IACOVLEFF (Alexandre). - Lot 148

IACOVLEFF (Alexandre). Drawings and Paintings from Africa. Paris: Jules Meynial, 1927. — Folio, 374 x 270: (17 leaves, first and last blank), 49 plates. Havana-colored half-maroquin with Bradel corners, blind-stamped fillets, smooth spine, gilt head, slipcase in full Marrakech filali, with ties of the same leather (contemporary binding, publisher’s slipcase). First edition published under the direction of Lucien Vogel, featuring notes and travel drawings by the Russian painter and illustrator Alexandre IACOVLEFF (1887–1938) during the Citroën Central Africa Expedition, corresponding to the second Haardt mission, Audouin-Dubreuil. The printed text is framed on each page by reproductions of Iacovleff’s drawings; it is followed by 49 color plates, numbered 1 through 50—with the first plate counting as two—featuring reproductions of paintings on mounted paper and drawings directly on the sheet. These drawings depict scenes of daily life, landscapes, portraits, as well as depictions of animals from the various countries traversed by the mission: Mali, Beni-Abbès, Niger, Chad, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Madagascar. One of 1,000 deluxe copies in which the travel notes were printed on Madagascar-Lafuma paper and the plates on pure Lafuma rag vellum. A fine copy in a binding from the period or slightly later, but with the publisher’s original slipcase. It is accompanied by the publication brochure, in loose sheets, in the same format as the book. Spine faded, with a few small scratches. Scuffing on the slipcase; two ties are missing. Provenance: Neva and Guy Littell, with bookplate. Guy Littell was the president of the R.R. Donnelley company, which may have produced the binding for this copy. - Francis Kettaneh (1897–1976), with bookplate.