FLERS (Robert de) - MUCHA (Alphonse). - Lot 69

FLERS (Robert de) - MUCHA (Alphonse). Ilsée princesse de Tripoli. Paris: H. Piazza & Cie, 1897. - In-4, 329 x 253: (6 ff. first 2 blanks), 52 pp, (2 ff.), pp. 53-94, (2 ff.), pp. 95-128, (6 ff. last 2 blanks), illustrated cover. Paperback, lined cover. First edition of this tale by Marquis Robert de Flers (1872-1927). ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NEW ART ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, AND ONE OF THE MOST EXCEPTIONAL WORKS OF ART FROM THE END OF THE 19th CENTURY, ENTIRELY ILLUSTRATED BY ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939). The edition includes an illustrated cover, 132 lithographs, the majority framing the text and some enhanced with gold and silver, 10 initials and various ornaments. Limited edition of 252 copies; this is one of 180 on Hollande vellum, specially printed for Robert de Flers, who gave it to the actress Jane Henriot (1878-1900); the author's name has been crossed out at the justification and replaced by her own. The fate of this actress was tragic, as she was the only victim of the fire at the Comédie-Française on March 8, 1900, the house to which she had been hired a year earlier. Enriched copy with an autograph card signed by writer Maurice Vaucaire (1866-1919), dated December 2, 1899, evoking Jane Henriot and her play Petit chagrin, first performed on November 13, 1899 at the Théâtre du Gymnase. The card is glued to a blank A4 sheet, along with two press articles on the death of Jane Henriot and Maurice Vaucaire, and a bookshop description of the work. A very well preserved copy, despite a small loss at the bottom of the spine and browning caused by newspaper cuts on the sheet with the book's embossed title. Provenance: Jane Henriot.