43 - BALZAC (Honoré de) and QUINT (Jean-Paul). *The Devil’s Heir*, with color illustrations and calligraphy by Quint.

BALZAC (Honoré de) and QUINT (Jean-Paul). *The Devil’s Heir*, with color illustrations and calligraphy by Quint. A unique copy in a binding signed by Kieffer, featuring a black-and-white set of illustrations on Japanese paper and enriched with two proofs of the work: the first with Quint’s original watercolors, the second containing the publisher’s numerous annotations indicating the color changes to be made. Paris, René Kieffer, 1926. Small quarto (180x240 mm), dark brown morocco leather; on the covers, a decorative motif extending onto the edges and fillets, consisting of a broad gilt fillet set with two strips of pink and turquoise morocco leather forming two spirals at the center of the covers, plain spine adorned with a wide vertical gilt fillet flanked by two strips of havana and burgundy morocco leather forming a circle with the gilt title in the center; interior edging of the same morocco leather set with three gilt fillets and signed "René Kieffer," pink and green silk endpapers and linings, double endpapers, gilt head on endpapers, covers (the front cover illustrated) and spine preserved, edged slipcase (René Kieffer). 97 pages, 95 illustrations in the text by Jean-Paul Quint, stencil-colored. Spines very slightly rubbed, minimal wear on the slipcase. A splendid edition of this Rabelaisian-style short story from Balzac’s *Contes Drolatiques*, entirely hand-calligraphed and adorned with 95 stencil-colored illustrations by Jean-Paul Quint (1884–1953). Limited edition of 600 copies; this is a unique, unnumbered copy on Japanese paper, containing a black-and-white sequence of all the illustrations on Japanese paper, and enhanced with two proofs of the work on laid paper, the first featuring the watercolors by Jean-Paul Quint used for the coloring, the second containing the publisher’s numerous annotations indicating the changes to be made to the watercolors’ coloring for the final version. A precious copy, beautifully prepared by René Kieffer.