VIGNY (Alfred de). Pierrette. Episode de la Vie de Sedaine, - Lot 146

VIGNY (Alfred de). Pierrette. Episode de la Vie de Sedaine, from Grandeur et Servitude Militaire. Illustrated with original watercolors (thirty-five) by E. Grivaz. S. l. n. d. (Paris, for Madame Jean Durenne), circa 1900. In-4 ff. in a cream moire folder with brocaded decoration of ribbons, flowers and foliage, pink satin inner lining and flaps, in a light blue half-maroq. folder with gold title, almond satin lining. This superb one-of-a-kind book, with its beautifully typographed, single-sided text with title and faux-title, is an episode from Servitude, chapter V: Les Enfants de Montreuil et le tailleur de pierres, printed on magnificent Whatmann paper (watermarked and dated 1897), is enriched with 35 original watercolors by Eugène Grivaz (a renowned watercolorist and genre painter, born in Geneva in 1852), a number of which are signed, in vivid, fresh colors reminiscent of those executed shortly before by Ed. de Beaumont for the famous edition of Les Contes de Perrault. They depict country scenes with girls or young women in pretty costumes, landscapes, headdresses and ribbons, a stagecoach, musical instruments or theater boxes, gastronomic subjects, and finally a portrait of Sedaine and Queen Marie-Antoinette (with a sweetheart and surmounted by the royal crown). As mentioned on the false title, all these watercolors were executed for Madame Jean Durenne. An English translation, printed on thin paper, is included opposite the French text. JOLI UNIQUE BOOK, TYPICAL 1900, with watercolors of great beauty and freshness, in attractive contemporary condition.