BOUTET (Henri). - Lot 41

BOUTET (Henri). Almanach. Deuxième [-Huitième] année. Paris: chez tous les libraires, 1887-1893. - 8 volumes in-32, 108 x 80. Paperback, illustrated covers, decorated slipcases for six volumes. Reunion of 8 of the 9 almanacs illustrated by Henri Boutet. Published from 1887 to 1895, these "elegant, graceful, feminine little almanacs, bearing witness to a very real quest for art" (Grand-Carteret) include poems and texts by Paul Bonhomme, Hippolyte Devillers, Arsène Alexandre, Georges Montorgueil, Paul Bilhaud, Maurice Guillemot, André Lemoyne, Clarine Luxe, François Fabié, Ferdinand Reiss and others. The first volumes featured 12 drypoints by Henri Boutet depicting Parisian women, the painter's favorite subject. From 1890 onwards, techniques changed, and full-page compositions were accompanied by black or colored vignettes in the text. French lithographer and pastellist Henri Boutet (1851-1919) specialized in depicting late 19th-century Parisian women. He exhibited at the Salon des humoristes, the Salon de la société des artistes français and the Salon d'automne. Director of the magazine L'Art moderne, "he has sketched more Parisiennes than croque-mitaine of little children... He sketches them all raw, the monster, in dresses, pants, shirts, sometimes less... Eleusis had its mysteries; corsets no longer have them for Henri Boutet... ". (Hippolyte Devillers). He also illustrated numerous books and contributed to L'Illustration, Paris-Artiste and La Revue artistique. Copies of the regular print run. The year 1894 is missing. Edges of 1892 slipcase faded and rubbed, last volume faded, occasional small foxing and discharges of illustrations in places. Provenance: Louis Becker, with bookplate for 1889 and 1890. From the same source: - 1886. Calendrier Parisien. Paris : Librairie L. Conquet, [1886]. - In-32, illustrated blue satin boards. Edition of 650 copies, including, in addition to the calendar, 12 sonnets by Ernest d'Hervilly and 12 original full-page drypoints by Henri Boutet (the title mentions 13, no doubt taking into account the illustration on the cardboard). Lightly soiled boards. - Petit almanach pour l'année 1893, 1894, 1895. Paris : Chez tous les libraires, 1893-1895. - 3 volumes in-32, 110 x 70: (16 ff.), illustrated cover; (32 ff.), illustrated cover; (16 ff.), illustrated cover. Paperback, filled cover, common slipcase covered with fancy paper. Complete series of this charming almanac published and illustrated by Henri Boutet. Each volume contains a calendar, pages for notes and advertisements, all embellished with color drawings of fashionable Parisiennes. Covers soiled, tomes added in blue ink to spines.