Brillat-Savarin / Raoul Dufy - Aphorismes et Variétés.‎ Gravures originales à l'eau-forte par Raoul Dufy [reliure Devauchelle] - 1940

Splendid edition of the 'Bibliophiles du Palais' featuring a selection of texts by Brillat-Savarin from his 'Physiology of Taste,' beautifully illustrated by Raoul Dufy with 20 original black etchings.

Unique edition of 180 copies on Rives vellum. This one is numbered 142 and was printed especially for Maurice Bussillet.

Copy bound in a perfect binding signed by Devauchelle in full fuchsia morocco, with a rounded spine decorated with the title and author in gold tooling. Gilded edges. The covers are in gray souris morocco, with endpapers lined with fuchsia felt, housed in a slipcase with a half-morocco cover in matching bands to the binding and a case.

Excellent condition. Case slightly rubbed, very sturdy. Back of the cover inscribed. Binding and interior impeccable. Very good copy.

Yes, nowadays, we hardly read the doctrinal essays contained in the Physiologie du Goût in their entirety, but we still enjoy the maxims and anecdotes that make this book charming and that have preserved the scent of the good old days.

It belonged to the Bibliophiles du Palais to revive the little stories of the amiable magistrate who professed the smiling philosophy of indulgence and glorified the virtues of French cuisine.

To present this collection in a new setting, we asked Mr. Raoul Dufy to adorn the chosen pages with some lively and fresh arabesques. Let us not seek in these engravings by one of the masters of contemporary art a concern for historical reconstruction, documentary accuracy, or literal fidelity, which the artist deliberately neglected. Instead, let us find, for the pleasure of the eye and the mind, a free and poetic evocation of the pleasures and sensual entertainments that the author of the Physiologie du Goût celebrated over a hundred years ago, and of which he wished to leave us the innocent secret, like a talisman of happiness.

Brillat-Savarin / Raoul Dufy
Aphorisms and Miscellaneous Items [leather binding by Devauchelle]
Paris: The Bibliophiles of the Palace, 1940
Volume in-4 (12 x 8.5 inches) of 128 pages & 8 unnumbered pages; complete.