Jean Cocteau - Le secret professionnel [ex no 204 /440. With suite of 12 colour plates / lithographs. Specific - 1925

Jean Cocteau — Le Secret professionnel (Paris, Au Sans Pareil, 1925), special edition bound specifically by Atelier Loutrel in Paris, with a suite of 12 color lithograph plates.

Copy no. 204/440 on Montgolfier d'Annonay wove paper — Custom high-quality binding by Atelier Loutrel (Paris).

Top edge gilt — marbled covers — Ingres France guard sheet — added flyleaves. A sublime and rare copy in its rare bound version, the binding specially produced by a major Paris binding workshop (not to be confused with the general softcover edition).

A bibliophile copy finely preserved from the 1925 Au Sans Pareil edition of Jean Cocteau’s "Le Secret professionnel," numbered 204/440 on Montgolfier woven paper. This copy was bound shortly after publication by the Paris workshop Atelier Loutrel, whose circular embossed stamp ("A.L.") appears on the inner plate.

Also contains the suite of 12 color lithographic plates, with frontispiece, on a pinkish-beige cover, ribboned. Partly original edition (Monologues of the Birdcatcher are unpublished) and the first printing of Cocteau’s illustrations. A unique and exceptional book for collectors!

Binding (Atelier Loutrel, Paris)

Green tailor-made fabric binding produced to a high artisanal standard.

Top edge gilt (T.E.G.) with partial gilding visible along the edge.

Back board adorned with gilded letters.

Hand-marbled covers, typical of Parisian binders of the early 20th century.

Guard sheet of Ingres France laid on laid paper, in keeping with Loutrel’s material palette.

The editor’s original covers are preserved intact inside the binding.

Interior

Printed on Montgolfier d’Annonay woven paper, deckle edges.

Pages uniformly clean with a natural aging tone.

Illustrations printed in Cocteau’s characteristic blue-gray tone.

Each illustration is protected by a translucent guard sheet added by the binder — absent from the original softcover edition.

Condition
Tight, clean binding in good preserved condition.
Bright and even gilt edges.
Intact marbled endpapers.
Clear text block, no tears or repairs.
Small discreet preliminary note on the title page (erasable if desired).

A superior bibliophile-quality copy of the 1925 Cocteau edition, elegantly elevated by a bespoke period binding by Atelier Loutrel, using first-rate materials and a refined finish characteristic of early 20th-century French bindings.

A collectible item par excellence, complete and unique, overall well preserved!

Condition: Good

General terms and information:

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