UZANNE (Octave). L'École des Faunes. Fantaisies muliéresques. Contes De la Vingtième Année. Bric à Brac de l'Amour. Calendar of Venus. Surprises du Coeur. Paris: Librairie contemporaine H. Floury, 1896. - Large in-8, 266 x 177: frontispiece, VIII, 300 pp, (2 ff.), printed cover. Orange half-maroquin with corners, gilt fillets, smooth spine decorated, gilt head, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (Bretault). First collective edition of 700 copies, bringing together Bric à Brac de l'Amour, Calendrier de Vénus and Surprises du Coeur, three texts by Octave Uzanne published respectively in 1879, 1880 and 1881. It begins with an unpublished introduction by the author. The illustration features a frontispiece by Daniel Vierge, etched by Frédéric Massé, and handsome cameo headbands and tailpieces by Eugène Courboin. One of 660 copies on vélin satin d'Écosse, complete with the first plate of the unrestrained cover illustrated by Simonaire, printed on China paper. The copy is further enhanced by two original drawings by Eugène Courboin, the first in Indian ink of Pierrot and Arlequin receiving sweets from a young woman, signed and dated 1895 (the work went to press on August 19, 1895), the second depicting a profile portrait of Octave Uzanne in color, accompanied by the latter's autograph signature. Also included is a beautiful autograph letter signed by Eugène Courboin, 2 pages in-12, undated, addressed to a "Monsieur". It concerns watercolors of Bilitis: "The subject I treated in 'Bilitis' was most scabrous. However, I did not make a pornographic work. Pornography is made up of stupidity and coarseness. This is not the case with my watercolors. It's free, that's for sure, but I've been, I think, the exact interpreter of the text; which is what it should always be." In a postscript, he informs his correspondent that he does "a lot of cycling and not much work", and has depicted himself cycling. A fine copy in Bretault binding. Spotting to boards, wear to corners. Freckles on Simonaire's cover and a few on the false title.