About the cover:

Full-grain binding Black marocco leather, decoration with stylised royal figure in relief on the front cover, accentuated by brown and gold leather overlays and strong hand-gilding; Hand-gilt title on smooth spine, gilt head edge, hand-stitched endpapers, triple endpapers, light brown calfskin boards, black flyleaf reps and Japanese wood veneer, black half-leather chemise lined with dark brown split leather and covered with dark brown Japanese wood veneer to match the relief on the cover.

Gilder: A. Jeanne

This cover was one of 20 others shown in the first exhibition of the Société de la Reliure Originale at the National Library in Paris in 1947 (catalogue no. 258).

About the content:

Paul Fort: Rois de France

Ex. No. 117 of 200 on Vergé d'Arches, with handwritten dedication by the author

Private edition, not in bookshops

Typography Armand Jules Klein, Paris 1931 This work offers a rich selection of texts by Paul Fort, with his poetry and the endearing grace of the landscapes. He ignores no folklore and knows all the laments of the old days. He sings about the beauties of France, its provinces and legends, its landscapes, its heroes and kings, its attachment to the homeland. Paul Fort's poetry shifts from the best known to epic evocation, from popular song to the greatest poetry.

About the artist: Robert Bonfils, painter, engraver and draughtsman, attended the École Germain-Pillon and then the Écoles Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs and des Beaux Arts from 1905. From 1919-1951, he taught illustration and design at the École Estienne.

He took part in exhibitions at home and abroad very early on. He later organised these himself, particularly for modern, industrial and decorative art. He designed highly original cover decorations, which differed from those of his contemporaries in their naïve, reduced illustrative style, in which people appear in the form of silhouettes. His designs were executed by André Jeanne, Georges Cretté, Georges Canape and students of the École Estienne. Although his covers were highly acclaimed, he only created a limited number.

He had been friends with Pierre Legrain since 1904. He was knighted in 1926 and made an Offi cier of the Legion of Honour in 1938.