Les Douze Césars
A sumptuous private-press edition in which F.-L. Schmied visualizes Suetonius’ imperial biographies through rigorously composed wood engravings. Joseph Estève’s new French translation converses with Schmied’s decorative page architecture to form a model *livre d’artiste*. The sequence of frontispiece, twelve portraits and tail-pieces lends the text a ceremonial cadence. Printed in rich black on stout Arches wove, the monumental, almost medal-like profiles are heightened. Each copy bears Schmied’s signature at the colophon. A touchstone for Art Deco book collectors.
Quantity
Suétone
Schmied, François-Louis
Les Douze Césars
1928 | Paris | Schmied, François-Louis
An exemplary meeting of classical subject and modern form, executed with perfect control. Scarce in sheets. A keystone for any Art Deco library.
A sumptuous private-press edition in which F.-L. Schmied visualizes Suetonius’ imperial biographies through rigorously composed wood engravings. Joseph Estève’s new French translation converses with Schmied’s decorative page architecture to form a model *livre d’artiste*. The sequence of frontispiece, twelve portraits and tail-pieces lends the text a ceremonial cadence. Printed in rich black on stout Arches wove, the monumental, almost medal-like profiles are heightened. Each copy bears Schmied’s signature at the colophon. A touchstone for Art Deco book collectors.
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Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-8 (Octavo) approx. 20 × 26 cm
Edition Particulars
Copy no. 5, signed at the justification; the first 30 with a double suite of the engravings.
Print Run
175
Copy Number
n°5
Paper
vélin d’Arches
Inscription
Signed by the Illustrator
Product DETAIL
Suetonius’ biographies of the first twelve Roman emperors appear here in a lucid new French translation. Themes of power, reputation and historiography are mirrored by austere portraits and a rhythmic book architecture. Each life is heralded by a profile that condenses the ruler’s aura. Tail-pieces punctuate episodes as visual rests. Issued in sheets, the work handles like a portfolio discovered leaf by leaf. Classical monumentality meets modern restraint.
Morand, Paul · Hugo, Jean
Les Amis nouveaux
This first separate edition of *Les Amis nouveaux* combines Paul Morand’s swift, ironic prose with nine original copper drypoints by Jean Hugo. The brief novella compresses a love triangle into the tense intimacy of a single dinner. Morand’s controlled dialogue and incisive observations reveal how rivalry can unexpectedly turn into mutual understanding. Hugo accompanies the text with a refined linear vocabulary that heightens its worldly lightness and psychological ambiguity. The bistre or sanguine tones give the prints a warm, almost intimate presence on the page. As a numbered large-paper copy on vergé d’Arches, the book has considerable bibliophilic appeal.
Illustrated Book
€260
Michaux, Henri · Bettencourt, Pierre
Arriver à se réveiller
A rare first edition of Arriver à se réveiller, written by Henri Michaux in the tremulous post-war years. The text unfolds as an inward journey toward lucidity, where sleep and waking mirror each other. Printed and published by Pierre Bettencourt in his own workshop, the edition’s small run preserves the work’s intimacy. The title-page vignette, a linocut by Bettencourt, sets a spare, rhythmic visual key that amplifies Michaux’s vigilant, vulnerable tone. This copy is handsomely bound in brown morocco with balsa boards by Miguet, a tactile nod to lightness under tension. For bibliophiles, it is an exemplary union of poetry, craft, and experiment. The volume embodies the independence of the post-war small press and Michaux’s radical sensitivity.
Illustrated Book
€680
Char, Rene · Stael, Nicolas de
Arrière-histoire du poème pulvérisé
*Arrière-histoire du poème pulvérisé* is a later illustrated edition of a key text in which René Char looks back on the genesis and inner background of *Le Poème pulvérisé*. Published in 1972 by Imprimerie Union, it opens with a colour frontispiece by Nicolas de Staël. The pairing of Char and de Staël is especially charged: two post-war voices, each seeking concentration, clarity, and rupture in his own medium. This copy is one of only six hors commerce copies on Arches and is signed. The autograph presentation inscription to Doctor Marcel Zara, with poetic quotation and October 1972 dating, makes it a deeply personal copy.
