Beschreibung:

Objektsbeskrivning FINE HARCOURT BINDING - ONE OF 10 COPIES FROM THE BIBLIOMANIAC EDITION. KOCK, CHARLES PAUL DE. The Works. Introduction by Jules Claretie. Translated into English by Mary Hanford Ford. Monsieur Dupont. Only Vol II. Paris, Boston, London, Printed only for Subscribers by the Frederick J. Quinby Company, 1902. Large 8vo. (247x165 mm. for the binding). Limited edition, one of 10 copies hand printed on vellum, this is number 7. Handcoloured throughout with fine initials and headpieces. Illustrated with 2 original watercolors by Albert de Ford Pitney, 2 original watercolors by Charles H. White, 1 original pen and ink drawing by Louis Meynelle. Bound by Harcourt bindery in full green crushed morocco in art-nouveau style with inlaid iris motifs consisting of different blossoms on each cover, the spine with design of a tulip in red-brown, ochre, beige and blue, surrounded by smaller gilt tulips. Inlaid doublures with iris in several colours with green central panels, maroon and blue outer panels, free end sheets of green morocco. First edition. From the famous "Bibliomaniac Edition"comprising two volumes of the 44 volume Novels, Tales, Vaudevilles, Reminiscences, and Life of Charles Paul de Kock. Called a landmark in the history of book publishing, these were published in 1902-3 by Frederick J. Quinby, founder of the Harcourt Bindery of Boston. The Bibliomaniac edition was hailed at the time as the greatest achievement in American bookbinding. Each complete Bibliomaniac set comprised 100 volumes and only ten of the complete sets were published. Made of the most costly and rare materials, each set was originally priced at $50,000. The edition is printed on vellum (and set an all-time record for printing in quantity on vellum) using hand presses, requiring invention of a special process to overcome the technical difficulty of printing on the oil-rich parchment. The illuminations by Helen Sinclair Patterson & Ella Grace Brown.