MOLIÈRE (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin de) — BEUVILLE (Georges). *L - Lot 208

MOLIÈRE (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin de) — BEUVILLE (Georges). *Le Bourgeois gentilhomme*. A comedy in five acts. Color illustrations by Beuville. Paris, Éditions Kra, “Arlequin” Collection, Vol. II, 1929 [printed in 1930]. In-8, paperback, illustrated color cover, 194 pp. and filler pages, untrimmed. A beautiful illustrated edition of *The Bourgeois Gentleman*, constituting the second volume of the “Arlequin” collection published by Éditions Kra. The book is lavishly illustrated by Georges Beuville (1902–1982) with humorous compositions, printed both within the text and as full-page illustrations. The line drawings were stencil-colored by the D. Jacomet workshops in Paris, giving the work as a whole a particularly vivid and decorative color palette. A bibliographic description lists 42 color illustrations. Carteret lists this edition in his bibliography of modern illustrated books as a “highly regarded edition.” Limited edition of 1,000 copies on Rives vellum, numbered from 1 to 1,000, with the first thirty copies featuring an original watercolor by Beuville. One of the copies on Rives vellum, this one no. 907. Copy preserved in its original illustrated binding, untrimmed. A fine copy. The interior is fresh, and the illustrations are particularly vivid in color. The cover is slightly worn with a few small tears and minor marginal losses; the spine is creased and rubbed, with small tears at the top.