French title-page: PIERRE LOUYS | 16 | LES CHANSONS DE BILITIS | TRADUITES DU FRANÇAIS PAR | J. SUDRABKALNS | ILLUSTRÉES PAR | S. VIDBERGS | ÉDITION ARS RIGA ||
Latvian title-page: PJĒRS LUISS | 16 | BILITIS DZIESMAS | NO FRANČU VALODAS TULKOJIS | J. SUDRABKALNS | ILLUSTRĒJIS | S. VIDBERGS | IZDEVNIECĪBA ARS RĪGĀ ||
Author: Pierre Louÿs (French, 1870–1925)
Illustrator: Sigismunds Vidbergs (Latvian, 1890–1970)
Translator: Jānis Sudrabkalns (Latvian, 1894–1975)
Publisher (facsimile): Avots, Riga, 1990
Original edition reproduced: Izdevniecība ARS, Riga, 1928
Language: Bilingual (French and Latvian)
Medium: Wove paper; images reproduced from photomechanical process clichés (two inks: black and warm beige) after Vidbergs’s drawings
ISBN: 5-401-00585-7
Description
Softcover, 240 × 185 mm, publisher’s wrappers printed in blue with goblet device and ruled frame, lettered in French; publisher’s dustjacket printed in red with the same device and lettering in Latvian. French and Latvian letterpress title-pages; illustrated French title-page, illustrated section-title pages, two-tone initials; plates and vignettes after Vidbergs’s drawings reproduced in two inks from photomechanical blocks—total 17 plates. p. 5 — dedication MANAI DZĪVES BIEDREI (“To my life companion”) — S. VIDBERGS. Blank p. 1 bears gift hand-ink inscription: Beautiful young people | are accidents of nature, | but beautiful old people | are works of art. | Anonyme | Laimīgu un iespaidiem | bagātu 2015, Tavu | apaļu gadu! | Mīlestībā, | Inna (Wishing you a happy and impression-rich 2015, your round-number year! With love, Inna. 11 Jan. 2015).
Pagination: [1-12] 13-80, wrappers excluded; collated 8vo: [1]-58, total 40 leaves.
Note: Vidbergs’s illustrations are composed as Attic vases or their fragments. Versos of several plates carry the lines Rīgas pilsētas mākslas muzeja īpašums (Property of the Riga City Art Museum) and Latvijas Valsts mākslas muzeja īpašums (Property of the Latvian State Museum of Art), functioning as a mystification device that echoes the book’s pseudotranslation of antique verses. Rear cover with publisher’s historical note marking Vidbergs’s centenary. For the original 1928 edition, see LIB-3507.2025.
Limitation (p. 4): ŠĪ GRĀMATA IESPIESTA LATVJU KULTŪRAS | SPIESTUVĒ 1928. G. JANVĀRĪ 550 EKSEMPLĀROS, | KUŖI NUMURĒTI UN ATZĪMĒTI AR MĀKSLINIEKA | AUTOGRAFU. KLIŠEJAS IZGATAVOTAS VALSTS | PAPĪRU SPIESTUVĒ | IL A ÉTÉ TIRÉ DE CET OUVRAGE CINQ CENTS | EXEMPLAIRES NUMÉROTÉS | Reproduced manuscript: Jānis Celmiņš | № 336 | S. Vidbergs. | TOUS DROITS DE REPRODUCTION DES ILLUSTRATIONS RÉSERVÉS || This limitation is a facsimile of the 1928 ARS first edition. In the present 1990 Avots reprint, these numbers and autographs are reproduced images, not a limitation or hand-signatures of the facsimile issue.
Colophon on the back dust-jacket flap (selected): Пьер Луис | ПЕСНИ БИЛИТИС | (Факсимильное издание) | Рига «Авотс» 1990 | На латышском и французском языках | ИБ № 2582 | Pjers Luiss | BILITIS DZIESMAS | Faksimilitipa izdevums | … | ISBN 5-401-00585-7 | © Apvāka noformējums un komentārs, «Avots», 1990 | RĪGA «AVOTS» 1990 ||
Additional Information
| Collection | Erotica , Illustrated books , Library |
|---|---|
| Type / Purpose | Book |
| Period | 20 AD , Late 20th century |
| Country | Latvia |
| Language | French , Latvian |
| Media/Technique | Paper , Photomechanical , Wove paper |
| Genre | Erotica , Poetry |
| Subject | 20th century , Art Deco , Bilingual editions , Bucolic poetry , Erotic books , Erotica , Facsimiles , French poetry , Greek vase painting , Homosexual , Illustrated books , Latvia , Lesbians , Literary forgeries and mystifications , Love , Pseudotranslation , Sappho , Sex , Sexual life , Sexuality , Translations from French , Translations into Latvian |
| Creation / Publishing year | 1928 , 1990 |
| Edition | Facsimile edition , Re-print |
| Binding | Dust jacket , Original , Softcover , Wrappers |
| Location | BOX 36. |
| Acquisition year | 2025 |
