MAUPASSANT (Guy de) — Norman Tales. Paris: Georges Crès et C - Lot 194

MAUPASSANT (Guy de) — Norman Tales. Paris: Georges Crès et Cie, “Les Maîtres du Livre” series, 1920. In-8, 343 pp., paperback, printed hardcover, untrimmed. An edition bringing together twelve tales by Maupassant: *Boule de Suif*, “Histoire d’une fille de ferme,” “Mademoiselle Fifi,” “Aux champs,” “Saint-Antoine,” “Le Retour,” “La Ficelle,” “La Bête à Maît’ Belhomme,” “Le Vieux,” “Le Gueux,” “Toine,” and “Le Port.” The book is adorned with an original etched frontispiece by Georges Le Meilleur, featuring a serpent motif, as well as typographic ornaments designed and wood-engraved by Georges Le Meilleur and Pierre-Eugène Vibert. Limited edition of 1,910 copies: 15 on vintage Japanese paper; 20 on white Imperial Japanese paper; 20 on large periwinkle-blue Rives vellum; 105 on periwinkle-blue Rives vellum; and 1,750 on tinted vellum from the Rives paper mills, in addition to the non-commercial copies listed in the proof. This copy, No. 1082, is printed on Rives paper and belongs to the tinted vellum edition. The copy is preserved in its original publisher’s binding, with a printed cover and spine. The cover is slightly faded and browned, with a few small marks and signs of wear; there are minor imperfections and a tear at the top edge. The spine is creased. The key issue visible in your photographs is the fragility of the stitching: several sections are clearly open or dislodged, and the book block shows marked weakness toward the end. The interior, however, is in fairly fresh condition, with wide margins preserved and the copy untrimmed.