




BARBIER (GEORGE) GAUTIER (THEOPHILE) Le roman de la momie, bound in 2 vol., ONE OF 3 COPIES BOUND WITH ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY BARBIER, Paris, A. & G Mornay, 1929 (2)
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BARBIER (GEORGE)
Footnotes
COPY NUMBER ONE, EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH GEORGE BARBIER'S ORIGINAL ARTWORK FOR 13 OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS, AND SPECIALLY BOUND BY GEORGE CRETTÉ.
Théophile Gauthier's "Orientalist" novel, first published in 1857, is centred on the discovery, in the Valley of Kings, of the mummy of a female pharaoh by an Egyptologist and an aristocrat. This copy is one of three, each of which includes a third of the Barbier's fine original watercolour designs for use in the book. This volume are includes the design for the pictorial upper cover, several large illustrations, and three smaller vignettes. The binding is specially designed by Cretté (1893-1969), "one of the Ecole Estienne's most brilliant pupils.. [who] after graduating joined Marius-Michel's studio, eventually taking over a month before the master's death in 1925" (Duncan and de Bartha, Art Nouveau and Art Deco Bookbinding. The French Masterpieces 1880-1940, 1989).
Provenance: Francis Kettaneh, bookplate.