Henry Bataille - Têtes et Pensées. [Portraits de Montesquiou, J. Lorrain... avec dessin original de George Barbier] - 1901

Original edition of this remarkable in-folio album (46.5 x 33.5 cm) consisting of 22 original lithographs by Henry Bataille, depicting some of the most important writers of the early 20th century, including: Henri de Régnier, Robert de Montesquiou, Pierre Louÿs, Catulle Mendes, André Gide, Jules Renard, Tristan Bernard, Octave Mirbeau, Willy, Jean Lorrain, Gustave Kahn, and Edmond Sée, among others.

With each board, a serpent-shaped piece bearing the model name and a small poem of circumstance.

Luxury print on Rives vellum, unnumbered, after 50 copies on Japan paper.

Testimony from the time when Bataille considered a career in the arts, this album is also a collection of memories of his literary encounters. Each portrait is protected by a leaf bearing a verse legend, which, according to the author, aims to trace the humanity of the writer.

It's to you, my dear Mirbeau, that I am pleased to dedicate these few lithographs [...] In truth, they are only scraps of sketches, memories of a visit or a conversation; but I would like these insignificant studies to inspire writers to learn the craft of painting, for only they could paint masks of thought.

22 lithographs by Henry Bataille: Catulle Mendès, Jean Lorrain, Henri de Régnier, Georges Rodenbach, André Gide, Jean de Tinan, Jules Renard, Lucien Muhlfeld, Tristan Bernard, Robert de Montesquiou, Paul Fort, Pierre Louÿs, Maurice Donnay, Fernand Vanderem, Gustave Kahn, Octave Mirbeau, Jules Case, Willy, Alfred Capus, André Picard, Pierre Valdagne, and Edmond Sée.

On joint :
Issue No. 161 (February 18, 1911) of the magazine 'Les Homme du jour' featuring a reproduction of a drawing by Lucien Laforge on the front page.
- an original drawing by George Barbier (1922) created with ink and highlighted in colors, gold, and silver, depicting a full-length portrait of Casanova, with a mat board (32.5 x 25 cm)

Henry Bataille
Heads and Thoughts. [Portraits of Montesquiou, J Lorrain, H de Régnier, A Gide, J de Tinan, Jules Renard, Mirbeau, Capus, etc.]
Paris, Ollendorff Bookstore, 1901.
In -Folio (46.5 x 33.5 cm) 4 unnumbered pages + 22 plates (fully checked)

In sheets, an edition-specific folder with flaps.
The portfolio shows traces of handling and rubbing (at the cuts). Interior fresh, few pinpricks on the text pages, litho plates. Very clean. Very fine copy.