Émile Zola / Émile Coulon [élève de Félicien Rops] - La Bête Humaine [EO 1/250 sur Hollande enluminé avec 2 dessins originaux — reliure signée Aussourd] - 1890

Original edition on paper from Hollande + 2 original drawings by Émile Coulon, a student of ROPS.

A 12° volume, 415 + 8 pages (catalogue), cover and spine designed in a red half-morocco with corner binding signed by René AUSSOURD. Gilt head. First edition on Holland paper; number 187/250. Two original drawings by Émile-Antoine Coulon, a student of Rops, mounted with gouache and watercolor at the beginning of the book, as indicated on the front endpaper with a few lines in ink. The first drawing has a folded edge to match the book's size, which has caused a tear at the top and bottom of the paper, but it is still well secured. The second has a slight stain on the first page, but the interior remains very fresh. A very fine copy.

Very little is known about this Belgian painter, born after 1868 and died after 1937, it seems, except that he was a student of Félicien Rops, as noted at the top of the edition of 'Parallèlement' by Verlaine, which he illustrated in 1889 for the publisher Léon Vannier in Paris. It was also complemented in a unique edition with an original watercolor and 24 ink and watercolor compositions in 1893, which can be found in Gerard Nordmann's erotic library, dispersed by Christie's in December 2006. His original compositions, though not erotic, reveal a deep and subtle manner that makes him rival the best artists of the Belgian 'decadent' generation.