LA LITHOGRAPHIE ORIGINALE EN COULEURS by MELLERIO, ANDRÉ - 1898

Paris: L'Estampe et l'Affiche, 1898. Paris: Publication de l’Estampe et l’Affiche, 1898. 8vo, pictorial wrappers. Bit of loss to spine extremities and crack starting at upper joint, stitching loosening. Still a pleasing , clean copy , uncut and unopened, preserved in a cloth folder with flaps and ribbon tie. The frontispiece , a color lithograph, is fine. One of 1000 copies. The cover and color frontispiece are original lithographs by Pierre Bonnard. Artists dealt with include Lautrec, Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, Rivière, De Feure, Chéret, Steinlen, Redon, et al., as well as publishers and printers. An important work in the history of art and aesthetics. Cate and Hitchings, The Color Revolution/ Color Lithography in France 1890-1900, pages 73 to 97 with full page reproduction of title page, cover and frontispiece and an English translation of the text: ". unique analysis of the aesthetic activities of his time," observing that color lithography was the era’s special artistic form, " . essentially a record of almost a decade of avant-garde printmaking activity. a forum for advanced aesthetic theories . an eloquent prelude to the aesthetic convulsions of the twentieth century." Hofer, Artist and the Book, 26: "Because of its cover and multi-color frontispiece, this book is often considered the first French livre de peintre with original color lithographs." Roger- Marx, Bonnard Lithographie, nos. 72-73. . Pictorial Wrappers. Fine.. Illus. by Pierre Bonnard. 8vo.