MANET and the French Impressionists. Pisarro, Claude Monet, Sisley, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Guillaumin. Translated by J. E. Crawford Flitch by DURET. THEODORE

Grant Richards; 1910. First UK edition. 4to. Original blue cloth, titles to spine and upper board gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Frontispiece and 31 reproductions in half-tone, 2 etchings by Renoir and one each by Morisot and Manet, 2 wood engravings after Manet and one each after Degas and Camille Pissaro. Cloth lightly rubbed to edges, light stain to spine, lightly foxing to preliminaries. First impression of the first work to describe the development of Impressionism, with a chapter on each of the major painters and numerous illustrations. The author, Theodore Duret (1838â1927), was one of the earliest and most vocal supporters of the movement. He first met Manet in 1865 and the two became good friends, with the artist painting the connoisseur three times. During the 1870s Duret began writing articles championing the new movement, and this, his most important work, was published in 1878 to accompany the fourth Impressionist exhibition in Paris. Duret also collected and promoted the work of the pre-Raphaelites, was an early devotee of Asian art, particularly Japanese prints, and coined the term avant-garde. A nice copy of this book that "remains a primary account of Impressionism and contemporary reception" (Dictionary of Art Historians, Duke University)