LESAGE (Alain René). History of Gil Blas... - Lot 437 - Ader

Lot 437
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Estimation :
400 - 500 EUR
LESAGE (Alain René). History of Gil Blas... - Lot 437 - Ader
LESAGE (Alain René). History of Gil Blas de Santillane. Paris : Paulin, 1835. - Large in-8, 256 x 172 : portrait, 972 pp. printed cover. Dark green half-maroquin with corners, spine ribbed and decorated, gilt head, untrimmed, cover preserved (late 19th century binding). One of the most beautiful romantic illustrated books, with a portrait of Gil Blas on chine as a frontispiece, and more than 450 vignettes, all wood-engraved after Jean Gigoux, whose main production it is, which allowed him to become famous. This edition is truly important in the history of the book, because more than a "renovation", as Carteret says, it gave a real "boost" to the world of publishing. It was in fact the first illustrated production of woodcuts to enjoy widespread commercial success, which prompted other booksellers to snatch up the engravers and subsequently publish the many beautiful romantic editions that we know. In addition to Gigoux's 450 or so vignettes, there are a hundred or so lettering plates that form real little paintings. Some of them are by Gigoux, but those with naturalist motifs are due to Louis Français, then a student of Gigoux, who was to become one of the most renowned illustrators of the Romantic period. A first edition copy, one of the few including the false title, the frontispiece and the title framed with a double fillet in the form of a rounded Greek. According to Carteret, it is "an essay [...] which was abandoned at the time of printing". Nice copy, enriched at the end with the Mémoire sur l'originalité du Gil Blas de Le Sage by Eugène Baret, extracted from a collection published in 1864 . The covers are partial. They have been cut at the edge of the inner frame and glued on strong laid paper. Some rare scattered foxing.
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