SEE ADDITIONAL 18 PICTURES BELOW DESCRIPTION (42 PICTURES TOTAL—SCROLL), Awesome Original Signed 1932 Limited Editions Club Leather Hardcover Book With Slipcase Titled "Batouala” By French Guyanese Writer René Maran With 6 Beautiful Full-Page Color Plates By Mexican Painter Miguel Covarrubias, Plus 90 Wonderful In-Text Line Illustrations, Signed By The Artist On The Limitation Page, Copy Number 505 Of 1500, English Translation By Alvah C. Bessie, Influential Prix Goncourt Winning Novel By First Black Author To Win The Prize, Artist’s First LEC Book, Beautifully Designed Book Inside And Out, Top-Tier Collaboration Between Author, Artist, And Publisher, New York, 13 3/8” x 8 5/8” x 3/4” 4to Quarto Or Small Folio, Zoom In Or Click On Pictures And Please Read Our Detailed Item Description Below, Please View Or Search Our Other Items Here Including Many Other Books From The Library Of This Discerning Collector—Over Three Dozen Volumes From The Limited Editions Club And The Folio Society Listed Or Soon To Be Listed, Among Many Others, Combine Items To Save On Shipping
See the additional 18 pictures we embedded below the description. This auction is for the special 1932 Limited Editions Club publication of "Batouala,” the Prix Goncourt-winning novel by French Guyanese writer René Maran (1887–1960). The book is profusely illustrated by, as well as signed by, Mexican painter Miguel Covarrubias (1904–1957), who contributed 90 great in-text line illustrations and 6 beautiful full-page color plates. The binding is blind-stamped brown leather complemented perfectly with a mottled green paper-over-board slipcase. The title and limitation pages are marked as follows: BATOUALA. A NOVEL BY RENÉ MARAN. TRANSLATED BY ALVAH C. BESSIE AND ILLUSTRATED BY MIGUEL COVARRUBIAS. NEW YORK. THE LIMITED EDITIONS CLUP. MCMXXXII. FIFTEEN HUNDRED COPIES OF THIS EDITION HAVE BEEN MADE FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB AT THE WALPOLE PRINTING OFFICE IN NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. THE TRANSLATION IS BY ALVAH C. BESSIE AND THE ILLUSTRATIONS BY MIGUEL COVARRUBIAS, WHO HERE SIGNS THIS COPY. The artist signed his full name and, presumably, judging by the matching ink, numbered the copy 505.
Of all of the Limited Editions Club books we have listed, or soon will be listing, this is perhaps our favorite. The book represents the best type of collaboration facilitated by the Limited Editions Club—one that makes a natural connection between an author and an artist who are both students of culture, and who with their individual specialties marry the visual with the cerebral in a most wonderful way. The third point of the triad, the publisher, then applied its own set of refined skills to beautifully bring the work into the third dimension, adding depth to the two-dimensional worlds brought to life by the two creators. Covarrubias does an outstanding job merging his visions with those envisioned and described by the author, and, although Maran's story needs no embellishment, the artwork is seamlessly woven into the text, punctuated by the artist's superb color plates.
The book has a total of 117 numbered pages, plus the pages comprising the front and end matter. All pages and plates are present. The book measures roughly 13 3/8” x 8 5/8” x 3/4” putting it in either the 4to tall quarto or small folio size range. The slipcase measures roughly 13 5/8” x 8 7/8” x 1 1/16”. Combined, the book and slipcase weigh roughly 2 lbs 12 oz. The text block has deckled edges at the front and bottom edges and, as is inherent in such binding, there are small bits of extra/missing paper throughout. Another nice element of the book's design is in the form of a watermark on some pages depicting the round illustration adorning the limitation page of three African men each holding a book, inspired by the early round Limited Editions Club ornament with three abstract figures holding open books. There is pencil writing at the top corners of the front and rear free endpapers: the number 600 at front, EPX over HUN with a dividing line at back. There is also a residual stain left on the front pastedown where it appears someone attempted to remove some ink writing, possibly the name and date of a previous owner though we are unable to make out what it says.
The pages have additional wear expected of a 90+ year old book including aging, dirty and/or stained areas (especially on the pastedowns and pages closer to the front and back), tanned edges, edge and corner wear, bent/dog-eared corners, curling, wrinkles, creases, scratches, and other general wear. The leather binding too has wear commensurate with age including corner and edge wear, bumps, dents, dirty and/or stained areas, scratches, scuffs, dings, fading, darkening of the spine and adjacent edges, and a dark vertical stain near the top of the fold line of the spine and front cover. And finally the slipcase too exhibits wear including banged/peeling corners and edges, small missing corner and edge pieces of the paper exterior, dents, bumps, scuffs, scratches, fading, dirty and/or stained areas throughout (especially the spine), general wear, and "shadows" of books on the side panels where other books on either side of it appear to have reduced fading (see pictures).
René Maran was an award-winning French Guyanese novelist and poet best known for this book, for which he earned the Prix Goncourt, becoming the first black author to receive the coveted French literary award. According to Maran, "Batouala” was not intended as an anticolonial work, but rather an age-old story about two men fighting over a woman. Nonetheless, the book was controversial upon its release in 1921 and subsequently banned from French colonies in 1928. Despite his original intent, Maran would from the 1920s forward become an activist in the French anticolonialist movement.
Miguel Covarrubias was a Mexican artist, art historian, and ethnologist. Aside from his accomplishments in the international art world, Covarrubias is credited as a co-discoverer of the Olmec civilization. Upon arriving in New York at the age of 19 in 1923, Covarrubias soon caught the attention of the literary and cultural elite, and before long his artwork and caricatures would frequently appear in the pages of "The New Yorker" and "Vanity Fair" among others. He found himself immersed in the Harlem jazz scene and captured the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance in work published during that period. "Batouala" would be the first of five books he illustrated for the Limited Editions Club.
This special 1932 Limited Editions Club publication of "Batouala" authored by René Maran and illustrated and signed by Miguel Covarrubias is sure to be a nice addition to your collection. We do our best to properly describe an item, but please take a close look at the pictures to assess condition (mouse over to zoom, click to enlarge). Speaking of pictures, we aim to capture images that accurately represent an item’s physical attributes such as color, condition, size, etc., but please note that an actual item may appear differently in hand than it did on screen. This is one of many great books we currently or soon will have listed from the library of this discerning collector, including, among others, over three dozen books published by The Limited Editions Club and The Folio Society. View or search all of our other items here or click here to go directly to the books category in our ebay store.
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