[George Barbier] Scott, Leader. ECHOES OF OLD FLORENCE: HER PALACES AND THOSE WHO HAVE LIVED IN THEM. Florence: Flor & Findel, 1901. 12mo (approx 5 x 7”). 259 pp. Bound in full hand-painted vellum (signed by the artist). A.e.g. (blue).
SECOND EDITION WITH A NEW CHAPTER. Hardcover without dust jacket (as issued). Vellum somewhat darkened. Single leather tie incomplete. Pages tanning. VERY GOOD.
This is a beautiful signed, hand-illuminated vellum binding executed in Florence, Italy for Flor & Findel in 1901. This is the enlarged Second Edition of this history of Florence. The binding is full-vellum and is elaborately illuminated in pigments on the front cover; signed "Barbier, " [lower left]. The original pigments are still quite bright.
The binding illumination appears to be the work of George Barbier (1882-1932). He was a student of J. P. Laurens at the Beaux-Arts and exhibited at the Salon des Humoristes in 1910 under the name of Edouard William. The following year he began working with at the gallery of Boutet de Monvel. From 1912 to his death he regularly figured into Salon des Artistes Décorateurs and was recipient of many prizes for his works. He contributed to Gazette du Bon Ton, le Jardin des Dames et des Modes, Modes et Manières d'Aujourd'hui, Les Feuillets d'Art, Fémina, Vogue, and Comoedia Illustré. He illustrated catalogues, publicity and numerous books by Baudelaire, Th. Gautier, P. Louÿs, Musset, Verlaine and others. He created a number décors and costumes for the music-hall and the Folies Bergere through the Max Weldy Studios, the theatre and the cinema. He is credited with the costume, for Rudolph Valentino in the movie Monsieur Beaucaire.
Barbier was one of several artists commissioned to illustrate limited editions de luxe, intended to be collector’s items due to their limited circulation and high standards of printing. A mania for these books swept France 1910 and 1929. Classics and contemporary works illustrated by the leading artists of the day, often bound in lavish, specially designed bindings, were eagerly collected; societies of bibliophiles were founded in the cities and towns of France so that subscribers could be sure of obtaining the latest publications. These were numerous enough to warrant a lengthy column in the magazine L'Amour de l'Art each month devoted entirely to the subject. Artists such as Guy Arnoux, George Barbier, Leon Benigni, Benito, Robert Banfils, Pierre Bissaud, Brunelleschi, Etienne Brian, Georges Lepape, Charles Martin, and Andre Marty found a lucrative demand for contributions which brought them a considerable amount of prestige.
A beautiful Florentine book, printed, published and bound in the city for the fin de siecle tourist trade. A quite unusual (one-of-a-kind) and lovely little book.
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