209 - [MANUSCRIPT - LIBER AMICORUM]. "Poetry." Album of handwritten poems.

[MANUSCRIPT - LIBER AMICORUM]. "Poetry." Album of handwritten poems. A charming friendship album containing 3 handwritten poems, in a delightful handcrafted Art Nouveau-inspired binding. In-8 with rounded corners, full olive-green percaline embossed to imitate the grain of morocco leather, smooth, unmarked spine; front cover titled in gold calligraphic lettering and adorned in the lower right corner with a superb floral motif in relief and color (a monochrome palette of pink and green with gold highlights) on a beveled sea-green canvas background outlined in gold; a gilded metal piece affixed to the edges in the lower right corner; linings and endpapers of gray and gold paper with a botanical design; all edges gilt. 3 pages of poems handwritten in graphite, one of which is adorned with pencil drawings, followed by 45 blank leaves. Scuffing on the spine and edges. Liber amicorum from the late 19th/early 20th century, containing 3 signed handwritten poems, one of which is adorned with two original pencil drawings: - December 31, 1902: Autograph poem signed “Marguerite,” adorned with two pencil drawings of flowers: “In this world where everything leans / Toward a better world / The flower is to the branch / As friendship is to the heart.” - March 6, 1903: An acrostic poem titled “To My Friend Gabrielle,” signed “Anne-Marie” after the notation “certified true copy” - April 24, 1910: A humorous and melancholic poem titled “To a Laughing Girl (Chatoune),” signed in Aix by Marguerite: “Alas! Poetry is dead / And versification / Out of a spirit of imitation / Is making its way out the door... ” It is presented in a superb handcrafted binding, embellished with an Art Nouveau relief design on the front cover. In excellent condition.