About the cover:

Half-fringed binding with open hinge Yellow sheepskin spine with "coiffe lyonnaise" and blue-violet long title, fine relief on both covers, covered with light blue coloured paper, uniform semé of small crosses embossed with blue-violet and three different green coloured foils, barbered edges, blue-violet endpapers and turquoise coloured foil stamping on the inside of the covers, slipcase lined with yellow leather edging and light grey velour fleece, coral-coloured cover with fine relief.

About the content:

Jules Claretie: La Corde

With illustrations by Charles Jouas (frontispiece, title vignette, 13 etchings and an additional suite of proofs)

Ex. No. 2 of 125 for the famous bibliophile Henri Beraldi Les Amis des Livres, Paris, 1901

Jules Claretie (1840-1913) was a French writer who initially worked as a journalist for Le Figaro, among others, and later distinguished himself as a theatre critic and became director of the Comédie Française. Charles Jouas was a remarkable, rigorous draughtsman and etcher and head of the graphics department of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

About the artist: Henri Marius Michel, (1846-1925) son of Jean Marius Michel, gilder (1821-1890), is considered one of the innovators of French binding art. Trained at the École des Arts Décoratifs and École des Beaux-Arts, his works, inspired by Art Nouveau and excellently designed in bookbinding, did not remain without influence on his contemporary colleagues. He became known through exhibitions, which earned him awards, and through his two-volume La Reliure française (1980), he quickly became the leading bookbinder of his time.

It was important to him to match his decoratively stylised flower ornaments to the book content. In his workshop, he employed the best craftsmen of his time, such as Georges Cretté, who took over his workshop in 1925 as a worthy successor.