Scènes de la Vie de Bohème par Henry Murger. Illustrations en colours de Joseph Hémard.; 2 volumes, 8vo, illustrated, folding frontispiece, full morocco with pictorial bands on the covers showing characters from the story, in two morocco-tipped marbled board slipcases, by René Kieffer

Paris: Éditions René Kieffer, Relieur d'Art, 1921. First edition. Outer hinges of covers lightly rubbed, otherwise a fine set in slightly scuffed slipcases. One of 50 copies on "velín de cuve des papeteries B.F.K. de Rives with a suite of the illustrations "en noir" and an original watercolor by Hémard. The present copy has been further enriched with the addition of original letters and drawings relating to this publication and to Murger and his Murger's circle. The folding frontispiece reproduces in facsimile the original holograph manuscript of the witty Cahier des Doléances prepared by Murger and his friends for Monsieur Louvet, the proprietor of the Café Momus in the Latin Quarter, where Act II of La Bohème was set.  Murger and his impecunious friends were known collectively as "the water drinkers" because they were often unable to afford anything stronger than water when they met at the Café Momus, where they invariably held sway over the café's second floor room, at significant cost to the owners, who nevertheless enjoyed their presence. As Robert Baldick recounts: "Murger and his friends were grateful for Louvet's tolerance, and on New Year's Day 1845 they showed their gratitude in characteristic fashion - by presenting him with a list of humorous complaints [the Cahier des Doléances] which he apparently found amusing and kept all his life. The list, which was long and detailed . . . went on . . . for page after page, suggesting aesthetic improvements on the second floor", which, if carried out, the signatories promised, would lead to their settling their accounts "every month - if possible." Several years later the Café Momus was failing, and remorsefully recognizing their role in its decline, the water drinkers came to Monsieur Louvet's rescue, and concocted a scheme to publicize the café, a scheme that worked brilliantly and that enabled Louvet not only to survive but to prosper to the extent that in a few years he was able to purchase one of the most fashionable establishments in Paris, the Café de la Rotonde at the Palais-Royal. - Robert Baldick, The First Bohemian: The Life of Henry Murger (London: Hamish Hamilton, (1961), pp. 62-63, 106-107. The original manuscript letter of this amusing document, signed by Murger, Jean Desbrasses, B. Hypolite, J. Fleury, Jules Rozier, Antoine Chintreuil, Antoine Fauchery, Rozan, Charles Barbara, and Jules Vignon is bound in at the back of the book along with other documents, including: original drawings by Hémard for illustrations in the book, one in pencil and two in pen-and-ink; several proof sheets, including the corrected proof sheet for the colophon page; a two-page rough draft of the manuscript of E.-A. Férard's Avertissement (introduction) for this edition; a holograph invitation to the funeral of Murger, who died, true to la vie de bohème, nearly penniless at the age of 38 in 1861: however, beloved Bohemian that he was, his funeral was paid for by the French government and a fund for his monument was raised by Le Figaro; with additional letters from Alexandre Schanne (to Charles Monselet), Jean Wallon (2), an unidentified correspondent, Ch. Trapadoux to Jacques Crépet (editor of Baudelaire), Jean Desbrasses, Antoine Chintreuil, and Joseph Hémard. Outer hinges of covers lightly rubbed, otherwise a fine set in slightly scuffed slipcases.