DIVE (Paul) DUCERE (Édouard) - Lot 142

DIVE (Paul) DUCERE (Édouard) La Belle Armurière or a Siege of Bayonne in the Middle Ages. Paris, Hurtrel, 1886. In-8: 243pp; numerous illustrations in text, including 7 in black, 4 in blue and 4 in color, all by UZES, LAMPURE after CORRÈGE, engraved by Rousseau, Gillot and Petit. Edition of 500 copies, one of 20 of the head edition on Chine (unjustified), with an original color drawing titled La Belle armurière and signed ATALAYA. Doubled eggplant morocco signed NOULHAC, gilt title on spine ribbons, cold-stamped fillets between the ribs, mosaic decoration framing the boards, gilt roulette on the edges, chocolate counter-guards with framing gilt fillet and gilt monogram G.V., lined endpapers, the first in silk embroidered with floral decoration, publisher's cover preserved, gilt edges. A novel reconstructing life in Bayonne in the 14th century. Well printed and copiously illustrated. Although physically printed separately, the "hors texte" plates, as Barbe points out, are included in the pagination (Barbe 268). Enrique Atalaya Gonzales, Spanish-born painter who later settled in Paris. Provenance: From the library of the Lille bibliophile Georges-Pierre-François Valdelièvre.