first edition Portfolio.
1931 · Paris
by Bib et Roland [Breitel, Georges Auguste and Roland Carle Vernet]
Paris, 1931. Limited First Edition. Portfolio. . Near Fine. No. 51 of 700 copies on vélin Navarre, 732 copies issued in total. Scarce survivor -- only one institutional copy appearing on OCLC First Search, at the University of Virginia. Not in the BNF's Gallica catalogue. Oblong, 31 by 41 cm. 35 loose plates within portfolio, three of which are color plates. The clever caricatures depict one or more figures of the French racing world as centaurs, often with another equestrian nabob as a full human. The people being poked fun at are generally obscure to us, as we are not intimate with the French equine scene of the 1920s, but we can enjoy the clever fun every bit as much. The one person we can identify with confidence is the effete denizen of French high society Boni de Castellane. Condition: light soiling to the portfolio cover. Slight fraying along the joint of this portfolio of the cloth. All the tissue guards survive, but given the challenge of keeping the loose leaves in perfect order, the edges of the guards can have some creasing. Ribbon ties also survive.
(Inventory #: 006647)