Théophile Alexandre STEINLEN (1859-1923) - Lot 69

Théophile Alexandre STEINLEN (1859-1923) Jehan Rictus, front. 1914. Drypoint. 130 x 190 mm. Very fine proof on white vellum, dedicated "pour l'ami Delâtre" and signed in pencil. Full margins. Same subject (variant). Circa 1915. Drypoint. 160 x 205 mm. Very fine proof on "Eug. Delâtre", with engraved remark (owl with spread wings), annotated at foot in pencil "2nd state of the plate transported after the 4th state Ep. II (avant la crognure et l'aciérage)" and another proof from copper reduced to 116 x 165 mm, with further remarks (cat and portrait of Rictus), annotated at foot in pencil "10eétat - essai II". Full margins. Set of 3 p. The subject with the engraved owl as a remark appeared as a frontispiece in the first copies of J. Rictus's Le Coeur populaire (Paris: Eugène Rey, 1914). The regular edition (without remarks) appeared as the frontispiece to the regular copies of the same work.