178 - LELOIR, Maurice, and BERNARDIN DE SAINT-PIERRE, Jacques-Henri. *Paul and Virginie*. Illustrations by Maurice Leloir.

LELOIR, Maurice, and BERNARDIN DE SAINT-PIERRE, Jacques-Henri. *Paul and Virginie*. Illustrations by Maurice Leloir. A magnificent illustrated edition, limited to 100 copies on Japanese paper, this particular copy enhanced with a suite of illustrations and bound in a sumptuous morocco leather binding lined by Joseph Bretault. Paris, H. Launette & Co., 1887. In-4 (220 x 295 mm), full midnight-blue coarse-grained morocco, spine with filleted raised bands, panels adorned with a framing design consisting of interlaced gold fillets at the corners, author and title in gold lettering, date at the bottom, the same gold framing design repeated on the covers, linings of the same morocco leather adorned with a gilded frame design in the same style, salmon-colored moiré silk endpapers with a repeating floral pattern, double endpapers of marbled paper, double gilded fillet at the edges, gilded edges on endpapers, covers and spine preserved, slipcase. Binding by Bretault. XXVII and 208 pages, 132 illustrations, including 12 etched plates and 120 woodcut drawings in the text. Scuffing at the joints, on one edge, and in one corner; wear on the slipcase. A charming illustrated edition adorned with 132 delicate black-and-white illustrations by the painter and draftsman Maurice Leloir (1853–1940), including 12 separate etchings by Auguste Boulard and 120 woodcut illustrations in the text by J. Huyot, A. Bellenger, and L. Rousseau. Limited edition of 100 numbered copies on Japan paper; this copy is one of 50 containing a set of all the woodcut vignettes (No. 75). [Vicaire VII, 75–76]. This bibliophile edition follows in the tradition of the great Romantic illustrated books, carrying forward the aesthetic and spirit of the famous Curmer editions. Maurice Leloir (1853–1940) displays a meticulous eye for historical detail and naturalistic observation, faithfully recreating the tropical flora of Mauritius as well as the costumes of the late 18th century—the period during which Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (1737–1814) composed his masterpiece. Gilded ex-libris vignette on a blue background, depicting a wild boar walking across a grassy terrace. A very fine copy in a lined binding by Joseph Bretault (1856–1903), a student of Victor Champs and the father-in-law of Henri Blanchetière, who continued to run his workshop at 8 rue Bonaparte after Bretault’s death.