PERRAULT, Charles. Contes, Édition du Tercentenaire. Illustrée de onze gravures sur cuivre [...onze lithographies; ...onze gravures sur bois]. Paris: Au Sans Pareil, René Hilsum & Cie., 1928.

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PERRAULT, Charles. Contes, Édition du Tercentenaire. Illustrée de onze gravures sur cuivre [...onze lithographies; ...onze gravures sur bois]. Paris: Au Sans Pareil, René Hilsum & Cie., 1928.

4° (276 x 220mm). Half-title, first title in red and black, ruled in red throughout. 33 plates by 33 artists, including J.-E.Laboureur, Charles Laborde, Marie Laurencin, J.G.Daragnes, A.Alexeieff, André Dignimont, Louis Jou, Constant le Breton and Frans Masereel, the wood-engravings in two-colours or (in one case) coloured by pochoir, the remainder in black-and-white. Extra-illustrated with 12 proofs (one signed), 7 refusé plates and the 2ll. prospectus bound at the back. (Original recipient's name erased from colophon leaf.) BINDING DESIGNED BY PAUL BONET, bound by Ferdinand Giraldon and finished by André Jeanne, between October 1929 and April 1930: light-brown crushed levant morocco, the upper cover inlaid with semi-circular inlays of irregular breadth of various shades of light-brown morocco outlined in blind and platinum, the whole appearing to form a series of concentric circles, intersected by two cones composed of curved platinum fillets and lettered in black with the titles of the ten Contes of Perrault, his name inlaid in cream morocco letters of diminishing size, one above the other within an overlaid field of variously sized stars, most gilt, some of inlaid blue morocco, the letters descending obliquely from the upper edge and intersecting the series of circles which is in part surrounded by a triple semi-circle of large dots tooled in black, small platinum roundels and gold dots, these semi-circles continued onto the spine where they meet an identical series which continues onto the lower cover, the spine lettered in gilt with author and title, blue morocco doublures with an irregular cascade of variously-sized inlaid and tooled stars and dots, appearing to issue from a regular triple semi-circle of large dots similar to those on the covers, blue watered-silk endleaves, platinum top edge, leather-lined light-brown morocco-backed and -edged chemise, the spine tooled as on the spine of the binding, morocco-edged slip-case, signed on front turn-in: Paul Bonet.

A VERY FINE ART-DECO BINDING BY PAUL BONET FOR THE TERCENTENARY EDITION OF PERRAULT'S TALES, CALLED "L'ÉDITION DES 33 GRAVEURS". The edition limited to 340 copies, this number 12 of 27 copies printed on vélin de cuve and reserved for the Amis du Sans Pareil. This copy with additional proofs and the prospectus bound-in.

Bonet considered that this binding occupied a unique position in the development of his oeuvre. In his Carnets he describes it as a relieure heureuse and adds that it was the first that was satisfactory from a technical point of view. The binding appears to have been executed for R.Marty, his main patron between 1926 and 1929, but was not completed in time to be included in Auguste Blaizot's sale of Marty's collection in 1930. Bonets Carnets 100.

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