[Numéroté] Machiavel / Josso - Le prince - 1948

Machiavel; La Houssaie, Camelot de (translation). The Prince.

Engravings in burin by Camille Paul Josso.

Paris, La Tradition. 1948. In-4. Copy in sheets under a cover and publisher's case.

First illustrated edition by Josso and a print run of 435 copies, this one being one of 280 on Arches grand vellum, no. 279.

Work in good condition although the spine of the slipcase and the slipcase itself are a little worn; slipcase reinforced and corners worn. Some foxing on the first engraving only (see photos).

Copy well complete with the 2 frontispieces, the one originally planned which the artist decided to alter at the last moment because it did not satisfy him, and the re-engraved one which is very different.

35 burin engravings, including 6 hors-texte by Josso.

The Prince, the French translation of the work Il Principe ou De Principatibus, is a political treatise written in the early 16th century by Niccolò Machiavelli, a Florentine statesman and writer, which shows how to become a prince and to remain one, analyzing examples from ancient history and the Italian history of the time.

Because the work did not give moral guidance to the prince as classical treatises addressed to kings do, and instead it advised in some cases actions contrary to good morals, it has often been accused of immorality, giving rise to the epithet machiavellian.

Camille Paul Josso is a French engraver, painter and illustrator. An orientalist painter, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in the 1930s, in a Paris gallery with Jacques Majorelle, and exhibited in Morocco. He illustrated many novels.

A fine example of this classic among classics, richly illustrated by Josso…