Un Autre Monde.

1844. GRANDVILLE, J.-J. Un Autre Monde. Transformations, visions, incarnations... et autres choses. By Taxile Delord. [4], 295, [1] pp. Half-title and title-page printed in red. Illustrated with 133 woodcut vignettes, 15 full-page woodcuts, and 36 hand-coloured plates. Large 8vo., 268 x 196 mm, bound in contemporary half morocco with the original front and rear wrappers preserved. Paris: H. Fournier, 1844. First Edition of Grandville's masterpiece. One of the spectacular, surreal illustrated books of the nineteenth century. "In this remarkable book, of the boldest possible originality, Grandville dared to reveal his dream world to the (truncated) public" (Ray). The illustrations expose an imagination which was unlike anything that appeared in print before. Ray points out that the designs of Grandville certainly influenced Tenniel when he created the characters for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. An exceptionally fine copy with just the occasional minor spot on a few text pages, but overall an outstanding copy in a contemporary binding preserving the front and rear wrappers. Exteremely rare thus. Carteret III, 285 (with reproduction). Ray, French 196 (with reproduction). Rebeyrat, Catalogue bibliographique et bibliophilique in: J.-J. Grandville, p. 287. Sello, Grandville: Das Gesamt Werk 1167-1351. (Inventory #: 172997)