DEMAISON (André). - Lot 128

DEMAISON (André). La Comédie animale. Paris: Bernard Grasset, 1930. — In-4, 220 x 170: 299 pp., (2 blank leaves at the end), printed cover. Lemon-colored morocco leather, with a mosaic design on the covers: the front cover depicts the silhouette of a figure in black morocco leather gazing at another figure, of which only the head is shown within a large silver triangle; the back cover features two theater masks in black and silver, plain spine adorned with wide gold fillets and black morocco, as well as black morocco diamonds; lemon morocco frame on the inside, trimmed with black morocco pieces at the corners, adorned with a gold triangle, and wide gold bands along the edges, dark brown moiré silk endpapers and half-leather binding, double endpapers, gilt head, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved, slipcase and case (J. Van West). First edition of the second volume of the series *La Comédie animale*. This novel tells the story of a young French settler, lost in the bush, who develops a deep affection for Julot, a chimpanzee of remarkable intelligence. Through this narrative, Demaison explores the relationships between humans and animals, as well as the consequences—whether happy or tragic—of their closeness. One of 102 copies printed on Lafuma pure-fiber vellum, reprinted in the in-4 tellière format (no. 77). A unique copy, enriched with 25 superb original watercolor drawings by the wildlife painter and sculptor Georges Lucien GUYOT (1885–1973), including 4 full-page illustrations. The drawings are unsigned, but the artist wrote by hand in the colophon: “adorned with 25 watercolor drawings by Guyot.” ” A beautiful copy in a mosaic-bound edition by the Belgian bookbinder Jules-Karl Van West. Provenance: JEP bookplate, woodcut.