290 - VALÉRY, Paul, and DROUART, Raphaël. *L'Âme et la danse*. A Socratic dialogue illustrated by Raphaël Drouart.

VALÉRY, Paul, and DROUART, Raphaël. *L'Âme et la danse*. A Socratic dialogue illustrated by Raphaël Drouart. A fine copy of this luxurious edition, illustrated with 22 original lithographs and printed in a limited run of only 120 copies on Arches paper. Included is a printed menu adorned with an engraving numbered and signed by the illustrator. Paris, Le Livre Contemporain, 1925. Large quarto (350 x 275 mm), loose-leaf, parchment-like paper cover, lined, printed, and illustrated in black, housed in a beige cardboard slipcase with bronze fabric straps, featuring the publisher’s silver monogram on the top cover, a violet half-maroquin slipcase with bands and a ribbed spine, and a matching edged case. 80 pages, 22 original black lithographs by Raphaël Drouart, including 1 frontispiece, 1 vignette on the cover, 1 on the title page, and 19 lithographs printed in black within the text by Duchatel. Spine of the cover is sun-faded; the case has a slight crack at the bottom. First separate edition, published by the Société du Livre Contemporain, then chaired by statesman and academician Louis Barthou, assisted by patron and financier Gabriel Thomas. The illustrations, from the first print run, include 22 original black-and-white lithographs by Raphaël Drouart (1884–1972). Trained in the school of rigor by Fernand Cormon and steeped in the Symbolist sensibility of Maurice Denis, Drouart displays here a neoclassical style tinged with Art Deco. His compositions exalt the human form, drapery, and the aesthetics of dance, in perfect harmony with Valéry’s Socratic text. The prints were produced on the presses of the printer Duchatel, a renowned master of art lithography. Limited edition of 120 numbered copies on Arches paper, signed by the author and the illustrator; this copy, No. 40, was printed specifically for the Parisian bibliophile and auctioneer Marcel Pognon, a subscribing member of the Society. [Carteret, IV, 385]. Included is the printed menu from a “Livre Contemporain” dinner held on June 21, 1933, adorned with a beautiful original engraving by Raphaël Drouart, numbered 11/50, and hand-signed by the artist (double-leaf folio). A fine copy of this “sought-after edition,” according to Carteret.