Marcel Valotaire / Jean Dulac - Nous Deux. Simples papiers du tiroir secret. Première partie et Deuxième partie - 1929

Nelly and Jean. The two of us. Simple papers from the secret drawer. First part and second part.

Engraved and printed for the authors and their friends, without date, in-8° (23.2 x 14.5 cm), 2 volumes of 74 and 100 pages on sheets with vellum covers, illustrated on the front cover.

46 free engravings in burin and colored by Jean Dulac, including the two front covers, reproduced in heliogravure. The illustrations are anonymous.

Edition reserved for authors and their friends, not for commercial sale, limited to 295 copies, 1 of 245 copies on beautiful Arches vellum paper.

New edition published shortly after the 1929 edition.

Rare clandestine edition, here in a state of pristine freshness, a fine specimen.

This work is considered by collectors as one of the most elegant and beautifully illustrated erotic works of the early 20th century, in the purest Art Deco style. It was clandestinely published by its author Marcel Valotaire.

The text, written in the form of letters and fragments of diaries, follows the growing romantic and sexual relationship between Nelly, a young naive student, and Jean, her Latin teacher. The work was published anonymously in Paris in 1929, engraved and printed 'for the authors and their friends.' Although unsigned, it quickly became known in literary circles that the author was art historian and critic Marcel Valotaire, and the illustrator was the talented Jean Dulac, a Lyon-based artist specializing in engraving.

Jean Dulac created 46 engravings with a burin, carefully enhanced by hand with stencils or brushes, spread across two volumes (19 in the first, 27 in the second). These illustrations, of remarkable finesse and elegance, integrate seamlessly into the narrative, combining sensuality and refinement typical of Art Deco aesthetics. The plates depict intimate scenes between the two protagonists, with delicate lines and a careful composition.