294 - [MODERN ILLUSTRATORS]

[MODERN ILLUSTRATORS] [ALBUM AMICORUM]. (ca. 1900–1910). Large Italian-style quarto (23 x 28.5 x 5.5 cm), ca. (350) leaves of white vellum. Contemporary taupe morocco leather binding, smooth spine, gilt title, green tabis endpapers, quadruple gilt fillet framing the inside covers, gilt edges, in a marbled slipcase with morocco leather trim. Description: ALBUM AMICORUM formerly owned by Albert Bélinac, a French textile and silk industrialist in Saint-Étienne between the late 19th and 20th centuries. Contains drawings, signed and with dedications, by various modern illustrators. Housed in a magnificent period morocco leather case, unsigned but perfectly crafted. Contains 6 large original signed drawings, in mixed media, executed in color or hand-colored, featuring free, erotic, and/or animal themes. Album made of superb white vellum paper. The rest of the album is completely blank. Includes: - 2 beautiful drawings by Paul-Emile Bécat, both signed, one of which bears a friendly tribute to Mr. Bélinac: one free-form, the other highly erotic and likely an illustration from *Dangerous Liaisons* or a reinterpretation of an illustration from *The Memoirs of Fanny*—perhaps, pending further comparison, a rejected illustration or one created in the spirit of those commissions. One is on a loose sheet of Japanese paper. -2 animal drawings: A scene featuring elephants and a nude female figure, signed by the painter A (André) Margat with a dedication from the artist, and A Black Panther, signed by O (dette) Denis with a dedication from the artist. -One freehand drawing (languid nude women), signed, with a dedication from the artist. -One drawing of a nude woman with a kid, signed with a dedication, dated 1908.