Livre de Madame by George Barbier
BARBIER, George (illus.). Livre de Madame. Paris: Maquet, 1918. Edité pour John Wanamaker.
First edition of this chic and rare lady’s almanac, published for one of the first American department stores - Wanamaker, and illustrated by George Barbier (1882-1932), the celebrated Parisian artist, costume and set designer, whose work included costumes for the Folies Bergeres and for the Ballets Russes.
The book is beautifully bound in original gilt paper-covered boards with colour-printed art-déco pictorial silk onlays to boards and spine. It is housed in its original slipcase decorated with matching silk onlays. The design features colourful exotic motifs, redolent of the Ballet Russes and the magic of the Arabian Nights, with the central female figure wearing a Turkish-style turban and harem skirt.
This almanac features a calendar for 1918; 54 blank pages for notes (17-71); a collection of poetry (75-156) with poems by Voltaire, La Fontaine, Corneille, Ronsard, Alfred de Musset, and others. The illustrations include a title-page (depicting an Eros figure) and 4 plates (portraying the four seasons) by Barbier, coloured in pochoir and by hand in greys and white; and 3 b/w lithographic plates.
16mo. 156pp. Original boards, slightly rubbed/worn to extremities, professional conservation to upper front hinge, the silk onlays bright. Aeg. Pink endpapers slightly spotted. Internally fresh and clean. The slipcase is slightly faded; with one of the side panels expertly reattached; old faint stain to spine and lower part of one of the panels; and small loss to spine.
This beautiful little book embodies the elegance and exoticism of Art Deco Paris.