95 - [CURIOSA]. The Priapic Mirliton. 69 quatrains against melancholy, featuring a playful “culispice.”

[CURIOSA]. The Priapic Mirliton. 69 quatrains against melancholy, featuring a playful “culispice.” First edition and out-of-print edition of these 69 erotic quatrains attributed to Theodore Hannon, adorned with a frontispiece and a playful “culispice” by Amédée Lynen. A copy containing two autograph quatrains signed by Hugues Delorme, in a charming period binding. At Mont Caramel, in the Sacred Confectionery, n.d. [Brussels, Kistemaeckers, circa 1883] In-8 (190 x 120 mm), full wine-colored shagreen, spine with filleted raised bands, ornate panels with fine metalwork, author “Culpidon” and title in gold lettering, triple gold fillet framing the covers, gold interior lace, double gold fillet on the edges, guilloché caps, gold headpiece. 3 unnumbered folios and 69 pages, 1 drypoint frontispiece signed “AM.L.” on the plate, a vignette on the title page, and a vignette at the beginning of the first sonnet, numerous black drop caps, red initials, and a red border around the text. Spine very slightly faded; small, light handling stains in the margins of pages 25–30; scattered, minute foxing spots. A rare first edition of these 69 free-verse, satirical quatrains attributed to Théodore Hannon, adorned with a drypoint frontispiece and a playful “culispice” by Amédée Lynen. This non-commercial edition was published in Brussels by Henry Kistemaeckers on February 23, 1883, and printed by A. Lefèvre on heavy vellum paper. Although the print run is not specified, it can be assumed that it was extremely limited, likely to 69 copies, as was the case with the collection *Treize sonnets du doigt dedans* that Théodore Hannon published in 1882 with the same publisher. [Pia, *Enfer*, 939]. Théodore Hannon (1851–1916), a Belgian poet and painter, friend of Joris-Karl Huysmans and Félicien Rops, is best known for his collection of sensual, Baudelaire-inspired poems, *Rimes de joie*, published in 1881. His obscene publications were nonetheless eagerly awaited and appreciated, as evidenced by this letter from Huysmans to his friend in 1883: “My dear Hannon, are you alive or dead? Is it an erotic shadow that published *Le Mirliton priapique*, which never reached me? What? Does the phallic cult absorb your nail-less finger so completely that your other five fingers can no longer hold a pen [?] ” (Arsenal, Lambert Collection MS/62). Our copy includes an insert at the end containing two autograph quatrains titled “To an Unfortunate Lover” and “ On a Foolish, Pouty Woman,” signed by Hugues Delorme (1868–1942), the famous satirical poet and chansonnier of the Chat Noir. This witty pastiche, embellished with two small vignettes, fits perfectly with the tone of the collection. A fine copy in a period binding.