The Artist and the Book in France : the 20th Century Livre d'Artiste

Peter Owen, London, first edition, 1969. Cloth, gilt cover device, 4to, 8 colour plates and 81 monochrome illustrations. 368 pp, 173 ills, 8 colour plates. From a contemporary review by John Harthan: "Every page bears the stamp of knowledge and enthusiasm. While forming his own collection of livres ... the author has for many years been visiting artists, engravers, printers and binders in their studios, as well as writing and lecturing on his subject. The mass of information and experience thus assembled is now distilled into a soundly produced, well-organised volume containing 173 monochrome and eight colour plates reproduced by the photolithographic process. The choice and disposition of the illustrations is both attractive in itself and exceptionally well integrated with the text which never becomes a mere catalogue. The opening chapter defìnes the nature of the livre d'artiste as a book in which the visual impact predominates ..The term further implies direct participation by the artist in one of the several processes available for illustration - engraving, woodcut, etching, lithography - or by a combination of these processes. The two following chapters review French illustration before 1900 and give a summary of the heroic period of the livre d'artiste from 1900 to 1931. .. Most of the remainder of Mr Strachan's text is given up to a review of the livres d'artiste which appeared in the years 1932 to 1966. Two final chapters discuss the component parts and making of these books. They contain some of the most interesting matter in the volume especially the details about the atelier system which produces the printed texts and illustrations as a massive exercise in team work and the account of the bibliographical societies in France which have commissioned, particularly since World War II, many of the finest specimens...Mr Strachan's book concludes with a catalogue raisonné and glossary... More than 200 books are listed alphabetically under the name of the artist with details of illustrations, typography, printer, measurements, and the number of copies issued. A very good copy in a torn and slightly soiled dustwrapper.