Crafty - Paris au bois - 1890

Crafty : Paris in the woods

Original edition, richly illustrated by Crafty himself with in-text and out-of-text figures, including 15 in color.

Paris, E. Plon, Nourrit, 1890

A single volume in quarto (290 x 210 mm), 325 pp
Half red morocco with corners, spine with raised bands richly ornamented, gilt head (period binding). Light signs of wear and rubbing on the boards and spine. Interior fresh, without foxing (slight on the edges).

A very large number of illustrations in the text and on full pages.

A fine example.

Paris au Bois describes the horse-riding paths in the Bois de Boulogne, its access routes—most notably the one to the Champs-Élysées—and provides a gallery of portraits of the men and women the walker is likely to encounter during his stroll.

Crafty, whose real name was Victor Eugène Géruzez (Paris, May 24, 1840 – Saint-Martin-de-Nigelles, June 26, 1906), was a French writer and humorous illustrator, specializing in books on horses and hunting.

Charming original illustrated edition of this superb book that offers a visual and sociological chronicle of the Bois de Boulogne in the Belle Époque, capturing with verve and irony the diversity of promenaders, equestrians, coachmen, elegant ladies and strollers who populate this fashionable stage of Parisian life.

With its numerous black-and-white illustrations and 16 color plates, the author draws a vivid panorama of the ways the woods are used according to the seasons, the hours of the day, and the whims of the weather, observing postures, vanities, and social rituals with a gaze that is both tender and biting.

The light touch of Crafty's pen and his expressive drawings reveal an urban anthropology full of humor, where the horse, the car, the suit, and the gaze become markers of class and character.