The Flowers Personified; Being a Translation of Grandville's Les Fleurs Animées
by Grandville, J.J. [Jean Jacques]
- Used
- Near Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine
- Seller
-
Century City, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: R. Martin, 1847. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. 3 vols. in 1. 1st American edition (in English). Exceptionally detailed, bespoke, contemporary full morocco, signed on the cover by Jill Smith, intricately inlaid, white silk moiré, framed endpapers, bearing a gilt inscription from a husband to his wife on their wedding day (Jan. 1, 1859, probably dating the binding as 1858), all edges gilt, light wear to covers, neatly rebacked, small chips to the corners of the vignette title page, a trace of foxing but printed on paper vastly superior to what was general on American books in 1847, and still near fine. 50 unprecedented engraved plates of anthropomorphic plants (simultaneously poetical and satirical) dressed in flower and leaf enhanced French couture of the day, when seamstresses were independent, hired individually and came to the customer. The 50 plates are professionally and, in this copy, artistically, hand colored (the publisher's choice of the painters he employed varies from copy to copy), with 2 additional botanical plates in black and white, all as called for and as issued. Complete with the errata, the contents, the Modern Botany for Ladies, The Cultivation of Flowers (Ladies Horticulture), and the Supplement to Ladies Botany. The book is a famed one, the binding on this copy is an additional beautification. It's the quality sometimes seen on French editions of Grandville's works but not encountered on his translations into English. And for a mid-century binding on an American book, it's extraordinary. Collation: 385pp. + 152p., 8p. In these illustrations, Grandville followed in the steps of the likes of Bosch, Bruegel, and Goya as ancestors in the first hazy light before sunrise, of what became the grotesque in surrealism, more evident (to me) in the 2nd of the 3 plates opposite page 136, the one opposite page 230, the one opposite page 252, and that opposite page 261. And these were 18 years before Tenniel's assault on reality in Alice in Wonderland, and 70 years before surrealism was named, when it hatched out of Dada in the 1920s. Grandville's other major works, (including The Animals and Another World) combined with this one to express the varieties and possibilities of the concept and marked him as an inventive genius without peer in his time.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Biblioctopus (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 988
- Title
- The Flowers Personified; Being a Translation of Grandville's Les Fleurs Animées
- Author
- Grandville, J.J. [Jean Jacques]
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- R. Martin
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1847
- Keywords
- sf2024
Terms of Sale
Biblioctopus
*Every item is guaranteed to be genuine, as described, and way cool, regardless of vintage, but all manuscripts fashioned by the living are particularly burdened with, and isolated by, specific and uneditable disclaimers of warranty.
*Everything is deemed to be sold on approval, and may be returned, with notice, within 8 days, for any reason, or no reason, for a full refund. Everything continues to be the lawful property of Biblioctopus until it is wholly paid.
About the Seller
Biblioctopus
Biblio member since 2017
Century City, California
About Biblioctopus
Biblioctopus sells first editions of the classics of fiction, high spots in history, science, and historical ephemera
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Vignette
- A decorative design or illustration placed at the beginning or end of a ...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Rebacked
- having had the material covering the spine replaced. ...
- Errata
- Errata: aka Errata Slip A piece of paper either laid in to the book correcting errors found in the printed text after being...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...