The Works. Translated and Edited by Professor F. C. de Sumichrast.

GAUTIER, Théophile.

Published by New York: George D. Sproul, 1900-03

Japanese Imperial Vellum edition, number 3 of 180 sets only, printed on vellum, beautifully illustrated with hand-coloured frontispieces, and in the original luxurious uniform binding by one of the finest Parisian ateliers of the period, Trautz-Bauzonnet. Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) is best known as a staunch defender of Romanticism and as a literary critic who was in great part responsible for the formulation of l'art pour l'art, art for art's sake, the doctrine which became so essential to the later production and consumption of art in all kinds of styles and traditions. His comprehensive oeuvre includes travel narratives as well as novels, plays, poems, and critical essays. 24 vols, octavo. With 24 frontispieces in two states, hand-coloured and uncoloured; and 75 plates in two states, printed on vellum and mounted on Indian paper; all with tissue guards captioned in red. Title pages printed in red and black within green fleur-de-lys border. Fleur-de-lys headpiece throughout the contents. Original fine French binding of green morocco by Trautz-Bauzonnet, spines lettered in gilt, profuse fleurs-de-lys gilt tooling throughout exteriors and on green-and-red morocco doublures, rectangular and swirling gilt frames on covers enclosing larger fleur-de-lys with red morocco onlays, board edges ruled in gilt, marbling on free endpapers and facing side of first and final blanks, top edges gilt, other edges uncut. Armorial bookplate on first blank versos of Marshall Sharples, traced as owning further fine library editions. Spines uniformly sunned to brown, otherwise a fresh, excellent set. Seller Inventory # 62905

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Works. Translated and Edited by ...
Publisher: New York: George D. Sproul, 1900-03