Lot 63•
MANET (EDOUARD) POE (EDGAR ALLAN) Le Corbeau; The Raven: Poëme, traduction française de Stéphane Mallarmé avec illustrations par Edouard Manet, Paris, Richard Lesclide, 1875
11 March 2020, 13:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £31,312.50 inc. premium
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MANET (EDOUARD)
POE (EDGAR ALLAN) Le Corbeau; The Raven: Poëme, traduction française de Stéphane Mallarmé avec illustrations par Edouard Manet, PRESENTATION COPY FROM MALLARMÉ, ONE OF 240 COPIES SIGNED BY HIM AND MANET, title page in red and black, text in English and French, on holland laid paper, 6 lithographs after Manet, comprising vignette on ex-libris leaf, vignette on upper wrapper, and 4 full-size plates on papier chine, text and plates lightly spotted, plates each with one closed tear of 60mm. or less, 2 with edges strengthened on verso where slightly frayed, loose as issued within wrappers of papier parcheminé, spotted and joint crudely strengthened with tissue, short edge tears [Artist & the Book 178], folio (550 x 360mm.), Paris, Richard Lesclide, 1875
Footnotes
TRANSLATOR'S PRESENTATION COPY OF THIS LANDMARK LIVRE D'ARTISTE, inscribed on the ex-libris leaf "A Monsieur et Madame Seignobos / Amicalement / Stéphane Mallarmé." The recipients, Charles and Dinah Seignobos, had met the poet when he was a schoolteacher in Tournon in the Ardèche between 1863 and 1866; their son was one of his pupils. Charles was in local politics and during the 1870s persuaded the Minister of Public Education to give Mallarmé pay rises and paid leave.
"Generally considered to be one of the first and greatest examples of the modern French livre d'artiste", Le Corbeau was "an astonishingly modern illustrated book for 1875... Manet's bold simplifications, diagonal compositions, and opposition of tones recall his interest in Japanese prints" (British Library blog post; Artist & the Book).