Peter Bichsel   Fine Books

Florian, Jean-Pierre-Claris de. Chopard, Gaston. Fables.

With 12 orig. full-page lithographs and 20 orig. lithographed vignettes in the text by Gaston Chopard. 152, (4) pp. Royal 4to. Loose quires as issued in orig. printed wrappers and half vellum chemise with title on spine. Untrimmed. In orig. cardboard slipcase. – Lausanne and Paris, Frères Gonin, 1937.

One of 115 numbered copies on Gaspard Maillol paper, signed by the publisher and the artist. Typography, book design and printing of the text by Philipp Gonin on his own press at 15, rue de Lille, Paris. The lithographs were printed by E. Desjobert, the stones destroyed after printing. Complete edition of all 110 fables by Florian. In the present work, one of the really rare ones of the Gonin press, the French artist Gaston Chopard (1883–1942) offers proof of his genius as a painter of animals. – Bodemann 437.1; Carteret IV, 163 (“édition recherchée”); Monod 4759. Not in Fabula docet. – Some foxing to untrimmed margins, otherwise fine. – Best.-Nr. 6863