[Dessins originaux] - Théophile Gautier / Milivoj Uzelac - Le roman de la momie [1/20 sur vélin d'Arches avec 2 dessins originaux] - 1947

GAUTIER (Théophile)

The Mummy's Novel.

Paris, at Eryx, [1947].

1 volume in-4 (28 x 22 cm), in sheets with a crowned and titled cover featuring a relief mummy on the first plate, cream publisher's case titled in green along the back, insert box, initials P.S on the upper flyleaf, 239-[4] pages (complete). Corners of the box rubbed. Very good overall condition with a very fresh interior.

Work composed of 24 color plates by Uzelac, aquarelle by stencil, of which 14 are hors-texte.

Limited edition of 781 numbered copies. One of 20 copies on Arches vellum paper (No. 12) including 2 original drawings, of which 1 is unpublished, a set of hors-texte plates and a set of studies pulled in a single tone.

A young Englishman of the best circles discovers in the Valley of the Kings a tomb undisturbed for 3500 years; it contains the mummy of a wonderfully beautiful young woman, Tahoser, whose history is told on a papyrus. The Mummy's Novel tells her story: daughter of a great Egyptian priest, she has fallen in love with a young Hebrew “whose dark eyes seemed to dance with a dream.”

Gautier transports us to Thebes, at a time when the Hebrew people are enslaved in Egypt, and where Moses, in retaliation, unleashes the ten plagues of Egypt. Against a backdrop of biblical history, in a setting of immense temples, innumerable armies, priests with long beards and opulent captives, Gautier tells the story of an impossible love.

From Napoleon Bonaparte's expedition to Champollion's deciphering of hieroglyphs, from Verdi's Aida to Flaubert's Salammbô, Egypt is at the heart of romantic reverie. Gautier offers to ancient Egypt an unforgettable vision: between adventure novel and poetic reverie, he links the realm of the dead to that of the living.

Rare and beautiful copy.