Octave Uzanne - L'Éventail. Illustrations de Paul Avril. - 1882

Original edition of this magnificent work by Octave Uzanne, admirably illustrated by Paul Avril, featuring numerous compositions around the text printed in multiple colors (blue, black, red, violet, etc.) and produced in the Parisian workshops of Albert Quantin.

Remarkable testimony to the production of luxury books for bibliophiles from the late 19th century.

Set in an elegant half Morocco leather binding in midnight blue, with gold fillets along the covers, and a spine with raised bands adorned with the title in golden initials. Gilded head.

Untrimmed copy, on Vélin paper, not justified. The Éventail would have been printed in 750 copies in addition to the 2 series of 100 copies on Japon.

This book, along with L'Ombrelle published a year later, contrary to the often portrayed image of lightness and frivolity for bibliophiles, is a beautiful and interesting study of these essential adornments of women's fashion throughout history. Uzanne, who was also very disappointed or even marked for life by being considered by many as 'the gentleman of these ladies with fans, umbrellas, etc.' (according to Antoine Laporte, bookseller and author of a fierce pamphlet against Uzanne published in 1893), issued a cheap edition in 1892, in pocket format, without illustrations, in which he explained in the preamble that he wished to present these texts to a general readership, rather than to a group of aesthetic bibliophiles, so they could be appreciated at their true value. 'This time, I am no longer addressing iconophiles, but those readers who claim to read, learn, and know...' Ultimately, a annotated bibliography of works discussing the fan, one of the elements of the imaginary world of the refined woman of the fin de siècle, dear to Stéphane Mallarmé.

Author: Uzan (Octave).
The Fan
PLACE: PUBLISHER, DATE: Paris, A. Quantin, Printer-Publisher, 1882. Volume in-8 of 27x19 cm; 143 pages, complete.

Condition: In good condition. Solid and discreet binding. White marks on the leather. Lower corner rubbed. Paper slightly warped and yellowed, with rare specks. Mark of a handwritten ex-libris on the title page.