrigée, complétée de nouveau, refaite en grande partie par Paul-Louis Courier . x, 294, (4)pp. 151 original lithographs, printed in black, integrated with text. Lrg. 4to. Full green morocco, signed M. Callou, with a subdued art deco design of diagonal gilt fillets and inlays in black and ivory morocco, identical on both covers. A.e.g. Ivory morocco doublures. Silk end-papers. Slipcase (marbled boards, trimmed in green morocco; split at one edge). One of 200 numbered copies on uncut hollande van Gelder, watermarked 'Daphnis et Chloé,’ from the limited edition of 250. Lithography by Auguste Clot; the text printed at the Imprimerie Nationale.
The second of Bonnard's great illustrated books, following "Parallèlement" of 1900. "In 1902, Vollard published 'Daphnis et Chloé' by Longus. He may have chosen this Greek romance of the third century because it approached so nearly the tone of the modern novel. Illustrated with lithographs by Bonnard, it has been described as one of the most beautiful books published since the eighteenth century. Carefully following the text, conjuring up woodlands, harbors, and pastoral figures, Bonnard's genius portrays with lavishness and antique grace the tranquil atmosphere of the Golden Age. The quality of the printing process, attained with such success in 'Parallèlement’ lingers on in 'Daphnis et Chloé,' giving it exceptional charm and nuance" (Una Johnson). A fine copy.
Paris (Ambroise Vollard, Editeur), 1902. $16,500.00
Roger-Marx 95; Johnson 168; Ray: The Art of the French Illustrated Book 384; Chapon p. 279; The Artist and the Book 28; Rauch 22; Skira 22; Strachan p. 326; Garvey/Wick 7; Manet to Hockney 18; Wheeler p. 98; Stern 10; Bareiss 9; Villa Stuck 15; Stuttgart 9; Basel 23
34
(BONNARD) Mirbeau, Octave
La 628-E8. Croquis marginaux de Pierre Bonnard. xx, 416pp. 125 illustrations after pen and wash drawings, printed in the margins. 4to. Very fine 3/4 plum morocco gilt by Creuzevault, with colored inlays at spine; raised bands; t.e.g. Orig. dec. wraps. and backstrip bound in. One of 200 numbered copies on vélin d’Arches from the limited edition of 225 in all. Bonnard’s witty sketches depict Mirbeau’s motoring trip (in license 628-E8) through Belgium, Holland and the Rhineland; Bonnard had not gone along, but he had made his own excursions through the low countries (as well as England, Spain, Italy, and Tunisia) between 1907 and 1911. He was also greatly interested in automobiles, and was soon to own one himself, which, according to Thadée Natanson, he drove in a rather unorthodox fashion. A fine copy.
Paris (Eugène Fasquelle), 1908. $3,000.00
Terrasse 20; Skira 23; Villa Stuck 18; Talvart/Place XV.257.20B; Carteret IV.283; Mornand 292; Rewald, John: Pierre Bonnard (New York, 1948), p. 44
35
(BONNARD) Vollard, Ambroise
Sainte Monique. Illustrations de Pierre Bonnard. (2), ix, (1), 222, (6)pp. 29 lithographs and 17 etchings (including 3 tables) hors texte. 178 wood-engravings (including 37 'bois non utilisés' on 15 plates hors texte). Sm. folio. Orig. dec. wrapper with wood-engraved vignette, loose, as issued (small tears at head of backstrip). Glassine d.j. Uncut. All contents loose, as issued. One of 257 copies on vélin d'Arches, from the limited edition of 390 (including 50 copies hors commerce). "Bonnard, whom one might associate with a more pagan inspiration, interpreted this story of a saint--though treated by Vollard in a contemporary style--with touching solemnity, never lapsing into jejune sentimental piety. His lines vibrate with life. It was, in fact, the last book he illustrated and saw published in his lifetime" (Strachan). Slightest intermittent foxing; a very fine and crisp copy.
Paris (Ambroise Vollard), 1930. $5,500.00
Roger-Marx 96; Rauch 27; Skira 28; Stern 11; Erving 5; Wheeler p. 98; Basel 25; Chapon p. 281; Johnson 170; Strachan p. 56
36
(BOURGEOIS) Miller, Arthur & Bourgeois, Louise
Homely Girl, A Life. 2 vols. I: (2), 30, (4)pp. 10 plates hors texte, after drawings by Louise Bourgeois. 1 photographic plate by Inge Morath, of the collaborators. II: (2), 30, (2)pp. 8 double-page color collages by Louise Bourgeois hors texte. 4to. Cloth. Slipcase. Preferred edition, limited to 100 copies, signed in the colophon by Louise Bourgeois, Arthur Miller and Inge Morath. The text of Miller’s story is repeated verbatim in the second volume, but with passages selected by Bourgeois printed here in red. The whole finely printed in letterpress and offset lithography at the Stinehour Press.
New York (Peter Blum Edition), 1992. $375.00
37
(BRANCUSI) Fondane, Benjamin
Privelisti. Poeme, 1917-1923. [By: B. Fundoianu.] Cu un portret inedit de C. Brancusi. 106, (4)pp. Line-drawn frontis. portrait by Brancusi. Lrg. 8vo. Wraps. (worn at spine). Édition de tête: one of 24 lettered copies from the limited edition of 50 on vélin vergé, apart from the regular edition of 1000.
Bucharest (Editura "Cultura Nationala"), 1930. $3,500.00
Ilk K451, illus. p. 90
38
(BRANCUSI) Voronca, Ilarie
Plante si animale terase. Cu desene de Constantin Brancusi. 60, (4)pp. 3 full-page line-drawings by Brancusi in text. Lrg. 8vo. Wraps. Handsomely printed on cream wove stock. Unstated limited edition, estimated by Ilk at fewer than 150 copies (apart from an édition de tête of 18 numbered copies).
Though he contributed frontispiece portraits to books by James Joyce and Benjamin Fontane, this publication, a slender volume of poems ("Plants and Animals") is Brancusi’s only illustrated book. The three compositions, line drawings of great simplicity, depict a snail and birds, a playful cow, and a composition of abstract plant forms below a horizon. Made as a favor to the writer, Ilarie Voronca, they are clearly responsive to her lyrics, birds "springing like fountains to the sky" and "hovering like a forest of waves in a blue flight"; and the first of them is closely related to a well-known gouache abstraction of "Birds in Flight" in the collection of the Guggenheim Museum. Brancusi exhibited two of the drawings in the Black and White Exhibition in Bucharest in the autumn of 1929. "This unique attempt by Brancusi in the field of book illustration is a successful transfiguration of poetry. It astounded the public opinion of 1929 in Bucharest but for a few persons who understood the hieratic sense of Brancusi’s drawings, their purity and primary character. Once again the words of the sculptor are confirmed: ‘When we are no longer children we are already dead,’ and also: ‘What makes us truly live is the feeling of our permanent childhood in life’" (Brezianu). Presentation copy, with a delicate five-line inscription by the author on the half-title, in ink. A fine copy.
N.p. [Paris] (Colectia Integral), 1929. $7,000.00
Ilk K519, illus. p. 85; Brezianu, Barbu: Brancusi in Romania (Bucharesti, 1976) p. 245f.; Hultén/Dumitresco/Istrati p. 191; Jianou 1982, nos. 82-84
39
(BRAUNER) Moldov
Repertoriu. Un portret de Victor Brauner. 52, (4)pp. Frontis. portrait drawing by Brauner. Sm. 8vo. Wraps. (light wear). Edition of 213 unnumbered copies. Review copy, stamped "Servici de presa" on the front flyleaf.
Bucuresti (Editura UNU), 1935. $1,800.00
Ilk K470
40
(BRAUNER) Naum, Gellu
Culoarul somnului. Cu un desen de Victor Brauner. 65, (3)pp. Frontis. portrait by Brauner. Lrg. 8vo. Wraps. (expertly rebacked). Unstated limited edition, estimated by Ilk at circa 150 unnumbered copies. Very rare.
Bucuresti, 1944. $1,800.00
Ilk K474
41
(BRAUNER) Naum, Gellu
Libertatea de a Dormi pe o Frunte. 58, (4)pp. 1 tipped-in full-page plate, by Brauner. Lrg. 8vo. Wraps., (without the wallpaper dust jacket cited by Ilk). Signatures loose, as issued. One of 86 unnumbered copies on vélin, from the limited edition of 96 in all. The Brauner illustration is one of his most famous erotic drawings, a design for "Adrianopole." Light wear to wraps. Presentation copy, inscribed in red ink by the author on the half-title, 1937. Very rare.
Bucuresti (Tip. "Steaua artei"), 1937. $3,500.00
Ilk K472, illus. p. 101