131 - FONTEINAS, Pierre, and GRELLETY-BOSVIEL, Pierre (eds.). Layout and series of original woodcuts for a proposed edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s *The Black Cat* in Charles Baudelaire’s translation.

FONTEINAS, Pierre, and GRELLETY-BOSVIEL, Pierre (eds.). Layout and series of original woodcuts for a proposed edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s *The Black Cat* in Charles Baudelaire’s translation. Paris, May–October 1946. In-8 booklet, comprising 24 pages on laid paper and a cover sheet also on laid paper. 1 mounted woodcut and 5 woodcuts on loose leaves. Mock-up for a proposed illustrated book. The front cover features a black-ink border consisting of a double line enclosing the title, written in graphite calligraphy, and the head of a black cat wearing a monocle. The interior of the mock-up opens to a half-title page and a title page, both drawn in graphite. It contains one of the engravings mounted on a leaf within a frame consisting of a double black-ink border, followed by printed text and an initial letter in an identical layout. The other five engraved compositions are on loose leaves. The patron, Dr. Pierre Grellety-Bosviel (1891–1969), a physician and prominent figure in bibliophilia, had partnered with the Catalan engraver Louis Jou as early as 1921 to publish art books. In 1946, after Louis Jou had settled in Provence, the doctor launched this personal project in Paris. It was under the headings “Pierre Bosviel Éditeur” and “Édition Bosviel”—inscribed on the layout—that he conceived this illustrated edition of *Le Chat Noir*. He commissioned the young engraver Pierre Fonteinas (1921–1990), who in January 1946 had just created 19 engravings for an edition of Jean Giono’s *Le Regain* published by Éditions Livres d’Art. For the illustrator, seeking to depict Poe’s world through Baudelaire’s famous translation was an essential stylistic exercise. The series of six original woodcuts displays a striking dramatic intensity. The artist employs stark contrasts between raw whites and deep blacks. The jagged, angular lines perfectly convey the psychological anguish of this fantastical short story, from the deceptive gentleness of the first plate showing the narrator with his cat to the dramatic tension of the murder by axe. This collection marks a unique expressionist foray in Pierre Fonteinas’s career, long before his style evolved toward a poetic humanism. Three accompanying autograph documents shed further light on the history of this abandoned project: - An autograph receipt signed by Pierre Fonteinas (1 page, in-8 format, in blue ink, October 22, 1946). It certifies that he received the sum of 6,000 francs from Dr. Gilbert Bosviel in exchange for ten engraved woodcuts and four additional woodcuts intended for the publication of the book, of which he would receive four copies. - An envelope containing the proof bearing this annotation, likely in the hand of Dr. Grellety-Bosviel: “Project / to have woodcuts engraved by Pierre Fontainas to illustrate Edgar Poe’s ‘The Cat’ / Contract 10/20/46—10 woodcuts. / 5 have already been engraved.” - The original estimate from the printer Fequet & Baudier addressed to Pierre Grellety-Bosviel (1 page, in-8, with a printed letterhead, May 6, 1946): “For the typesetting and black-and-white printing of a book of approximately 60 pages illustrated with 9 woodcuts in black—print run of 500 copies—cover and folding / for a flat fee of 50,000 francs.” A fine set.