HISTOIRE D'UN MERLE BLANC. [STORY OF A WHITE BLACKBIRD]

Paris: Librairie L. Conquet, L. Carteret et Cie, successor, 1904. ONE OF 200 COPIES of the text, printed on Marais vellum paper (this unnumbered copy printed for René Descamps-Scrive); COPY "L. C." OF 30 COPIES of the extra suite of plates, designated for Léopold Carteret. 270 x 175 mm. (10 1/2 x 7"). 2 p.l., 68, [2] pp.
LOVELY CREAM-COLORED CRUSHED MOROCCO, INLAID AND GILT, BY G. MERCIER (stamp-signed G. Mercier S[uccesseu]r. de son père and dated 1911), covers bordered by inlaid olive green morocco band enclosed by multiple gilt rules, inner frame of gilt and inlaid floral vine with 31 inlaid pink morocco blooms, 58 pink buds, and multiple green leaves, raised bands, spine compartments with similar border and inlaid floral centerpiece, gilt titling, SUPERB INCISED LEATHER DOUBLURES signed by Hiard, WITH MODELLED AND HAND-PAINTED SCENES showing two birds on branches of berries (front) and the empty branches without the birds (rear), iridescent bronze watered silk endleaves, marbled flyleaves, all edges gilt. In velvet-lined chemise trimmed with green morocco and matching slipcase. With 70 illustrations by Hector Giacomelli engraved on copper by L. Boisson, including many repeated arboreal frames, and WITH A SUITE OF 29 ETCHINGS AND 29 ARTIST'S PROOFS, all signed in pencil by L. Boisson, printed on Chine and mounted on heavy paper, also with an added copper-engraved portrait of Alfred de Musset on Japon and with FOUR ORIGINAL WATERCOLORS BY GIACOMELLI (one signed, the other three with a red ink stamp of his initials). A Large Paper Copy. Carteret, Illustrés IV, 297 (this copy). ◆AN IMMACULATE COPY.

This is a lovely bibliophile's edition of de Musset's philosophical tale of an outcast blackbird, illustrated by a leading painter of birds, printed for a distinguished collector, including a bonus set of plates made for the publisher, and beautifully bound--with especially charming doublures--by one of the leading workshops in Paris. A pioneer of the Romantic movement in France, de Musset (1810-57) expresses some of his pain over his doomed affair with novelist George Sand in this examination of rejection and "otherness," narrated by a sensitive blackbird who is scorned for his white feathers. The delicate illustrations by Hector Giacomelli (1822-1904) capture both the beauty of belonging, (especially in the original watercolor frontispiece), and the melancholy of separation. These were among the artist's final works. Son and successor to Émile Mercier, Georges (1885-1939) graduated first in his class at École Éstienne institute for decorative arts before joining his father's firm; he took over the workshop on his father's death in 1910 and continued the business for the rest of his life. Flety says he knew his craft perfectly and continued the fine tradition of his father, whom Prideaux considered the best finisher of his day. Here Mercier has combined delicate inlays and gilt tooling with sculpted and painted doublures inspired by Giacomelli's illustrations. This sumptuous volume has a circular connection to two of France's most discriminating bibliophiles. First, it was issued by the bookseller, publisher, and bibliographer Leopold Carteret (1873-1948), who both produced and collected significant illustrated books. And then it was owned by René Descamps-Scrive (d. 1925), who collected beautiful bindings that typified major styles and periods, and who was known for his insistence on only acquiring volumes in perfect condition. Finally, Carteret catalogued and sold Descamps-Scrive's library after his death. In his renowned bibliography of modern illustrated books, Carteret describes this book as "a charming publication, especially on Large Paper" (as here), with "the best illustrations by the painter of birds.".