La Mort de Venise; Illustré de vingt-six eaux-fortes originales

Paris: Société Nouvelle des Éditions d'Art Devambez, 1926. Limited Edition. Edgar Chahine. 4to, 13 x 10 3/4 inches (330 x 250 mm); 112 pp. Copy number XXIV of 30 HC copies on papier japon ancien with 26 plates, (frontispiece, title vignette, 5 in-text and 19 full-page). Each plate appears in 3 states: first state, final state with remarques, final state. This is one of 30 copies with roman numerals reserved for the artist and his friends ("Imprimé pour l'artiste et ses amis") from an edition limited to 230 special copies; our copy also includes 4 additional plates (also in 3 states), an original drawing in reddish-orange crayon, signed by Edgar Chahine, and a signed copper etching plate for one of the illustrations. Superb red morocco binding by H. Blanchetière, signed at foot of front turn-in. Covers with inlaid strapwork border of scarlet and turquoise morocco and elaborately tooled in gilt with scrolls and hatched decoration; spine titled in gilt with 3 strapwork compartments and 4 raised bands, doublures of turquoise morocco within border of red morocco, all tooled in gilt, with the original copper plate for an etched portrait inset into front doublure, gilt decorations on back doublure, red silk moiré flyleaves, marbled endpapers, t.e.g. Original wrappers and spine bound in, very slight rubbing to joints, some light foxing; marbled board slipcase, a little rubbed.

[Carteret, IV, 60; BNF34834086]. A sumptuous edition of Maurice Barrès (1862 - 1923) travel impressions of Venice, which he wrote in 1903 while living in Italy. Barrès was closely associated with the French Symbolists and the Italian Decadents like Gabriele d'Annunzio. He wrote a trilogy The Cult of the Self in 1888 and shortly thereafter was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and remained very involved in nationalist politics for the rest of his life.
This superb 1926 edition is masterfully illustrated by Edgar Chahine (1874 - 1947), an artist of Armenian descent, who studied in Venice for several years before moving to Paris. In his etchings he captures the mood and character of the city and its inhabitants. This super-illustrated edition includes the copper plate of the portrait of Chateaubriand (p. 52), inset into the front doublure, with the following inscription etched at the top of the plate after printing: "Achevé d'imprimer... 1926" followed by Chahine's signature. The book incorporates beautiful typography and a unique colophon set in the shape of the bow-iron that characterises the prow of all Venetian gondolas.