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NEWCardboard folder with title label to front, 23.5 x 26.3 cm, containing 12 hand-coloured soft-ground etchings by André Collot, unbound, in a paper folder with pink lettering and vignette engraved on wood, with a title-page in black: JEUNESSE | 12 VERNIS MOUS COLORIÉS | tires à exemplaires | réservés aux Amis de l’Artiste | 1933 || in a frame. First edition, limited to 60 copies. Dutel 1920-70: 1786. There is another copy of the same without the cardboard folder SVE-0469.2021. -
NEWSoftcover, 240 x 190 mm, green velvet paper French flapped wrappers with a silver vignette of Rops’ sphynx, in half of double-slipcase, pp. [1-8] 9-76 [8], i.e. 42 leaves plus 20 hand-coloured soft-ground etchings, incl. frontispiece, attributed to Louis Berthomme Saint-André. Text and plates printed on thick wove paper watermarked Arches, margines untrimmed; anonymous woodcut head- and tailpieces. Enhanced by a complete set of plates, uncoloured, in green velvet paper folder, gilt inside. Pibrac (or Pybrac) by Pierre Louÿs is "composed of 313 rhymed Alexandrine quatrains, the majority of them starting with the phrase I do not like to see. Pybrac is in the form a mockery of sixteenth-century chancellor poet Guy Du Faur, seigneur de Pibrac (French, 1528-1584), whose moralizing quatrains were the common literary fare for young French readers until the nineteenth century".honesterotica.com: Pibrac is best remembered for his own collection of poems, a set of 126 moralistic quatrains, which throughout its endless printings bestowed good advice and guidelines to proper conduct…
The English translation of Louÿs' Pibrac/Pybrac by Geoffrey Longnecker was published by Wakefield Press in 2014: https://wakefieldpress.com/products/pybrac Title-page (green and black): PIBRAC | QUATRAINS ÉROTIQUES | DE | PIERRE LOUYS | {vignette} | AUX DÉPENS D’UN AMATEUR | POUR LE PROFIT DE QUELQUES AUTRES | M. IM. XXXIII || Imprint / Limitation: Cette édition des quatrains érotiques de Pierre Louÿs, illustrée de vingt eaux-fortes originales d'un artiste inconnu, a été strictement limitée à 300 exemplaires qui ont été composés en Elzévir vieux style de corps 12 avec des caractères neufs. Ils ont tous été tirés sur grand vélin d'Arches à la forme et comportent tous un état avec remarque des 20 planches, tiré en noir. Justification du tirage: 20 exemplaires sur grand vélin d'Arches à la forme, numérotés de 1 à 20, auxquels il a été ajouté en plus des états avec remarque des 20 cuivres, 1 des aquarelles ayant servi à l'illustration, 1 croquis original et 1 cuivre encré. 280 exemplaires sur grand vélin d'Arches à la forme, numérotés de 21 à 300, comprenant tous les états avec remarque. Il a été tiré en outre 8 exemplaires sur Arches, numérotés en chiffres romains de I à VIII, destinés aux collaborateurs de l'ouvrage. Pour authentifier la présente édition, l'artiste et l'éditeur apposeront sur cette justification un cachet en garantissant l'originalité. Cet exemplaire porte le No 290. Colophon: La présente édition a été achevée d'imprimer à Paris le trente et un janvier mil neuf cent trente-quatre par deux imprimeurs amis des belles éditions. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 2198. Collaborators: Pierre Louÿs (French, 1870 – 1925) – author. Louis Berthomme Saint-André (French, 1905 – 1977) – artist. Edition attributed to the bookseller Robert Télin. -
NEWSoftcover, 228 x 155 mm, embossed geometrical diaper pink French flapped wrappers with black and orange lettering to front; collated 8vo: 1-108, i.e. 80 leaves, pp.: [4] [1-4] 5-152 [4], plus 12 colour plates; woodcut t.p. vignette, head- and tailpieces in sanguine. Text printed on wove paper watermarked Marais, untrimmed, some leaves uncut; colour illustrations produced by half-tone relief photo reproduction technique and printed on thinner paper without a watermark. Colouring is most probably made by hand. Besides the presence of the platemarks, micro-photo reveals clear signs of the half-tone relief photomechanical reproduction method:
Title-page (red and black): SPADDY | COLETTE | OU | LES AMUSEMENTS DE BON TON | ROMAN | {vignette} | A SAINT – CLOUD | AU TEMPLE DE CYTHÈRE ||
Limitation: CE ROMAN, EDITÉ POUR DES AMATEURS ET | NON MIS DANS LE COMMERCE, A ETÉ TIRÉ | A 250 EXEMPLAIRES, SUR VELIN PUR FIL | DU MARAIS, NUMÉROTÉS A LA PRESSE. | Cet exemplaire porte le No 49
Catalogue Raisonné: Dutel III № 1254: second edition with reproduction plates, published in 1939. The 1st edition with the original plates after Bécat was published in c. 1938.
Honesterotica.com:
Colette, ou les amusements de bon ton (Colette, Good Time Amusements) was an important early commission from Bécat by the master clandestine publisher Maurice Duflou, to complement a text bordering on the outrageous by Johannès Gros…
Contributors: Spaddy [Johannès Gros] (French, 18.. – 1937) – author Maurice Duflou (French, 1885 – 1947) – publisher Paul-Émile Bécat (French, 1885 – 1960) – artist -
NEWSoftcover volume 200 x 145 mm, in a slipcase, unbound, in French wrappers, sanguine lettering on cream paper, block printed on wove paper with watermark “Marais”, collated 8vo, pp.: [1-6] 7-114 [6], 60 leaves, first and last leaves blank; illustrated with 20 etchings, incl. vignette on front wrapper, two head- and two tailpieces, printed in sanguine; etching on t.p., similar to the one on the front wrapper, printed in black. Limited edition of 250 copies, this is copy № 24. Front wrapper and title-page: in a double frame A de M. | GAMIANI | {vignette} || Colophon: CE LIVRE | IMPRIMÉ AUX DÉPENS | D'UN GROUP D'AMATEURS | SUR PAPIER CHIFFON | A ÉTÉ TIRE | A DEUX CENT CINQUANTE EXEMPLAIRES | LA VENTE AU PUBLIC | EN EST RIGOUREUSEMENT INTERDITE | EXEMPLAIRE N°24 || [This book is printed at the expense of a group of amateurs on rag paper in two hundred and fifty copies; sale to the public is strictly prohibited]. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 1649. Alfred de Musset (French, 1810 – 1857) – author. -
NEWHardcover volume, 297 x 256 x 40 mm, glossy pictorial boards, pp. [1-8] 9-428 [4], profusely illustrated, text in French. F.I.N.A.L.E. stands for Foundation Internationale d’Arts et Litératures Érotiques (Foundation of Erotic Arts and Literatures, established on December 12, 1996 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Title-page: éros, | indéfiniment | Collections F.I.N.A.L.E. | { HumuS, publisher’s device} || -
NEWHardcover volume, 290 x 225 mm, bound in scarlet velveteen with gilt lettering to front and spine, gilt vignette and lettering to back; pp.: [1-8] 9-204 [4], profusely illustrated; text in French and English. ISBN : 2-940127-37-9. Title-page (yellow on red paper): EROS SECRET | OBJETS EROTIQUES A TRANSFORMATION | EROTIC TRANSFORMATION OBJECTS | Photographies et chorégraphie : Véronique Willemin | Photographer and choreography || “The ensemble of 150 objects presented belongs to one single collector. The manner in which the author met him at the airport of Larnaca, then on a yacht in the Mediterranean sea, resembles more a novel by Gérard de Villiers than the preface of a curator but has its own touch of spice” [Art of the day Weekly]. -
NEWSoftcover, French flapped pictorial wrappers, 240 x 160 mm, translated title: Rape at the boarding school, pp. [1-6] 7-164 [4], 40 black and white illustrations by Garcini. Title-page: D’après un texte de | CERKAN DE SARDAN | VIOL | AU PENSIONNAT | illustrations de | GARCINI || -
NEWBound in full-colour pictorial wrappers with French flaps, 250 x 190 x 35 mm, 1,311 g by weight, profusely illustrated volume, pp. [1-4] 5-427 [5], 216 leaves total. Title-page: {vignette} | EROS BACCHUS | L'amour et le vin | {publisher's device} || Exhibition at Château Musée du vin et de la vigne, à Aigle, du 24 mai 2014 au 28 février 2015. Text by Michel Froidevaux. Original description : Depuis l'apparition du vignoble, l'amour et le vin sont inséparables. Tantôt boisson des dieux, tantôt breuvage des poètes, le vin a la vertu de rapprocher les êtres. De la riche mythologie antique - Dionysos et Bacchus - aux fêtes des confréries contemporaines, le vin enflamme l'imaginaire et génère de la convivialité. L'idée est de proposer un parcours ludique et culturel, badin et savant pour aller par siècles et contrées à la découverte des plaisirs du boire et des méandres du désir. Livre richement illustré d'un millier d'images (dessins, objets, cartes postales,...) avec la participation d'une quarantaine d'artistes contemporains qui ont créé spécialement une œuvre. Machine translation: Love and wine have been inseparable since the dawn of the vineyard. Sometimes the drink of the gods, sometimes the beverage of poets, wine has the virtue of bringing people together. From the rich mythology of antiquity - Dionysus and Bacchus - to contemporary brotherhood celebrations, wine fires the imagination and generates conviviality. The idea is to offer a playful and cultural journey, both playful and learned, through centuries and lands, to discover the pleasures of drinking and the twists and turns of desire. The book is richly illustrated with some 1,000 images (drawings, objects, postcards, etc.), featuring works by some 40 contemporary artists. -
NEWSet of 30 lithographic plates printed on watermarked Van Gelder Simili Japon wove paper, loose in two rexine-backed stiff paper wrappers, 15 in each, together in rexine portfolio with gilt lettering and keyhole on front cover. According to the seller, these are facsimiles of prints/ drawings by Mario Tauzin. Scenes from the series 'Interdit aux adultes'. No publisher indicated; printed in about 1950—a limited edition. Six of these designs used to illustrate 'Bonne à tout faire' were published by Éric Losfeld in the late 1950s (LIB-3293.2024). Dimensions: sheet 320 x 420 mm; album 330 x 430 mm. Contributor: Mario Tauzin (French, 1909 – 1979) — artist -
NEWA softcover volume 18.7 x 12.1 cm, in publisher’s cream wrappers, red lettering in red and green frames to front cover, in glassine dustwrapper, uncut, untrimmed, collated in 8vo: 1-98 104, pp. [1-8] 9-151 [152 blank], plus 6 illustrations reproduced in drypoint after Mario Tauzin's lithographs from the album 'Interdit aux adultes' (see SVE-0547.2024). Front cover : BONNE | A | TOUT | FAIRE Title-page : BONNE | A | TOUT | FAIRE Stated limited edition of 900, strictly for subscribers. According to J.-P. Dutel III 1108 (p.66): published by Éric Losfeld in the late 1950s. Bonne à tout faire is a French idiom = maid-of-all-work Éric Losfeld (Belgian-French, 1922 – 1979) — publisher Mario Tauzin (French, 1909 – 1979) — artist -
Softcover volume, 19.5 x 14.3 cm, olive French flapped wrappers, glassine dust cover, printed on laid paper (Hollande), outer and bottom margins untrimmed, some pages uncut; pagination: [2] blank, [i-iv] h.t./limit., t.p./blank, v-viii, 1-196 [197] [5], total 212 pages plus frontispiece; head- and tailpieces and in-text stencil-coloured etchings after Chéripoulos. Title-page (olive and black): LE ROMAN | DE | VIOLETTE | {vignette} | A LA ROYNE DE CYTHÈRE | SODOME | 1920 || Limitation: Cet ouvrage, achevé d'imprimer le cinq Janvier Mil Neuf Cent Vingt à trois cents exemplaires dont vingt-cinq exemplaires sur Japon Impérial contenant chacun un dessin original de Chéripoulos, numérotés de un à vingt-cinq; deux cent soixante-quinze exemplaires sur papier de Hollande, numérotés de vingt-six à trois cents; en plus cinq exemplaires de collaborateurs marqués de A à E. Le présent exemplaire porte le numéro 72. Edition: Printed on the 5th of January 1920 in 305 copies (№№ 1-25 on Japon Impérial, №№ 26-300 on Hollande, A–E for collaborators). Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 2339, p. 350. Contributors: Henriette de Mannoury d'Ectot [Henriette Nicolas Le Blanc] (French 1815 – 1899) Charles Auguste Edelmann [Chéripoulos] (French, 1879 – 1950). -
Softcover, 228 x 180 mm, tan French flapped wrappers with red lettering to front[1-4, owner’s glassine dustcover, top edge trimmed, printed on thick wove paper without a watermark; pp.: ffl [1-4 h.t., t.p.] 5-154 [2 blanks] colophon to back ffl recto, plus 12 plates with hand-coloured lithographs, extraneous to collation. Pencil and pigment drawing to h.t. signed “J. D’A” with gift manual inscription “A Monsieur et Madame Chalamel [sic] ce tardif mais sincère souvenir de sympathie”, signed “J et Y D’A.” Etching bookplate to front ffl recto: “EX LIBRIS PIERRE CHALLAMEL | JE FONCE DANS LE BROUILLARD”, signed “J A M” (Jean-Adrien Mercier). The signature J. D’A stands for Jean d’Angers, while Y D’A stands for Jean-Adrien’s wife Yvonne (1902—1999), nicknamed Zizi; they married in 1927. According to J.-P. Dutel, the stated illustrator of this edition, Jean d’Angers is indeed Jean-Adrien Mercier. The text belongs to Gustav Droz and, possibly, Auguste Poulet-Malassis. Limitation: the book was printed for subscribers in 30 copies on Japon Impériale paper (№№ 1-30) and 250 copies on vélin du Marais paper (№№ 31-280). This copy bears № 123 and was presented as a gift by the artist and his wife to Pierre Challamel. Title-page (red and black): POUR SERVIR | A L'HISTOIRE | DE NOS MŒURS | UN ÉTÉ | A LA CAMPAGNE | CORRESPONDANCE DE DEUX JEUNES PARISIENNES | RECUEILLIE PAR UN AUTEUR A LA MODE | MDCCCLXVIII || Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 2546; honesterotica. Provenance: Pierre Challamel (French, 20th century) Contributors: Gustave Droz (French, 1832 – 1895) – author (presumable). Auguste Poulet-Malassis (French, 1825 – 1878) – author (presumable). Jean-Adrien Mercier (French, 1899 – 1995) – artist. Micro photo of the lithography:
Micro photo of the original drawing:
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Two volumes, 168 x 106 mm each, uniformly bound in faux mottled calf ruled in gilt, marbled endpapers. Vol. 1: 3 blank leaves of wove paper, 3 blank leaves of laid paper, half-title/blank, blank/frontispiece, ‘engraved’ t.p./blank, both printed on laid paper watermarked “ARCHES A LA | MAIN”; ‘letterpress’ t.p.,/blank, pp.: [1] 2-115 [116 blank], 3 blank leaves of laid paper, 3 blank leaves of wove paper; collated 12mo: π2 A-I6 K4; total 60 leaves plus 16 ‘engraved’ plates, incl. t.p. and frontis. Vol. 2: 3 blank leaves of wove paper, 3 blank leaves of laid paper, half-title/blank, blank/frontispiece, ‘engraved’ t.p./blank, no watermark, ‘letterpress’ t.p.,/blank, pp.: 1-77 [78 blank], 2 blank leaves of laid paper, 3 blank leaves of wove paper; collated 12mo: π2 A-F6 G3; total 41 leaves plus 24 ‘engraved’ plates, incl. t.p. and frontis. Dutel (I): A-1089, p. 325: in-8 (probably by size only, no formula suggested), pagination 115 and 77 as here, 2 frontispieces, 2 engraved titles dated 1873, “et 36 belles gravures de Binet”. Cohen-DeRicci: p. 734 bottom: in-12, no pagination, no formula. "Thérèse" was offered by a French seller user-75d14f4 on the online auction platform CATAWIKI in December 2021. The seller's description of this two-volume set was: "Re-edition, the date of which I was unable to determine. (London, no name, 1782) 2 duodecimo volumes of 115 and 77 pp., very lovely marbled sheepskin pastiche bindings, gilded triple fillets, adorned spines, black title labels. This classic of 18th-century clandestine erotica was written in 1748 by an author who has remained anonymous, attributed at the time to Montigny, which led to his internment in the Bastille. It is now attributed to the Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens. Edition illustrated with 37 very unrestrained figures, engraved in intaglio after Borel, unsigned." I should have paid more attention to the first phase, about the re-edition, but I didn't. After a few bidding rounds, I won the book when the hammer price was 2,200 Euros. On the 28th of December, 2021, I paid for this little beauty $2,760. The book arrived a few days later. The paper's quality and texture, the watermark, the absence of the platemark, and the lack of embossing on the back (text and plates) made me suspect it was a fake. The pages were absolutely flat to the touch! I established clear evidence of a high-resolution 'xerox' copy using Celestron Micro Capture Pro micro-photography. I wrote to the seller and the auction platform, explaining my doubts regarding its authenticity. To prove my point, I include a few micro photos of the "Thérèse" and some books printed at the end of the 18th century. I explained why I considered it a fake and requested a return/refund. After two months of email exchanges, the seller and the platform refused to pay me back. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the purchase. I still have the book. To celebrate my carelessness, I included it in my library to warn fellow book collectors about buying from an unknown dealer via certain online auction platforms. Ref.: Bamber Gascoigne. How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink. — Thames and Hudson, 1995.
Books used for comparison: [LIB-2743.2021] Restif de la Bretonne. Les parisiennes, ou XL caractères généraux pris dans les mœurs actuelles, propres à servir à l’instruction des personnes-du-sexe / 4 vol. — Neufchâtel, et Paris: Guillot, 1787. [LIB-3027.2022] [Héliodore d’Emèse]. Amours de Théagènes et Chariclée: Histoire Éthiopique / 2 vol. — Londres [i.e. Paris]: [s.n.], 1743. [LIB-3252.2023] [Nicolas Chorier.] Le Meursius françois, ou entretiens galans d’Aloysia, orné de figures. — Cythere [i.e. Paris: Cazin], 1782. Below is a Xerox copy for comparison.Thérèse philosophe, 1783.
Late 18th century books
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Hardcover, 333 x 247 mm, black cloth with gilt facsimile to front board and gilt lettering to spine, aubergine dust jacket with white lettering and red facsimile over black panel to front and back, crimson endpapers, laid paper, unpaginated; pp.: [4] h.t./blank, t.p./imprint, [2] text by John Hollander, 61 leaves of plates; originally published in 1969 by Rhinoceros Press, New York, as a limited-edition portfolio with slipcase. Title-page: Fornicon | (in frame) BY TOMI UNGERER | GROVE PRESS NEW YORK || Jean-Thomas [Tomi] Ungerer (French,1931 – 2019) John Hollander (American, 1929 – 2013) -
Graphite on wove paper, 217 x 284 mm, black ink stamp to verso: “Prof O. R. Schatz | Wien II, Gr. Mohreng 3b | Tel.: 55 82 566”. Unsigned, attributed to Otto Rudolf Schatz (Austrian, 1900 – 1961). -
Watercolour on wove paper, 243 x 161 mm, black ink stamp to verso: “Nachlaß O R SCHATS”. Attributed to Otto Rudolf Schatz (Austrian, 1900 – 1961). -
Drawing on both sides; Pen and wash, india ink, gouache, on cardboard, 225 x 140 mm, black ink stamp to verso: “Nachlaß O R SCHATS”, remnants of hinges. Attributed to Otto Rudolf Schatz (Austrian, 1900 – 1961). -
Watercolour on laid paper, 198 x 225 mm, signed or stamped in orange ink “ORS” to recto [Otto Rudolf Schatz (Austrian, 1900 – 1961)]; black ink stamp: “Nachlaß O R SCHATS”, pencil “ss” in the bottom left corner, and remnants of a hinge on the upper right to verso.
