A vau-l'eau
Paris: George Courville, 1933. First Illustrated Edition. 4to, 11 1/4 x 9 inches (286 x 230 mm); 118, (4) pp; on vélin d'Arches loose quires (as issued), a few uncut. Etched and drypoint portrait frontispiece, title vignette, 9 full page illustrations, 9 in-text illustrations by E. Chahine; 19 etchings and drypoints in all. Original wrappers with intact glassine covers, red cloth chemise and slipcase seeded with small gold flower pint. The slipcase is a bit worn on the corners; interiors are clean, with some foxing mainly on first and last leaves.
Monogrammed "GC" in ink by the publisher on the colophon, and numbered 67 (of 200 printed)
[Carteret IV, p.210; BNF32267075].
This Parisian novel by Huysmans allows the engraver to give his measure of the Parisian landscape with his accomplished lyrical technique: the Quai Saint-Michel, Place Saint-Sulpice, Le Pont-Neuf, L'Omnibus, Girls and marlou and the exquisite façade of the old restaurant placed in vignette on the title page.
À vau-l'eau (English: With the Flow) is a novella by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848 – 1907) first published in Brussels in 1882.
The work tells the story of Jean Folantin, a downtrodden Parisian civil service clerk whose quest for even a modicum of happiness or material comfort always ends in failure. The book chronicles Folantin's everyday disappointments, and at the end of the novella, Folantin pessimistically resigns himself to give up hope and "go with the flow." À vau-l'eau is a key work in Huysmans' literary development. It is the last book written in the author's early Naturalist style, with its unflinching depiction of sordid everyday reality, but several features point the way forward to the radical departure marked by Huysmans' next, and most famous novel, À rebours.
EDGAR CHAHINE (1874-1947) was a French artist and engraver of Armenian descent who studied in Italy before moving to Paris. In 1900, his prints earned him a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.
Condition: Near fine.
Item number: 1935
Price: $1,000.00
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