[BIBLE]. — Song of Songs. - Lot 1

[BIBLE]. — Song of Songs. Translated by Louis Segond. Paris, Guy Lévis Mano (GLM), November 1946. Small 8vo, approximately 41 pages, paperback, cream-colored cover printed in black, adorned with a small typographic fleur-de-lis; title set in an elegant composition characteristic of Guy Lévis Mano’s works. First edition of this GLM publication, entirely typeset, laid out, and printed by Guy Lévis Mano. The BnF does indeed list this edition of the Song of Songs as having been published in 1946. A very attractive typographic design: the text, based on the Louis Segond version, is set in 14-point Garamond italic, with initials in Cochin. The work belongs to this particularly sought-after period in GLM’s output, during which the printer-publisher applied a deliberately minimalist typography to poetic and biblical texts, inspired by certain practices of humanist printers. A study devoted to Lévis Mano’s typographic work specifically cites this 1946 edition of the Song of Songs as a significant example of this approach. Limited edition of 1,057 copies, distributed as follows: 12 copies on Arches vellum (nos. 1–12), 200 on Marais vellum (nos. 13–212), 820 on laid paper (nos. 213–1,032), plus 25 copies on Marais vellum, labeled A through Z and reserved for the Friends of GLM. One of the 820 copies on laid paper, this one being no. 905. Paperback, as published. Copy preserved in its original cover. A few small foxing spots and signs of wear on the cover, slight browning along the edges; interior clean and well-preserved. A good copy overall.