Signé ; Octave Mirbeau / Fernand Siméon - Sébastien Roch [avec L.A.S.; reliure Art déco mosaïquée de Cerutti] - 1926

Very beautiful copy preserved in an Art Deco binding signed by Antoinette Cerutti, enriched with a handwritten letter written over four pages and signed by Octave Mirbeau: [I receive quite amusing letters. Here is one I am sending you; please keep it for me, as I want to give it a good place in my little 'Bouvard and Pécuchet'...]

Beautiful Mornay edition, illustrated with compositions by Fernand SIMÉON, including a frontispiece engraved in mezzotint and numerous monochrome woodcuts within the text, such as headbands, tailpieces, and initials.

Limited edition, our numbered copy one of 895 on Rives paper. (No. 303).

Magnificent Art Deco binding in full ebony morocco, with a rounded spine decorated with two wide mosaic borders in garnet morocco and gilded edges, title in gilded initials, and gilded head.
Covers and spine preserved.
Slight rubbing on the corners, binding of good quality. Interior clean and fresh, paper very slightly yellowed, without foxing. Beautiful copy.

In this third novel signed by his name, Mirbeau transgresses a major taboo: that of adolescent rape by priests, a subject that only began to be discussed a century after its publication.

Fernand Siméon, born in Paris on April 22, 1884, and died in Paris on May 2, 1928, was a French painter, engraver, and illustrator.


Author: Mirbeau (Octave), Siméon (Fernand) (illustrations by)
Sébastien Roch
Editor, Date: Paris Mornay 1926. Limited edition of 1,095 copies.
A thick volume in pt in-8 format, 402 pages, (1) leaf of justification.