Pelléas et Mélisandre : Maeterlinck symbolism seen by Carlos Schwabe

Play written by Maurice Maeterlinck and created at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in 1893, Pelléas et Mélisandre becomes an opera in 1902 under the conductor's baton of Claude Debussy. This timeless drama on the theme of virginal love and jealousy, became in a short decade the symbolist story by excellence. It is no surprise that Carlos Schwabe illustrated, in 1924 for Piazza, the story of this legendary couple. If his interpretation is more drawn from the opera  than the play, Maeterlinck, himself, considered that these illustrations were the most complete and more homogeneous.

 and for your enjoyment, the opera opening :

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• SCHWABE (Carlos) - MAETERLINCK (Maurice). Pelléas et Mélisandre. Illustrations de Carlos Schwabe. Paris, Piazza, 1924, in-8, full morocco binding by Saulnier, case. Deluxe edition with 30 original illustrations in colors by Carlos Schwabe. Limited to 950 copies. One of the 145 copies on Japan Paper with a suite in black and white of the illustrations.

The Interpretation of Le Rêve by Carlos Schwabe

Carlos Schwabe, German naturalized Switzerland, is an autodidact who, for any artistic training, has followed the school of Industrial Arts in Geneva where he learned to draw. Installed in France in 1884 where he remained until his death in 1926, Schwabe pass through the last part of the 19th century under the influence of symbolism. He works with the Sâr Peladan, an occult writer and founder of the aesthetic Rosicrucian, a movement close to the symbolism and esotericism, whose religious and social concerns correspond to his own questions. Of great sensitivity, Schwabe is an idealist whose perfectionism makes him an appreciated illustrator. His interpretation of Le Rêve, whom the first illustrated edition is published in 1892 by Flammarion, enriches the work of Zola with Japanese art and Pre-Raphaelites influences and gives the work a visionary and mystical dimension. Schwabe, busy preparing the fair of the Rosicrucians, left the achievement of 6 compositions to Lucien Métivet, who is known for his humorous cartoons.
(source : wikipedia.org)

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Schwabe (Carlos) – Zola (Emile). Le Rêve. Paris, Flammarion, s.d. [1892], in-4, bounded with two plexiglas plates which offer the original cover to vision without damage. First illustrated with 26 full-page compositions by Carlos Schwabe and 6 compositions by Lucien Métivet. One of the 30 first copies on Japan paper, signed by the editor.