DETOUCHE, Henry (Henri-Julien).

HARAUCOURT, Edmond, DE MARTHOLD, Jules, DE CROISSET, Francis, LEGRAND, Marc, VERHAEREN, Émile, DE REÉGNIER, Henri and FONTAINAS, André.
Les Péchés Capitaux
Illustrations de Henry Detouche.
Paris: Librairie Artistique / Boudet Éditeur, 1900.

Folio (the pages 14 x 11 in.). One of 150 on Vélin du Marais, of the entire edition of 175 copies, printed entirely in colors. Full recent lemon yellow morocco by Nello Nanni, burnt umber lettering on spine, "marine blue" striated Asahi cloth endpapers, original paper covers bound in, edges untrimmed, housed in a beige linen clamshell box with gilt-lettered dark blue leather label and lined with golden yellow felt. Collates 24 ll. (comprising original volume): 1 (cover), [2], 18, [3]; original tissue guards. Illustrated with nine color etchings by Henry Detouche, signed in the plates, and other etched designs by Detouche. Modest age-toning to original paper covers, small paper bookplate on blank verso, else fine and bright. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed to "les Époux Desmolder," signed and dated by Detouche in December 1899, before publication.

Introduction by Detouche and seven previously unpublished poems by major French poets of the period, each dedicated to one of the seven deadly sins. Each sin is rendered on two folios, the first with title recto and poem verso, both color-printed with floral art-nouveau borders, followed by a full-page hors-text original art-nouveau etching (with extensive aquatint) by Detouche, printed in color and additionally colored by hand with watercolor and metallic paint. The focus of each sin is an elegant young woman, and the signed etching on the cover is a setting of all seven of the women. The table of contents, the ninth of Detouche's signed etchings, which depicts flowers and mushrooms, is perhaps the most beautiful table of contents of the entire art-nouveau period. The book approaches the seven deadly sins with a humanistic playfulness: "Les Sept Péchés Capitaux sont à l'âme humaine ce que les sept couleurs du prism sont à la lumière. Nous les avons tous en nous."

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