42 - BALZAC (Honoré de) and LÉANDRE (Charles). Facino Cane. Compositions by Charles Léandre engraved by E. Decisy.

BALZAC (Honoré de) and LÉANDRE (Charles). Facino Cane. Compositions by Charles Léandre engraved by E. Decisy. Luxurious full morocco binding signed by Noulhac, enclosing the Vicomte de Verneaux's nominative copy, enriched with a suite of illustrations in triplicate, a facsimile drawing and an original watercolor in color signed by Léandre. Paris, Société du Livre d'Art, 1910. In-8 (180x250 mm), red long-grained morocco, spine with wide false-nerves underlined by a quintuple gilt fillet and framed in cold, single and quintuple gilt fillets framing the entrenerfs, boards framed in the same way with an additional fillet set with fleurons at the corners, double gilt fillet on the edges, wide inner band in the same ornate morocco signed "Noulhac dans le cuir", fir-green moiré silk lining and endpapers, double endpapers, gilt edges on witnesses, covers and spines preserved, lined case (Noulhac). 40 pages, 13 compositions by Charles Léandre engraved by E. Decisy, including 1 frontispiece portrait, 1 title vignette, and 11 in the text. Slight rubbing to the spine of the first cover, very slight discharge of the frontispiece on the title, very slight and rare foxing on some margins, first white of the suite browned. First separate edition of one of the shortest stories in La Comédie Humaine, evoking the life and supernatural powers of the eponymous narrator, a wealthy and noble senator from Venice. Published under the direction of Madame la Baronne de Berckhein, it features 13 delicate color compositions, including a frontispiece portrait, engraved by E. Decisy after Charles Léandre. Limited edition of 125 copies, this one of the first 100 reserved for Members of the Society (N°40, nominative for M. Le Vicomte de Verneaux). One of the ten suites (N°3) comprising 3 states of all the illustrations (in black with remarks, in black without remarks and the definitive state in color with remarks). - a facsimile pencil drawing (14x19 cm) signed C. Léandre and dated 1911 with the words "en souvenir de Facino Came". - an original watercolor in color (17x24 cm) signed C. Léandre and dated 1909 From the library of Claude Guillemin, with his bookplate on the flyleaf. A very fine and rare copy, perfectly established by Noulhac.