DUHAMEL (Georges) — LÉBÉDEFF (Jean). *Lives of the Martyrs*. - Lot 84

DUHAMEL (Georges) — LÉBÉDEFF (Jean). *Lives of the Martyrs*. 1914–1916. Woodcuts by Jean Lébédeff. Paris, Georges Mornay, bookseller, “Les Beaux Livres” collection, 1919. Square 8vo, paperback, cover lined with embossed beige paper, title and publisher’s mark printed in black and red; untrimmed. First illustrated edition and first volume of Mornay’s famous “Les Beaux Livres” collection. Georges Duhamel’s text is illustrated with numerous original woodcuts by Jean Lébédeff, inserted within the text, featuring headpieces, initials, and full-width compositions. Published immediately after the Great War, *Vie des Martyrs* is one of Duhamel’s most significant accounts of his experience as a military surgeon. Through a series of scenes observed in military ambulances and hospitals between 1914 and 1916, the writer describes not so much the battles as the wounded men, their suffering, and their humanity. This Mornay edition, published as early as 1919, provides a remarkable visual interpretation of the text thanks to Lébédeff’s highly expressive woodcuts. Limited edition of 1,000 numbered copies, comprising: 1 unique copy on heavy Imperial Japan paper with preparatory sketches, a set of signed artist’s proofs, and crossed woodcuts; 50 copies on Imperial Japanese paper (nos. 2–51); and 949 copies on paper from the Manufactures de Rives (nos. 52–1,000). In addition, 40 non-commercial copies were printed. One of the 949 copies on Rives paper, this one being no. 909. Printing completed on November 20, 1919, by the Kapp printing house in Vanves, for Georges Mornay. This copy is interesting for two reasons: it is one of the first illustrated books published in France in the immediate postwar period on medical experiences at the front, and, above all, the first volume in the “Les Beaux Livres” collection, which would become one of the defining bibliophilic collections of the interwar period. Condition: complete copy in its original publisher’s binding. Cover and spine preserved but quite noticeably faded: soiling, small spots and foxing, rubbing and wear on the head and foot; a few old pencil marks. Interior noticeably fresher, with a few scattered foxing spots. Wide margins and colophons preserved.