103 - DECARIS, Albert, and BARRÈS, Maurice. *Du sang de la volupté et de la mort*.

DECARIS, Albert, and BARRÈS, Maurice. *Du sang de la volupté et de la mort*. A splendid copy bound in full Creuzevault morocco of this edition illustrated by Albert Decaris, featuring an original signed wash drawing. Paris, Éditions du Bois Sacré, 1930. Large and sturdy in-4 (265 x 340 mm), full black morocco, smooth spine adorned with the title and author’s name in gilt letters, covers framed by a geometric relief and blind-stamped design with a smooth compass rose modeled in the center of the front cover, wide interior frame of the same morocco leather adorned with six blind-stamped fillets, linings and endpapers of red moiré silk, gilt edges, covers and spine preserved, slipcase in black half-maroquin with stripes, case edged with wood-grain paper. Binding signed Creuzevault. 318 pages, 92 chisel-engraved plates, including 38 separate plates, 26 initials, and 28 tailpieces. Minimal scuffing on the headbands and fore-edges, minor scuffing from normal use on the half-leather cover and slipcase, a few areas where the engraving has worn away, as is often the case. A fine edition of this collection in which Maurice Barrès shares his impressions of travels undertaken in Spain and Italy between 1891 and 1893, when he was a young author still steeped in the lingering romanticism of the late 19th century. It is adorned with 92 compositions engraved with a burin by Albert Decaris (1901–1988), including 38 separate plates, featuring architectural and sculptural lines that powerfully emphasize the tragic and sensual dimensions of the text. The engravings, printed on the presses of master engraver Edmond Rigal, and the typesetting by Maurice Darantière make this volume a particularly exquisite bibliophile edition. Limited to 316 copies, this is one of 216 numbered copies printed on white van Gelder laid paper with the “Au bois sacré” watermark (no. 130). It is enhanced by a beautiful original wash drawing signed in graphite by the artist in the book’s format (240 x 320 mm) and includes the publisher’s bulletin containing a eulogy of the illustrator by Henry de Montherlant (4 folios bound at the end). A superb copy, in excellent condition, in a spectacular binding with geometric decoration by Henri Creuzevault.