MANON LESCAUT

London: John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd, 1928. First printing. Very good plus.. Deluxe limited edition of the great French classic, with eleven refined and debauched illustrations by Alastair. Lovely illustrated edition of Prévost's most enduring work, originally published in 1731 and later beloved of Symbolists and Decadents and their associates and descendants. In his introduction, Arthur Symons praises MANON to the heights with one hand while denigrating its poor author to the depths with the other: "Prévost, for once in his life a great artist," produces here his one and only great story. It's true, but he shouldn't say it. Meanwhile, Symons compliments the art of Hans Henning Otto Harry Baron von Voigt (Alastair) without caveat or reservation: "[T]here is a savage energy and a weird kind of wildness in these dark and sinister and glowing illustrations."


. 12.25'' x 10''. Original beige cloth with lettering stamped in red. Illustrated endpapers and eleven plates by Alastair, printed by George Gibbons & Co. Printed tissue guards. Limited edition of 1850 numbered copies, of which this is no. 714. 196, [2] pages. Translated by D.C. Moylan. Soil to cloth and light scuffing to spine ends; minor bumping to corners. Pages lightly toned, with a very few touches of soil.