Code Civil: Livre Premier, Des Personnes, Titres V Du Mariage, VI.

Paris, 1925. In an Extraordinary binding! A Stunning Rene Kieffer Binding: Hemard's Art Deco Vision of the French Civil Code Hemard, Joseph [1880-1961], Illustrator. Code Civil: Livre Premier, Des Personnes: Titres V. Du Mariage. VI. Du Divorce. VII. De la Paternite. VIII. De l'Adoption. IX. De la Puissance Paternelle. X. De la Minorite. XI. De la Majorite. Paris: Rene Kieffer, [1925]. [vi], 126, [4] pp. Hand-colored pochoir color text illustrations. Quarto (8" x 6-1/2"). Original publisher stiff wrappers bound into a stunning red and grey checkerboard calf binding, front board features a large gilt vignette depicting a nude women dangling from the scales of justice below an elaborate laurel band, the rear a gilt crutch upon a laurel wreath, raised bands, gilt ornaments, depicting mirrors surrounded by laurel, and gilt title to spine, patterned endpapers, top-edge gilt, deckle fore and bottom edges, spine from wrappers tipped-in to rear endleaves. Light rubbing to extremities, small bookseller ticket (Rene Kieffer, Reliures d'Art) to verso of front free endpaper. Very light toning to text, somewhat heavier along fore-edges, vivid illustrations, internally clean. A remarkably well-preserved and desirable copy. $1,950. * From an edition limited to 800 copies, this is number 343. Joseph Hemard was a master of transforming dry, technical prose into vibrant works of art. In this edition, he applies his signature witty-and often irreverent-style to the official text of Articles 144 to 515 of the French Civil Code. The result is a satirical yet beautiful exploration of family law, from the complexities of divorce to the "power of the patriarch." Rene Kieffer was the preeminent Parisian binder of the 1920s, known for his bold, geometric designs that defined the Art Deco aesthetic. This specific binding, featuring a "checkerboard" calf and provocative gilt tooling, is a quintessential example of Kieffer's "Artist's Bindings." It represents a high point in the celebrated collaboration between the illustrator and the binder.…