STEINLEN'S CATS, 1933 LIMITED EDITION

STEINLEN, Theophile; LECOMTE, Georges. Chats et Autres Bêtes. Paris: Eugène Rey, 1933. Folio (10 by 13 inches), original printed paper self-wrappers, uncut; original glassine. $1800.

Limited edition, with 19 mounted full-page plates (two double-page) and dozens of in-text reproductions of Steinlen's wonderful charcoal studies of cats, great cats, and other animals, number 72 of 500 copies on Velin d'Arches.

Renowned painter, printmaker and illustrator Théophile Steinlen produced hundreds of illustrations throughout his career, often for magazines like Le Rire and Gil Blas illustré. "It was his connection with Gil Blas illustré which made him famous. His more than 1000 designs for this weekly, printed in from two to four colors, offer a comprehensive survey of the teeming life of the city… He also showed himself to be a master of the poster, and after his first exhibition in 1894, both his lithographs and his etchings came to be sought after by collectors… Des chats [Some Cats], a folio of 1897, is a splendid tribute to the animals he loved best" (Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book, 440). The present work finely reproduces for the first time a number of studies and drawings of cats (and other animals) that were found among Steinlen's papers after he died in 1923. From a total edition of 595 copies. Text in French.

Wear and one small stain to fragile original glassine, rarely present. Book clean and fine. A lovely volume.