Code General des Impots Directs et Taxes Assimilees, Limited Edition

Limited edition of 800 copies this number 434. The French Tax Code with Witty Illustrations by Hemard Hemard, Joseph [1880-1961], Illustrator. Code General des Impots Directs et Taxes Assimilees. Texte Integral des Lois, Decrets, Decrets-Lois, Decret de Codification, Suivi d'un Formulaire Administratif. Paris: Editions Litteraires et Artistiques/Librairie "Le Triptyque", [1944]. x, 332 pp. Color pochoir caption and text illustrations. Quarto (9-1/4" x 6-1/4"). Illustrated stiff color wrappers bound into contemporary three-quarter sheep over marbled boards, raised bands and gilt title and ornaments to spine, top-edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Moderate rubbing to extremities, boards beginning to separate, but still secure. Light toning to interior, faint spotting to a few leaves, images vivid. $1,250. * From an edition limited to 800 copies, this number 434. Hemard presents the official text of the French Tax Code with witty, and often racy, illustrations colored (au pochoir) by E. Charpentier. It followed his Code Civil: Livre Premier, Des Personnes (1925) and Code Penal: Commentaires Images (c.1940). Hemard, a prolific artist, illustrator, designer and author, is best-known for his humorously illustrated editions of serious non-fiction books. The Code General was issued in several forms. The first 145 copies of the 800-copy edition included an original sheet of text illustrations and a sheet of their original sketches. There is also a signed and numbered edition of 160 printed on Arches paper (papier velin), 60 portfolios of the images alone, an edition of 40 non-commercial copies intended for friends and associates, (hors commerce) and a non-limited trade edition, which has fewer illustrations in color.