A scarce limited edition of this celebrated Belle Époque French comedy, printed on fine Hollande paper and handsomely bound in crushed morocco with all edges gilt, combining literary rarity with exceptional presentation.

Bibliographic Details

Authors: G. A. de Caillavet and Robert de Flers.
Title: Le Bois Sacré.
Place: Paris.
Publisher: Librairie Théâtrale.
Date: 1911.
Edition: Second edition.
Pagination: [vi], 215 pages.
Limitation: One of only 20 copies printed on Hollande paper, as stated in the colophon.
Binding: Contemporary half red crushed morocco over pink cloth, raised bands, gilt lettering and ruling to spine, all edges gilt.
Format: Octavo.
Size: Approximately 18.4 × 12 cm.

Condition

Very Good to Good. Light edge wear to the attractive contemporary binding. The pages display the usual age-toning, somewhat more noticeable around the margins. Overall a handsome and well-preserved copy in an elegant binding.

Please ask if you require a more detailed condition report, or examine the gallery images closely.

Description

A handsome limited Hollande paper edition of one of the best-known collaborations between Georges Armand de Caillavet and Robert de Flers, two of the most successful playwrights of the Belle Époque. Their sophisticated comedies, celebrated for sparkling dialogue, wit and elegant social satire, dominated the Parisian stage during the opening decades of the twentieth century.

Le Bois Sacré is among the authors' most admired theatrical works, exploring the intertwined worlds of artists, writers, critics and fashionable society with characteristic humour and psychological insight. Beneath its polished surface lies an affectionate yet penetrating satire on literary ambition, artistic vanity, romantic relationships and the cultural institutions of contemporary Paris.

The collaboration between De Caillavet and De Flers proved remarkably influential, producing a succession of theatrical successes that appealed equally to critics and audiences. Their plays captured the wit, sophistication and social manners of pre-First World War France, securing them a lasting place in the history of modern French theatre.

This copy possesses particular bibliographical interest as one of only twenty copies printed on fine Hollande paper, as recorded in the colophon. Such deluxe issues were intended for discerning collectors and bibliophiles, with superior paper and often receiving specially commissioned bindings. The present volume's elegant half red crushed morocco binding, combined with gilt decoration and all edges gilt, is entirely in keeping with the status of such a limited issue.

Beyond its literary significance, the volume is an attractive example of French fine bookbinding from the early twentieth century. The rich red morocco contrasts beautifully with the pink cloth sides, while the raised bands, gilt tooling and gilt edges create an unusually refined presentation that greatly exceeds the appearance of the ordinary trade edition.

Although occasionally described as possessing mildly erotic themes or undertones characteristic of Belle Époque society, the work is more accurately appreciated as a sophisticated society comedy in which romantic intrigue, artistic rivalries and fashionable Parisian life are treated with wit rather than explicitness.

Copies from the limited Hollande paper issue are encountered far less frequently than the standard edition, particularly when preserved in such an attractive contemporary binding. The combination of literary importance, limitation and fine presentation makes this an especially desirable example.

A fine acquisition for collectors of French literature, Belle Époque theatre, limited editions, fine bindings, illustrated book arts and twentieth-century Continental publishing.

Notes

The limitation to just twenty Hollande paper copies places this among the rarest issues of the work and explains the superior binding compared with ordinary copies.

An elegant bibliophile's copy that combines a distinguished literary collaboration with a particularly attractive example of early twentieth-century French craftsmanship.