Les Eclogues de Virgile
VIRGIL. Les Eclogues de Virgile. Texte Latin et Traduction Francaise de Marc Laforgue imprimees par Harry de Kessler. With 43 woodcut engravings by Aristide Maillol, initials and title-page designed by Eric Gill. Large 4to. Loose in the original wrappers and publisher's vellum-backed folding case. Leipzig: Cranach Presse, 1926.
First Edition, one of only 250 copies printed in French. There were also editions in English and German. Joseph Blumenthal writes: "A Cranach Presse monument is, surely, the Virgil Eclogues of 1926 with woodcuts by Aristide Maillol, with a title page and initial letters by Eric Gill, a roman type cut under the direction of Emery Walker, and an italic by Edward Johnston. The paper was made by hand by Maillol's nephew at Monval near Paris. The book is a fine classical setting with harmonious relations between type, paper, and the exquisite illustrations."
Although best-known as one of the greatest sculptors of the twentieth century, Maillol was a prolific book illustrator, and the Virgil is certainly his major work in this medium. An immaculate copy without any of the foxing which mars many copies.
Ransom 163 ("landmark of the movement"). Müller-Krumbach 40 (reproducing both binding and title-page). Art of the Printed Book, p. 38 and plate 110. Artist and the Book 172. Rewald, The Woodcuts of Maillol 8-53. Evan Gill, no. 328.
Item nr. 169584
Price:
$7,500.00