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.

Picasso's comic book

"cries of children cries of women cries of birds cries of flowers cries of timbers and of stones cries of bricks cries of furniture of bed of chairs of curtains of pots of cats and of papers cries of odors which claw at one another cries of smoke pricking the shoulder of the cries which stew in the cauldron and of the rain of birds which inundates the sea which gnaws the bone and breaks its teeth biting the cotton wool which the sun mops up from the plate which the purse and the pocket hide in the print which the foot leaves in the rock. "

Picasso - quote from Dreams And Lies Of Franco

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• PICASSO (Pablo) . Sueno y Mentira de Franco. S.l. (Paris), s.é (chez l’auteur), s.d. (1937), in-folio, in leaves, cover. Text by Picasso in French, English and Spanish reproduce in facsimile, illustrated by 18 original engravings by Picasso, in 2 boards each including 9 engravings. Stamp signed by Picasso. One of the 850 copies on Montval laid paper. Picasso made this comic book of 18 scenes to protest against General Franco's coup d’etat.

Bertini, the hybrid

Gianni Bertini, born in 1922 in Pisa, is a painter of the abstract movement he joins in the late Fourties. His early pieces "I Gridi" (screams), provide a work around stamped letters. In 1950, Bertini focuses his work on the use of stains. The following year, with the exhibition of his work called "nuclear" art at the Numero Gallery of Florence, he takes part in one of the first demonstration of "Art Informel" in Italy. The Fifties are marked by his collaboration with the group "imaginary spaces" initiated by Pierre Restany, and numerous trips in major European cities he visits for personal exhibitions. He then goes to the U.S.A. and collaborates with the Gres Gallery in Chicago. In 1961, Sweden organizes a retrospective of his work to be resumed at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. For the occasion, the art critic, René de Solier, writes a tribute to the artist whose he describes the work made of forms, signs and things as a "new hybrid":
"'The Gianni Bertini's adventure is obvious, and without concession, based on a golden rule, or job : not to be imprisoned in a formula. Do not only depend, and independence is there, on the only post-abstract painting . "

In the early Sixties, Bertini gets close to New Realism and, in 1965, he subscribes to the first Mec'art Manifest. In 1984, a retrospective is devoted to his work at the Centre National des Arts de Paris. In 1991, he produced a cycle of works on the Gulf War : "To remember" and in 1992 a new cycle on Antonin Artaud.

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Bertini (G.) - Krea (H.). Round about Midnight. Alès, P.A.B., 1961, small in-8. First edition with an original engraving by Bertini. Limited Edition to 50 copies, justified and signed by Bertini.
• [Bertini (G.)] – Solier (René de). Bertini. Paris, s.é., 1963, in-12. Facsimile of Solier's manuscript with compositions by Bertini and published for the painter exhibition at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1963.
  

Stories of O : Réage /Crepax

Story of O, written under the pseudonym of Pauline Réage, is published in 1954 thanks to the will of Jean-Jacques Pauvert who buys the rights of this sulfurous novel in which a woman, wilingly becomes a sexual slave. Pauvert entrusts the redaction of the preface to Jean Paulhan, the first recipient of the story, and restricts the release to 600 copies. The first twenty copies on Arches paper has an original engraving by Hans Bellmer, surrealist whose work on eroticism, animated and inanimated bodies resonate with the theme of this "destruction in joy" to borrow the words of Pauline Réage .

In 1975, Guido Crepax grabs this cult novel and adapts the full text in comic books. Published to 900 copies, the book includes a double preface : by Roland Barthes and Alain Robbe-Grillet who highlights the subtleties of the two versions:
"While Pauline Réage had taken care to give us her heroine with barely perceptible signs of usury or small physical faints (all these well known "humain" details that separate Greek marble of its model) here, breasts are a bit too heavy or features, already marked by light weariness that makes it more poignant, are suddenly replaced by strong black lines without the slightest mistake, the slightest tremor, lines which delineate areas of flesh with an abstract perfection, without past, without possible lassitude, forever smooth and firm. "

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Réage (Pauline). Histoire d’O. With a preface by Jean Paulhan. Paris, Sceaux, J.J. Pauvert, 1954, in-12. First edition limited to 600 copies. This one on laid paper with the engraving of Hans Bellmer, theoretically reserved to the 20 first copies on Arches paper.
• Crepax (Guido) – Réage (Pauline). L’Histoire d’O by Guido Crepax. Introduction by Roland Barthes and Alain Robbe-Grillet. Genève/Milan, Taousinc et Franco Maria Ricci, 1975, in-folio, binding in black silk with a gold O on the cover. First illustrated edition limited to 900 copies on laid paper numbered and signed by Guido Crepax.

Diderot, Rameau's nephew

"Qu’il fasse beau, qu’il fasse laid, c’est mon habitude d’aller sur les cinq heures du soir me promener au Palais-Royal. C’est moi qu’on voit, toujours seul, rêvant sur le banc d’Argenson. Je m’entretiens avec moi-même de politique, d’amour, de goût ou de philosophie. J’abandonne mon esprit à tout son libertinage. Je le laisse maître de suivre la première idée sage ou folle qui se présente, comme on voit dans l’allée de Foy nos jeunes dissolus marcher sur les pas d’une courtisane à l’air éventé, au visage riant, à l’oeil vif, au nez retroussé, quitter celle-ci pour une autre, les attaquant toutes et ne s’attachant à aucune. Mes pensées, ce sont mes catins."

On this paragraph opens Le Neveau Rameau (Rameau's Nephew - text in french here) in which Diderot maintains a philosophical conversation between two allegorical figures of himself: He - this nephew who has a materialistic vision of life, and I - Diderot, the philosopher who wants to help humanity. The unconventional construction, the satirical dimension - Diderot scratches some famous names - explain that the manuscript does not appear in France. It is Goethe who published the book in 1805 in Germany. The first french edition dates from 1821 and appeares in a set of 22 volumes described as the first collective edition - in addition to Le Neveau Rameau, it also presents the Voyage de Hollande (Travel to Holland) in a first edition. In 1891, Georges Monval, Librairian at the Comédie-Française, finds the autograph manuscript of Diderot among other papers of the family of Angelique de Vandeul, the daughter of the philosopher. The text of this manuscript is most of the time chosen for recent editions, like the one of 1924, illustrated by Naudin (drawing reproduced above).
(Source: wikipedia.fr)

Currently, the Librairie Loliée offers:

• Diderot (Denis). Œuvres. Paris, Chez J.L. Brière, 1821, 22 volumes in-8, bounded at that time (P. Gaudreau). Ex-Libris from 'Henry William Shaw. First collective edition.
  
• Naudin (Bernard) – Diderot (Denis). Le Neveu de Rameau. based on the original manuscript published by Georges Monval. Preface by M. Louis Barthou. Illustrations by Bernard Naudin. Paris, Auguste Blaizot, 1924, fort in-4, en feuilles, broché. Exemplaire sur vélin de Rives.

The dazzling town planning of Le Corbusier

Monograph of the New Time Pavilion designed by Le Corbusier for the International exhibition "Art and Technique" of 1937, Des Canons, de s munitions ? Merci ! Des logis … S.V.P (guns, ammunition? No, thanks ! Some sojourn please...) declines the architect's theories which combine social, architectural thoughts and practical realization. Le Corbusier poses a very visionary view on the situation of Paris, he also considers a model for a cooperative village. He identifies the four functions of town planning (live - recreate - work - move) and underlines that modern town planning can no longer operate without the pair home and leisure.

Here is what he (already) said about the misery of Paris:
"Slums
... the lack of air and sunshine, agent of degeneration.
... wells for tuberculosis.
... Proof.
Luxury Slums :
... Where we also grow sickly ... the same courtyards, the same vis-à-vis, but people can recover by a long vacation.
... 33 km of H. B.M. [social housing blocks] have only perpetuate the old formulas.
... In the chaos, noise, foul air, fever, five million beings wear themselves out. "

Currently, the Librairie Loliée offers :

• Le Corbusier. Des Canons, des munitions ? Merci ! Des logis … S.V.P. Boulogne sur Seine, Éditions de l’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, 1938, in-4 oblong. First Edition.
  
• Le Corbusier. Le poème électronique. Paris, Editions de Minuit, "les Cahiers Forces Vives", 1958, First edition.

The Twenties by Geo A. Drains

Geo Drains, Belgian painter and illustrator, is best known by bibliophiles for his work published at Le Sagittaire - Simon Kra : Les Complaintes by Jules Laforgue, Le Bordel de Venise by the Marquis de Sade, decorated with scandalous and erotic illustrations that Drains signed under the pseudonym of Couperyn. Close to the young André Malraux who was working at Le Sagittaire Edition, Drains took part in creating this eccentric and bizarre universe from the very beginning 20 years, period influenced by German Expressionism which also see the birth of surrealism.

The collaboration between Alfred Jarry and Geo Drains on Gestes, published in 1920, reflects this kind of black comedy that captures the grotesque aspect of human nature. Thus, the text provocatively entitled "Beating Women" sidetracks on the use of rubber made women, "a material which unfortunately splits and "died" after three years. But there is so man "natural" women who must repair all day long! "

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Jarry (Alfred) - Drains (Géo. A.). Gestes suivis des paralipomènes d’Ubu. Paris, Éditions du Sagittaire, 1920, in-16 oblong. First edition illustrated with 7 original etchings by Geo A. Drains. Copie on Holland paper.
  

The lyrical studies of Banville

Well-acquainted with Hugo and Gautier, friend of Baudelaire who greeted his talent since the publication of his first collection, Les Cariatides, Théodore de Banville goes against realistic poetry and rejects the drift of romanticism towards an easy and weepy style. For him, the beauty of poetry comes through a ceaselessly work on language. He called, besides, his poems collections lyrical studies. Both by his themes and his obsession with the purity of verse, he became one of the leaders of Parnassianism. His impressive work - 17 collections of poetry, rhyme plays, publications in periodicals - remains a model for many french poets of the second half of the 19th century. Banville also had a decisive influence on Mallarmé, Leconte de Lisle, Verlaine, Catulle Mendès, he regularly received at home. In 1871, he even housed Rimbaud, who was initiated to poetry with the journal Le Parnasse Contemporain, and who sent him several of his poems.


The publication in 1857 of Les Odes funambulesques marked a turning point in his style, more flexible, and brought him consecration. Les Nouvelles Odes Funambulesques, published in 1869, contain the famous poem "Promenade Galante" which, for the story, was set to music by Charles Koechlin.

Currently, The librairie Loliée offers :

• Banville (Théodore de). Nouvelles Odes Funambulesques. Paris, Lemerre, 1869, in-12. First edition with a a frontispiece by Léopold Flameng. One of the 10 copies on Holland paper (with two more conditions of the frontispiece).

Les Chambres by Aragon

" Les chambres lettres déchirées
Il en reste des cris éteints le désordre d'avoir
Eté le désordre toujours d'être A partir d'un
Certain jour vivre n'est plus jamais que sur-
vivre
Plus jamais que ce désordre appelé dérisoi-
rement mémoire"

Quote from Les Chambres, poème du temps qui ne passe pas by Aragon.

Les Chambres is a late poetic collection published in 1969. Aragon goes back on one of his obsessions : time and, to quote the entire title, "le temps qui ne passe pas" (time that does not slip by). The text resounds this peculiar harmony proper to the poet who, playing with the syntax, detunes the traditional rythm of rhyme, flirts with a poised prose.
(On line reference : Aragon, la mémoire et l'excès a book by Olivier Barbarant).

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• [Man Ray] - Aragon. Les Chambres. Poème du temps qui ne passe pas. Paris, Les Editeurs Français réunis, 1969, in-12, in leaves, case. One of the 80 copies signed by Aragon and including in frontispiece, an original etching by Man Ray, numbered and signed.
  

White Manifesto by Lucio Fontana

White Manifesto : spazialismo (quotes)

"we are continuing the evolution of art"

• "The discovery of new physical forces, the mastery of matter and space gradually impose on man conditions which have never existed heretofore in history. The application of these discoveries to all the forms of life produces a modification in the nature of man."
• "We are living in the era of mechanics. Already painted and the plaster figure no longer make sense."
• "We are abandoning the use of known forms of art nd we are initiating the development of an art based on the unity of time and space. "
• "Matter, color and sound in motion are the phenomena whose simultaneous development is an integral part of the new art."
• "The new art demands the functioning of all the energies of man in creation and interpretation. The Being manifests itself integrally, with the plenitude of its vitality."

In 1966, the Apollinaire gallery in Milan republishes - translated into Italian, french, English and German - the founder text of Lucio Fontana. Printed at 2000 copies, enriched with photographic reproductions by Ugo Mulas and texts relating to the work of Fontana, the book is taking place in a period where the influence of Italian painter reaches its full dimension. The Apollinaire gallery is the cradle of New Realism, whose term itself comes from a manifesto written by Pierre Restany as part of an exhibition. Yves Klein, in 1961, sets his monochromes to the same gallery. This art movement that uses garbage, torn posters, found objects, which gives media coverage to creation can be read as an neo-dada interpretation of the new art claimed by Fontana.

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Fontana (Lucio). Manifiesto Blanco. Spazialismo. Milan, Galleria Apollinaire, 1966, in-folio, broché, case. Facsimile of the original manifesto published in 1946 in Buenos Aires and translated into Italian, French, English and allemand. Limited edition to 2000 copies and enriched with photographic reproductions by Ugo Mulas and texts relating to the work of Fontana.

Catalogue 2008

For the International Antiquarian Book Fair of Paris (18, 19 and 20 April), the librairie Loliée offers you to download the catalogue 2008 :

partie 1

partie 2

Librairie Loliée - Stand E30
Salon du Livre Ancien
Grand Palais - avenue Winston Churchill
75008 Paris.

Camille Bryen's illunations inspired by Jules Laforgue

In 1974, Camille Bryen, a subversive poet close to Dadaism and a pioneer of Tachisme, grabs the collection of Jules Laforgue L'Imitation de Notre Dame La Lune ( literally : the Impersonation of Our Lady the Moon), works on the page setting and "illune" (a made-up verb translatable by "to moon") the book with six original engravings. This special edition is dedicated to :

" Marcel Duchamp
dépassant considérable
je dédie ces illunations".

The matching between Bryen, a fan of automatic writing, and the decadent Jules Laforgue, is summarised in the introduction written by the art critic Jean-Dominique Rey :
"Between the poetry of Laforgue and his [Bryen] passes the same thread of black humour that causes the words to face new arpeggios. But one day words were not enough for Bryen. The style, relieved of the weight of language, became a furious chisel beating rock and air and plotting unusual runes for a language beyond forms. "

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Bryen (Camille) – Laforgue (Jules). L'Imitation de Notre Dame La Lune. Selon Jules Laforgue. Illunée de gravures de Camille Bryen. Paris, Jean-Pierre Ollivier, 1974, in-4, in leaves under cover, casing. Edition illustrated by 6 original engravings each signed by Camille Bryen. Limited to 172 numbered copies, this one on velum paper.

Octave Uzanne : the friend of books

Octave Uzanne (1851-1931) leaves the city of Auxerre, after classical studies, to live his passion for literature in Paris. He writes for book lovers publications then builds his own reviews (Miscellanées bibliographiques, Le Livre, Le Livre moderne, L'Art et l'Idée). He publishes new pieces, of Sade and Baudelaire among others, accompanied by bio-bibliographical references to assist in the understanding of the authors.
In 1889, he takes part in the creation of a publishing company, the "League of Contemporaries bibliophiles". He frequents the circles of Art Nouveau and Symbolism and binds especially with Jean Lorrain, Barbey d'Aurevilly, Remy de Gourmont.

He also publishes personal works : novels, fantasy books, bibliographical studies. These are illustrated editions, with a limited publication, produced in collaboration with artists such as Eugène Courboin or Félicien Rops. He also contributes to various newspapers : La Dépêche de Toulouse, Le Figaro, Le Mercure de France.
In 1886, Uzanne publishes Nos Amis Les Livres, subtitled "Causeries sur la littérature et la librairie ("Talks on literature and bookshop)." This collection, made of literary and scholar "zigzags" about books, remains a benchmark for book lovers.

(source : Wikipedia.fr)

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• UZANNE (Octave). Nos Amis les livres. Causeries sur la littérature et la librairie. Paris, Charpentier, 1886, in-12, binding (Bretault). A frontispiece by H. Manesse. One of the 5 copies on Chine paper , with five conditions of the frontispiece, plus two different conditions of the cover. Personal copie of the author, with his ex-libris.
• UZANNE (Octave). Contes de la vingtième année. Bric à Brac de L'amour - Calendrier de Vénus - Surprises du coeur. Paris, Floury, 1896, in-8. Frontispiece by Daniel Vierge and drawings in camaïeu by E. Courbouin. Limited edition to 700 copies, this one on vellum paper.

A poem like two drops of rain

"Réduites dans vos secrets
Etrangères délaissées
Mes lointaines compagnes
Aux chairs sentimentales
Belles à peine belles mais toujours belles
Plus simples que le malheur
Plus précieuses que la beauté
De vos lèvres abattues
De votre sourire effondré
Vous me confiez vos poisons
O mithridatisées

Et j'oppose à l'amour
Des images toutes faites
Au lieu d'images à faire."

Quote - Comme deux gouttes d'eau (literally "like two drops of rain")
by Paul Eluard

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Eluard (Paul). Comme Deux Gouttes d'Eau. Poème. Paris, Editions Surréalistes, 1933, thin in-12. First edition limited to 175 copies on green paper. Rare.

Sand : Story of my Life

Histoire de ma vie (Story of My life) is the main autobiographical work of George Sand. It is regarded as a work founder of the genre, with Les Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau or Les Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe by Chateaubriand. George Sand draws in the correspondence of his parents to feed family portraits. Sometimes unscrupulous with dates, she focuses on her impressions, her feelings. She militates for gender equality.

Begun in April 1847, Histoire de ma vie first appears in 138 numbers from October 1854 to August 1855. The book is published the same year in 20 volumes by the editor Victor Lecou and then, in 1856, by Levy in ten volumes in-12.

(sources : http://pichot.sylvestre.club.fr - www.evene.fr)

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Sand (George). Histoire de ma vie. Paris, Michel Lévy, 1856, 10 volumes in-12, bound in violet half-leathe (binding from the period).

Doisneau - Renault - 1988

On the occasion of an exhibition of photographs by Robert Doisneau (November 16, 1988 - January 22, 1989) was published a catalogue distinctive by its format in-12 and its unique and large case formed by two Renault red iron plates collated by five bolts. The diamond-shaped symbol of the French car company is laid on each plate with the name of the photographer. With the reproduced photographs now cults is proposed an interview in which Doisneau recalls those pictures : "Renault was for me the true beginning of my career as a photographer and the end of my youth".

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Doisneau (Robert). Renault. Paris, Hazan, 1988, in-12. Folder of red iron with a logo reproducing the one of Renault but mentioning the name of the photographer. Text and pictures by Robert Doisneau.

Pegasus (Survage)

After a post regarding Le Cheval by Tolstoy, here Pegasus, "the Source" in Greek and a traditional symbol of poetic inspiration. This book, published under the aegis of the New Parisian Circle, brings together a set of poems by Jean Cocteau selected from Renaud and Armide, Neiges, Plain-chants, Cherchez Apollon. Each poem is illustrated by the painter native to Russia Leopold Survage who builds, in ten engravings, a mighty and elegant Pegasus.

The preface, a first edition, is one of the last pieces wrote by the author. At the end of the book, one can read this poignant note: "L'idée de ce livre réunissant sous le thème de Pégase des poèmes de Jean Cocteau illustrés par Léopold Survage avait été soumise au poète et lui avait plu. Quelques jours avant sa mort il nous invita à Milly-la-Forêt pour nous remettre les textes et la préface qu'il avait spécialement écrite mais au jour de notre rendez-vous, il n'était plus là."

Currently, la librairie Loliée offers :

• Survage (Léopold) - Cocteau (Jean). Pégase. Paris, Nouveau Cercle Parisien du Livre, 1965, in-folio, casing. Limited edition to 170 copies on vellum paper. 10 orginal engravings by Survage.
  

A gentle and cubist woman by Gierlowski

A young woman has just committed suicide. Near her body, the husband wonders and relives their past.

Repeating a process used by Victor Hugo in The Last Day of a Condemned, a reference given by Dostoyevsky in the author's note of the book, A Gentle Woman refers to a drama of domestic life. The husband analyzes the facts that lead to this fateful moment when his wife decided to throw out the window. He looks again at the poor girl he married, at misunderstandings, at this day she tried to kill him, and then at the reduction of this women to the status of a submitted wife .

Polish Painter close to the Russian avant-garde and influenced by Cubism, Stefan Gierlowski offers a constructivist interpretation of this tragedy and emphasizes the isolation of the young woman in her marriage.

A Gentle Woman was also adapted into a screen movie by Robert Bresson in 1969.

Currently the Librairie Loliée offers :

Dostoievski -Gierlowski. Une Femme Douce. Traduction d'Ostoya et de G.Masson. Paris, Marcel Seheur, 1927, in-4, broché. Edition illustrated by 10 eaux-fortes etchings by Gierlowski. Limited to 301 copies. One of the first 21 copies on Japan paper.

Robbe-Grillet : Le Voyeur

Published in 1955 by les Editions de Minuit, whose Robbe-Grillet was a literary advisor for two decades, Le Voyeur recounts the journeys of a travelling salesman who crosses an island by bicycle. The book was rather coolly received by critics who went to see in this text almost without heroes and almost without a plot a mental aberration. The literary initiative pursued by Robbe-Grillet and opened two years earlier with Les Gommes, breaks with the humanistic tradition of novel. Jérôme Lindon, his publisher, get in the press kit, among others, the signatures of Roland Barthes and Maurice Blanchot who participe in make Robbe-Grillet "Pope of Nouveau Roman." The attribution of the Critics Award to Le Voyeur is the occasion of a virulent battle, at the heart of which lies the definition of literature, but also of the critical disconcerted by a problematic work .
(sources : www.universalis.fr - www.evene.fr - www.libération.fr)

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Robbe-Grillet (Alain). Le Voyeur. Paris, Editions de Minuit, 1955, in-12, binding by Alix. First Edition. One of the 25 copies on vellum, only deluxe paper.
• Robbe-Grillet (Alain). Dans le Labyrinthe. Paris, Editions de Minuit, 1959, in-12. First edition. One of the 70 copies on vellum paper.

Bengt Lindström

Bengt Lindström, born in 1925 in northern Sweden, lived in Paris for many years. He died late January in his country. Painter of modernity, close to the CoBrA movement yet independent, he leaves an intense work. His thick colored canvases evoke the roughness of nature, of human soul. "His painting, rhythmical as an immemorial ritual, bewitches with its twisted faces, his grimaces, his uneasiness. A grotesque and grin world (...) In the eighties, to deepen emotional states up to panic , framing tightens on faces. It is hard to see more than the eyes and a mouth that screams or whispers. " (In La Gazette de l'Hotel Drouot, February 2008).

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers:

• Nimier (Roger) - Lindström (Bengt). Paméla eut le tort de répéter sa phrase. Nouvelle ornée par Bengt Lindström. S.l., Association des Cahiers Roger Nimier, 1986, large in-4, blue fabric casing. First edition decorated with an original lithograph by Bengt Lindström numbered and signed. Limited edition of 165 copies on Arches paper.

Paris capitale

Paris Capitale is a tribute book in which each chapter refers to a typical place of the city. The text by André Maurois, known for his skill as storyteller, presents for each location a short scene between two characters. "Under the Arc de Triomphe" brings together a mother and her child, "Au Lapin Agile," an old writer and a bartender. For "The Eiffel Tower", Maurois improvise a friendly dialogue between an artist and an engineer. They are satisfied that the structure, yet qualified for its construction of "a carcass that dishonours Paris," remains in place.
The book includes ten full page lithographs by Maurice Utrillo, born in the Montmartre area, who gives a refreshing vision of Paris. It is Lucie Valore, his wife, who made the ornaments.

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Utrillo (Maurice) - Maurois (André). Paris Capitale. Ornements de Lucie Valore. Paris, Joseph Foret, 1955, in-4, beautiful contemporary binding representing Paris (Manuel Gérard) . 10 full-page original lithographs in colors by Maurice Utrillo and ornaments by Lucie Valore. Limited edition to 207 copies numbered and signed by the publisher. One of the 122 copies on Johannot paper.
  

Tony Johannot, "King of illustration"

Tony Johannot is a great illustration of the 19th century. In Le Voyage où il vous plaira by Alfred de Musset, his trait flirts with the fantastic and recalls his contemporary Grandville, also born in 1803. By contrast, for Mes prisons by Silvio Pellico, his style is rather classical whereas for the illustrated edition of Moliere's works , the trait is more caricatural.

Théophile Gautier sums up the talent and reputation of this generous illustrator :

« Tony Johannot est sans contredit le roi de l’illustration. Il y a quelques années, un roman, un poème ne pouvait paraitre sans une vignette sur bois signée de lui : que d’héroïnes à la taille frêle, au col de cygne, aux cheveux ruisselants, au pied imperceptible, il a confiées au papier de Chine ! Combien de truands en guenilles, de chevaliers armés de pied en cap, de tarasques écaillées et griffues, il a semé sur les couvertures beurre-frais ou jaune-serin des romans du moyen âge ; toute la poésie et toute la littérature ancienne et moderne lui ont passé par les mains : la Bible, Molière, Cervantes, Walter Scott, lord Byron, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Goethe, Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Victor Hugo, il les a tous compris. – Ses dessins figurent dans ces volumes admirables, et nul ne les trouve déplacés. – À côté de ces pages sublimes, de ces vers harmonieux, ils sont un ornement et non une tache ; ce que tant de génies divers ont rêvé, il a pu le rendre et le transporter dans son art.»
(in Portraits contemporains).

Currently, the librairie Loliée propose :

• La Fontaine (Jean de). Contes et Nouvelles. Paris, Ernest Bourdin et Cie, s.d., large in-8, full Levant binding. First illustred edition, with engravings by Tony Johannot, C. Roqueplan, Dévéria, C. Boulanger...
• Molière. Oeuvres. Paris, Chez Paulin, 1835, 2 volumes in-4, full red Levant binding (Noulhac). First illustrated edition with 800 vignettes by Tony Johannot.
• Prevost (l'Abbé). Histoire de Manon Lescaut et du chevalier des Grieux. Paris, Ernest Bourdin et Cie, s.d. (1839), large in-8, binding. 18 compositions and 90 vignettes by Tony Johannot.
  
• Janin (Jules). L'Ane mort. Paris, Ernest Bourdin, 1842, large in-8, demi-maroquin bleu à coins (Champs). First edition. Fronstispiece, 12 compositions and vignettes by Tony Johannot.
• Pellico (Silvio). Mes Prisons. Traduction de M.A. de Latour. Paris, Charpentier, 1843, large in-8, black Levant binding (R. Aussourd). First illustrated edition. Frontisipiece sur Chine, 25 engravings and vignettes par Tony Johannot.
• Musset (Alfred de) - Stahl (P.J.). Le Voyage où il vous plaira. Paris, Hetzel, 1843, large in-8, Bblue Levant binding (Aussourd). First illustrated edition. 63 engravings and vignettes par Tony Johannot.

Claude Weisbuch : the art of movement

Claude Weisbuch, born in Thionville in 1927, studies at the National School of Fine Arts in Nancy. He then is appointed as engraving's teacher at the School of Fine Arts in Saint Etienne. He begins to make a name in the late fifties by imposing a recognizable style built on the movement. In 1961, four years after his first exhibition in Paris, he receives the Annual Art Review award. He encounters an international success, notably in Japan.
The painter who likes especially the theme of the opera, theatre and equestrian universe illustrates in 1982 for The Cent-Une edition (Society of Bibliophiles Women), a text by Tolstoy, Le Cheval. The book is decorated with six original engravings characteristics of the blow and vivacity that the artist brings to his subjects.

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Weisbuch (Claude) - Tolstoï (Léon). Le Cheval. Paris, Les Cent Une, 1982. In-4, in leaves, publisher box. Édition decorated with 6 original plate engravings by Weisbuch. Limited edition to 131 copies Moulin de Larroque paper signed by the artist.
  

Kahnweiler and modern illustrated books

Henri Kahnweiler, son of a banker in Stuttgart, moves to Paris in 1902 to work for the stock market. Determined to become a paintings dealer, he frequents art shows and galleries. He meets Guillaume Apollinaire who defends a painting of Braque exhibited at the "Salon des Indépendants" in spring 1908. Kahnweiler promotes then Cubism and becomes friend with Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris and Max Jacob. In November 1908, he organizes the first exhibition of Braque and asks Apollinaire to preface the catalogue. A year later, Kahnweiler publishes the first book of the poet, L'Enchanteur Pourrissant. Since Kahnweiler is a paintings dealer, it appears quite obvious that the book must be illustrated. Apollinaire chooses André Derain. Kahnweiler thus becomes the first publisher to promote modern illustrated books.

During the war of 1914, Kahnweiler who does not want to fight for Germany, takes refuge in Switzerland, a neutral country. In Paris, his gallery is closed and its assets placed under seal. Kahnweiler returns to France in 1920 and succeeds in opening a new gallery with the complicity of his friend André Simon. In his home in Boulogne, Kahnweiler receives, with his wife, poets and painters. It's in this atmosphere that he mounts its publishing projects. Malraux, Artaud, Masson, Leiris, Juan Gris, Picasso, Max Jacob, Vlaminck... Kahnweiler stimulates collaborations. 24 volumes are published between 1920 and 1939.
With the second war, Kahnweiler, now French, must go into hiding because of his Jewish origins. He remains close to Limoges, while Louise, the sister-in-law of Michel Leiris, takes the direction of the gallery. At the end of the war, Kahnweiler takes back the gallery renamed Gallery Louise Leiris. Remaining an exemplary publisher, Kahnweiler disappears at the age of 94, leaving behind him 70 years of contemporary painting history. His memoirs are published in the form of radio interviews, under the title My galleries and my painters.

(source : 50 ans d'édition de D.-H. Khanweiler - a catalogue nby Jan Hugues, Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, 1959)

Currently, the library Loliée offers among the books published by Kahnweiler:

• Vlaminck (Maurice de). Communications. Paris, Galerie Simon, 1921, in-4. First edition. Poems illustred with 19 wood engravings. One of the 90 copies on sur Holland paper, signed by Vlaminck.
• Artaud(Antonin) - Lascaux (Elie). Tric trac du ciel. Paris, Galerie Simon, 1923, thin in-8. First edition of the first book by Antonin Artaud. Illustrated with 4 wood engravings by Elie Lascaux. One of the 100 copies on Arches paper, signed by the author and the artist.
  
• Jacob (Max) - Roger (Suzanne). La Couronne de Vulcain. Paris, Galerie Simon, 1923, in-8. A brittany tale illustrated with lithographies by Suzanne Roger. One of the first 10 copies improved of a suite of the lithographies in black on China paper.

Paul Vialar : a vision of World War I

Paul Vialar, engaged during the war of 1914-1918, recounts his experience in Le Coeur et la Boue (Heart and mud). This edition of 1921 illustrated by Louis-Robert Antral, whose style evokes the one of Hermann-Paul, underlines perfectly the darkness of this trench warfare.

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• ANTRAL (L.R.) - VIALAR (Paul). Le Cœur et la boue. Preface by Marcel Wiriath, wood engravings by Louis-Robert Antral. Paris, La Cigogne, 1921, in-8. Limited to 500 copies. One of the 12 copies on Imperial Japan paper.

Dulac's gems

"Edmond Dulac (1882-1953), colorist influenced by pre-Raphaelism, Japanese prints and Oriental miniatures, is part of a generation that contribute to the revival of illustrated books in the early twentieth century. Born in Toulouse, Dulac moved in England in 1905. Like his elder of fifteen years, Arthur Rackham, he started in the high-growth niche of luxurious illustrated books. Dulac drew from the same fairy tells. His delicate trait and his colors are perfectly rendered through the process of "simili" engraving. Up to the war, Dulac illustrated, each year, a book for the luxurious collection of the French editor Henri Piazza : illustrations reproduced on laminated paper, in a frieze framing. "

(source : http://expositions.bnf.fr - The exhibition "Il était une fois… les contes de fées" presented at Paris Galerie Mansart from 20 march to 17 june 2001).

Currently, the Librairie Loliée offers :

• Dulac (Edmond) - Khayyam (Omar). Rubaiyat. Paris, Piazza, (s.d.), in-4. 20 plate compositions in colors by Dulac.
• Dulac (Edmond) . La Princesse Badourah. Conte des Mille et Une Nuits. Paris, Piazza, 1914, in-4. 10 plate compositions in colors by Dulac. One of the 500 copies on Japan paper, signed by the artist.
  

Parler seul (Speaking alone) : A dialog between Tzara and Miro

Periodically felt out with André Breton about the role of art and literature in society, Tristan Tzara preaches, since the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, a poetry increasingly militant. He takes position, with Aragon, against fascism and, in 1937, he joins the Committee for the Defence of the Spanish culture. Under the Occupation, Tzara helps the activities of Resistance and, in 1947, he joined the Communist Party.

Established post-war in south of France, Tzara contributes to the revival of Occitan studies. Parler seul, published in 1950, reflects this period and the willingness of the author to make a "poetry in action." Rather than define a preliminary iconographic corpus, Tzara prefers to give carte blanche to the artist. The book, illustrated with 72 black & white and coloured lithographs by Joan Miro, reflects this freedom of dialogue between poetic text and icon. (sources : http://fr.encarta.msn.com - http://theses.enc.sorbonne.fr/document37.html)

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• MIRO (Joan) - Tzara (Tristan). Parler seul. Paris, Maeght, 1948, in leaves, illustrated covers, editor wrappers. First edition illustrated with 72 black and coloured lithographs by Joan Miro. Limited edition to 253 copies signed by both Miro and Tzara.

Dedicaces by Verlaine

Dédicaces is perhaps the most heterogeneous collection of poems by Paul Verlaine. It contains 4 ballads and 37 pieces dedicated to his friends. There is included in the first edition of 1890 (followed in 1894 an expanded edition) a portrait of Verlaine at the hospital. It is one of the many portraits done by F.-A. Cazals, cartoonist and close friend, during the convalescence of Verlaine to Broussais, his "sanitary prison", in which the poet, depressive, made several stays.

Despite a growing celebrity, Verlaine does not get over the remarriage of Mathilde, his wife, and is affected with not seeing his son. Between wanderings, absinthes and hospitalizations, he holds on with the help of his friends. Dédicaces is released through the intermediary of Léon Deschamps who, after the parting of Verlaine with his publisher Vanier, brings out the book at the editions of La Plume-Bibliothèque Artistique et Littéraire.


Put back in this context, Dédicaces, bouquet of sonnets offered by Verlaine to his friends, has a very moving dimension.
(source : album Verlaine - bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Gallimard - 1981)

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Verlaine (Paul). Dédicaces. Drawing by A.F. Cazals, engraved by Maurice Baud. Paris, Bibliothèque Artistique et Littéraire, 1890, in-16, bound. First edition. On of the 50 copies on Holland paper signed by the author.

Motherhood by M. Arland, illustrated by M. Chagall

"One of the first days of this year, we discovered in a village in East, Chenevière, the body of a newborn baby, of whom we could not knew if death, which took place two years ago, had been naturally. A young woman was immediately charged (...) Since I learned of the fault she was taxed with, her image did not leave me. I try to tell her story. "
This mystery opens Motherhood, a little-known text by Marcel Arland but estimated by book lovers in its edition of 1926. The volume includes 5 original engravings by Marc Chagall, entitled "Shame", "Birth", "Brawl", "Couple in bed", "Visit by the window." There are quite representative of the delicate grace of the painter, especially in the drawing of this couple of lovers seized under the duvet.


Currently, the librairie Loliée can offer :

• Chagall- Arland (Marcel). Maternité. Paris, Au Sans Pareil, 1926, in-8 . Edition illustrated with five original engravings by Marc Chagall. Copy on Lafuma paper.

Bissière and the arrival of abstract art

By the age of 18, Roger Bissière leaves his notarial studies to join, in Alger, the orientalist painter Rochegrosse. After this first experience of a year, he studies art in Paris and Bordeaux. Discharged against his will from the army in 1914, Bissière sees his career start after war : he takes part in various exhibitions, writes articles in the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau created by Le Corbusier and Ozenfant. He does his first exhibition in 1921. Appointed professor at the famous Academy of Ranson, Bissière opens in 1934 an atelier devoted to fresco and attended by some of the future members of the new school of Paris (as Alexandre Garbell, Jean Le Moal and Alfred Manessier). Very active, Bissière withdraws however in 1939 in the family's house in Lot. He ceases painting. After 1945, he makes artistic hangings made of pieces of fabric, old clothes and socks. In 1950, operated for a glaucoma, Bissière is afraid of losing the sight. He produces, during his convalescence at the island of Ré, small formats with egg paint. In 1951, the Jeanne Bucher gallery exhibits untitled paintings which tend toward an abstract landscaping.

In 1954, Bissière rediscovers oil paint and realises, always for the gallery Jeanne Bucher, the model of The Canticle to Brother Sun by Francis of Assisi. Engraved on wood by Fiorini, then printed in color, the book is release at 48 copies, all signed by Bissière and Fiorini.

In 2001, the Ides and Calendes Editions, publish a catalog of the works of Roger Bissière and, thus, render tribute to one of the the french instigator of abstract art.
(sources : wikipedia.fr, bissiere.net).

Currently, the librairie Loliée can show you:

• Bissière - Francis of Assisi. Cantique à notre frère soleil. Paris, Editions Jeanne Bucher, 1954, in-4, in leaves, cover in parchment paper, folder. 11 original wood engravings in colors by Bissière. 48 copies on Auvergne paper, signed byt the artist and the engraver.

Queneau's polyphony

Erudite with an encyclopaedic mind, Raymond Queneau was interested as well in philosophy, mathematics, as languages and anthropology. His mixed experimentation among Surrealists which reach on an exclusion, did not pleased him. Queneau tells indeed, with a satirical tone, this period in Odile (1937). After a trip to Greece of which he liked the language and his service record in Algeria where he learned Arabic, Raymond Queneau is quickly aware of the danger of leaving the literary language away from the spoken language. Bringing these two extremes becomes his literary project.

In 1933, is published his first book, Chiendent, a transposition into a "neo-french" language, both classic and playful, of Discourse on the Method by Descartes. The book won the first literary prize of Les Deux-Magots. Queneau likes to truffer his books of literary references. Published in 1947, Exercices de style (1947), a novel composed of 99 different mini-romans telling the same story, is a major success . The book is inspired by the Art of Fugue by J.S. Bach, heard at a concert with his friend Michel Leiris. In Le Cheval Troyen (1963), Queneau is inspired by the work of Swift. For Le Dimanche de la vie (1952), chronicles of the suburbs life, Queneau borrows its title to Hegel.

As a lover of science, Raymond Queneau also applies arithmetic rules to the construction of his work. With Cent Mille Milliards de Poèmes (1961), he manages a literary and editorial challenge. This book offers to the reader the opportunity to combine and compose poems responding to the classic form of regular sonnet. One hundred thousand billion is the number of possible combinations calculated by Queneau : "It is after all a kind of machine to produce poems, but in limited numbers. It is true that this number, albeit limited, provides reading for nearly two hundred million years ago (if reading 24 hours a day). "

In 1960, Queneau constitutes with François Le Lionnais, a literary research group called Oulipo (Workroom of potential literature) involving Italo Calvino, Jacques Roubaud and Georges Perec, spiritual son if ever there is one. (Sources : www.wikipedia.fr, www.republique-des-lettres.fr)

Currently, the librairie Loliée can offer :

• Monuments. Paris, Editions du Moustié, 1948, in-4, en leaves, folder from the publisher. First edition decorated with de 12 original engravings by Jean-Paul Vroom.
• Un Dimanche dans la vie. Paris, N.R.F., 1951, in-12, bradel. First editionOne of the 160 copies on velin paper.
  
• Si tu t'imagines. Paris, N.R.F., 1952, in-12. First edition. One of the first 82 copies on velin paper.
• Le Cheval Troyen. Visat, 1963, in-12 , in leaves, folder. First edition decorated with 20 original drawings by Christiane Alanore. Copie on velin paper (Arches).
  
• Les Fleurs Bleues. Paris, Gallimard, 1965, in-8. First edition. One of the 45 first copies on Holland paper.
  
• Le Vol d'Icare. Paris, Gallimard, 1968, in-8. First edition. One of the 160 copies on velin paper.
• Battre la campagne. Paris, Gallimard, 1968, in-12. One of the 105 copies on velin paper.
  
• Fendre les Flots. Paris, N.RF., [1969], in-12. First edition. One of the first 35 copie son Holland paper.
  

literature according to Gus Bofa

In 1923, Gus Bofa, illustrator of 20's and 30's, published under the leadership of his friend Roland Dorgelès who wrote the preface, a book of colored drawings : Literary and extra-literary Synthesis. In a warning, Bofa says humorously:
"This elliptical title, although it has a sense, is quite incorrect for the drawings that it announces. A more complete title would have been: Synthesis, Analysis, Exegesis, Prosthetics, Antithesis, Diathesis, Synopsis, Symbols, Parabola, Impressions, literary Expressions and Entertainment. "
Gus Bofa illustrates, in 40 printings, some of the more important names of literature : Proust, Dickens, Maupassant, Zola, etc.

Currently, the librairie Loliée can offer, for Gus Bofa's books :

• Synthèses littéraires et extra littéraires. Présentées par Roland Dorgèles. Paris, Éditions Mornay, 1923, in-8. First edition. 40 colored drawings of literature author's portraits by Gus Bofa. Copie on White Vergé paper.
• Le Cirque. Ving-quatre dessins gravés sur bois par Gus-Bofa. Préface de Pierre Mac-Orlan. Paris, Éditions de la Renaissance du Livre, s.d. [1923], in-8. 24 wood engravings by Gus-Bofa.