LE DERNIER ABBÉ

Paris: Librairie des Amateurs; A. Ferroud, 1891. No. 60 OF 62 COPIES ON JAPON (from a total edition of 525). First Edition in Book Form. 247 x 160 mm. (9 3/4 x 6 1/4"). XVI, 64 pp., [1] leaf; 4 pp. (prospectus). Preface by Anatole France.
ELEGANT SCARLET MOROCCO, BEAUTIFULLY GILT, BY PÉTRUS RUBAN (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with plain rule and dotted frame with cornerpieces composed of palmettes, acanthus leaves, quiver, bow and arrows, and tiny stars, and side ornaments with scallops and torches with volutes and small tools, raised bands, spine compartments with quiver, bow, and arrows centerpiece, gilt lettering, richly gilt turn-ins with scallop roll, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Printed paper wrappers bound in. Housed in matching morocco-lipped slipcase. With 19 illustrations by Adolphe Lalauze, all in two states, one before letters. A Large Paper Copy. Carteret IV, 301. Spine slightly darkened, joints with very minor wear at head (nicely masked with dye), a couple of trivial finger smudges to the generous margins, but A FINE COPY, clean, fresh, and bright internally, in a scarcely worn, lustrous binding.

This is a lovely connoisseur's copy of De Musset's satire on worldly clerics that is printed on smooth paper, features wide margins and charming vignettes, and, best of all, is adorned with a beautiful binding by the highly esteemed Pétrus Ruban. Bibliophile Octave Uzanne praised Ruban (1851-1929) for taking inspiration from everything around him--flowers, birds, architecture--and for his facility with colors. He became quite a fashionable binder, and mostly worked for the great collectors of the day, among them Beraldi, Baudin, Granjon de l'Espinay, and Romagnol. Flety notes that "with a fertile imagination, he practices all genres [of binding] with equal felicity"--a talent that is here directed at evoking the elegant French bindings of the 18th century. Ruban won silver medals at the Palace of Industry and at the Universal Exposition in 1889, with judges at the latter praising his careful study of both historic master binders and modern artists, noting that Ruban would "soon achieve the rank he so rightly seeks." He was named an officer of the academy in 1902. First published in "Revue des Deux Mondes" in 1840, this present novella follows the fortunes of a young man who pretends to be an abbé in the glory days of the French ancien régime. Although literally meaning "abbot," the word "abbé" was a term applied to priests, usually young, who were not affiliated with any church or religious order, but acted as free-lance spiritual advisors to the rich and influential. Such men led a life of ease, frequenting salons, visiting country estates, and being showered with gifts by grateful society women. Our hero Cordier "had never opened a breviary," but made a very good life for himself in this role--until the Revolution brought it all crashing to the ground. Alone and impoverished, Cordier is rescued in his final years by a bequest from an actress to whom he had giving spiritual (and carnal) succor. Author Paul de Musset (1804-80) was the elder brother of Romantic writer Alfred de Musset. Though often overshadowed by his more famous brother, Paul wrote several works of his own, including "Lui et Elle," a response to Georges Sand's "Elle et Lui," regarding her tumultuous affair with brother Alfred. Our artist Lalauze (1838-1906) was a major figure in what Ray describes as a revival of etching as an art form in France. This revival was partly stimulated by the founding of an etcher's society, and the renewed interest was carried into book illustration by a number of publishers who specialized in sumptuous editions like the present one..