MERIMEE (Prosper). H B by one of forty. With a stunning fron - Lot 117

MERIMEE (Prosper). H B by one of forty. With a stunning frontispiece drawn and engraved by S.P.Q.R. Eleutheropolis: l'an MLCCCLXIV de l'imposture du Nazaréen [Bruxelles, Poulet-Malassis, 1864]. In-18, Bradel green half-maroq. Title printed in red and black, pink cover cons. Third edition by H B [=Henri Beyle]. Only 25 copies of the 1850 original were printed, and the first to contain the free frontispiece, engraved by Félicien Rops, printed on Chine. ISSUE OF 140 COPIES, numbered and initialled. "It is because of the free nature of this engraving, that this reprint of Mérimée's pages on his friend Henry Beyle has been classified in the Hell of the Bibliothèque Nationale" (Pia). A FINE COPY WITH LARGE MARGINS. Pia Enfer, 601; Launay, 283