• Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Winston Link Signed Photograph, Hotshot Eastbound, Iager, West Virginia, July 1957. $3,400 to $3,800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Alexander Hamilton ALS, Whiskey Rebellion. $2,800 to $3,200.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Civil War Canteen and Letters, Thomas Tabb Jr. CSA. $1,800 to $2,200.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Archive of Capt. William Tabb of MS, CSA, Killed Atlanta. $1,000 to $1,400.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Rudyard Kipling Collection, 29 Volumes, First Editions; Zaehnsdorf Bindings. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Artist Andrew Wyeth & Family Signed Letters, Cards. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Augusta Resolves Silk Broadside, Revolutionary War RelateD. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: 1894 Map of Nashville. $800 to $900.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: CSA Navy Appointment, Semmes and Mallory plus Photo of Lt. Armstrong. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Slave Colonies of Great Britain, 1825, Macaulay, First Edition, plus Debate on Abolition, 1792. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Signed Photo of 3 Presidents: Nixon, Ford, Carter. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Slave Ledger, Merrill Plantations, Natchez, MS & Concordia, LA. $1,000 to $1,200.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Sotheby’s
    New York Book Week
    12-26 June
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Theocritus. Theocriti Eclogae triginta, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, February 1495/1496. 220,000 - 280,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby, 1925. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Printed ca. 1381-1832. 400,000 - 600,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Lincoln, Abraham. Thirteenth Amendment, signed by Abraham Lincoln. 8,000,000 - 12,000,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Galieli, Galileo. First Edition of the Foundation of Modern Astronomy, 1610. 300,000 - 400,000 USD
  • Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE / LANDINO, CRISTOFORO. Comento di Christophoro Landino Fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Danthe Alighieri poeta fiorentino, 1481. €40,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus]. Aggiunta: Marsilius Ficinus, Ad Dantem gratulatio [in latino e Italiano], 1487. €40,000 to €60,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. Il Convivio, 1490. €20,000 to €25,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: BANDELLO, MATTEO. La prima [-quarta] parte de le nouelle del Bandello, 1554. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LEGATURA – PLUTARCO. Le vies des hommes illustres, grecs et romaines translates, 1567. €10,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: TOLOMEO, CLAUDIO. Ptolemeo La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo Alessandrino, Con alcuni comenti…, 1548. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: FESTE - COPPOLA, GIOVANNI CARLO. Le nozze degli Dei, favola [...] rappresentata in musica in Firenze…, 1637. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: SPINOZA, BARUCH. Opera posthuma, 1677. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: PUSHKIN, ALEXANDER. Borus Godunov, 1831. €30,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - LECUIRE, PIERRE. Ballets-minute, 1954. €35,000 to €40,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MAJAKOVSKIJ, VLADIMIR / LISSITZKY, LAZAR MARKOVICH. Dlia Golosa, 1923. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MATISSE, HENRI / MONTHERLANT, HENRY DE. Pasiphaé. Chant de Minos., 1944. €22,000 to €24,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2021 Issue

George Barbier from Shapero Rare Books

Barbier.

Barbier.

George Barbier was a notable French illustrator of the early twentieth century, his career ranging from the early teens to the early '30s. His stylized, often intricate images reflect the end of the Victorian era, and Queen Victoria herself. Out with the staid, proper lifestyle. Fun had returned, erotic, decadent, in a world emerging from Victorian times and later, the Great War. Barbier's illustrations exemplify the Jazz Age. People, usually women, in high-fashion, at times fantastic outfits, though often largely out of those outfits. Lovers meeting, or young women awaiting such a meeting, are frequent subjects. Cherubs, dragons and such often appear in these images to enhance the fantasy of the times. Life was so pleasurable to those of high society in those wondrous days. Neither they nor Barbier would survive the Great Depression. He died in 1932 at age 50.

 

Barbier was also a costume designer for the theater and ballet. It was from those designs that he received his inspiration for his illustrations. He also did some writing, but that was certainly secondary to his reputation. Shapero Rare Books has issued a “catalogue,” actually a folder of loose sheets, headed Barbier. That is appropriate as Barbier issued several collections of illustrations in this loose format. Here are a few samples of his work, and they will take you back to an era the likes of which we have not seen since.

 

Barbier is most closely associated with the Gazette du Bon Ton. Art, Modes, et Frivolities (gazette of good style). Shapero describes this as “the greatest and the rarest of all the Art Deco fashion periodicals.” Edited by Lucien Vogel, it featured the latest styles from the fashion houses of France, in particular, and other European designers. Barbier was there to turn their designs into illustrations, lithe models dressed in the latest fashion few could afford. In today's prices, it cost $400 per year just to subscribe, assuring a small, but highly prosperous clientele. It was published from 1912-1925, and Shapero has an almost complete run, 67 of 69 issues, missing only #7 from 1924 and #10 from 1925. They contain 535 lithograph plates, 290 sketches, and numerous colored wood engravings by Barbier and other artists. Priced at £27,500 (British pounds or approximately $38,895 in U.S. dollars).

 

Next is Dessins sur les Danses de Vaslav Nijinksy (Designs on the dances of Vaslav Nijinsky), published in 1913. It contains eight pages of text in French by Francis de Miomandre, and 12 full-page color illustrations by George Barbier. Nijinksy is depicted in scenes from three ballets, Scherazade, Carnival, and L'Apres-midi d'un Faune. These were appropriate illustrations for Barbier as he also designed costumes for Nijinsky in his performances with the Russian Ballet. Shapero describes Barbier's artwork perfectly in a quoted comment, “the designs, although somewhat fantastic in treatment, do convey the impression produced by Nijinsky in his famous characters.” Barbier's illustrations have a fantastic quality, but Nijinsky's performances had the same attribute. He did much to revive the dying art of ballet in Europe, and recognition for male ballet dancers which was virtually nonexistent by then. A century removed, and probably no one living who saw him in his prime, Nijinsky remains the standard for dance. This is a limited first edition, no. 327 of 390 copies. £4,500 (US $6,365).

 

Now we have some theater costumes, Vingt-cinq Costumes pour le Theatre (Twenty-five costumes for the theater). This collection contains 25 tipped-in theatrical costume plates, featuring Anna Pavlova, Nijinsky's counterpart as the great female ballet lead at the time, and Paulette Duval, a French dancer and actress. It also includes a frontispiece portrait of Barbier by Charles Martin, a friend of Barbier and artist from a similar vein. In the Preface, Edmond Jaloux expresses great praise for the artist, “George Barbier is one of the most precious and significant artists of our time...when everything has turned to dust and ashes, a few of his watercolours and drawings will suffice to resuscitate spirit of the era in which we lived.” Offered is no. 69 of 275 copies of the first edition. £4,000 (US $5,658).

 

Fetes Galantes (gallant parties) is appropriate for the roaring 20s, and this was published in 1928, a year before the partying came to an end. This is one of 800 copies on vellum of 20 plates after Barbier. This one is a special copy. Bound in is an original, signed watercolor by Barbier heightened with gold. The image is of a woman in a spectacular eighteenth century dress holding a fan. She stands in front of some intricately designed wallpaper. £4,500 (US $6,365).

 

This is another work illustrated by Barbier, Poemes en Prose precedes d'une Petite Lettre sur les Mythes par Paul Valery (Poems in prose preceded by a little letter on myths by Paul Valery). The writer of the prose poem was Maurice de Guerin, one of the pioneers of this form of poetry. De Guerin was a passionate writer who infused his poems with nature and mythical elements. Barbier has provided illustrations of the mythical Centaur and Bacchante. Barbier's edition was published in 1928, almost a century after de Guerin died. The unlucky poet died in 1839 at the age of 28 before any of his works were published. This copy has been inscribed by Barbier (translated), “To Miss Violette Garth / These small deities of days past, already touched by the melancholy of today / With respectful compliments of the artist George Barbier / June 1928.” £7,500 (US $10,615).

 

Shapero Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)20 7493 0876 or rarebooks@shapero.com. Their website is www.shapero.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, June 16-25: 15th-CENTURY TREATISE ON SYPHILIS. GRÜNPECK. 1496. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF BENIVIENI'S TREATISE ON PATHOLOGY. 1507. $12,000 - $18,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: FRACASTORO. Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus. 1530. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE FIRST PUBLISHED WORK ON SKIN DISEASES. MERCURIALIS. De morbis cutaneis... 1572. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: BIDLOO. Anatomia humani corporis... 1685. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF DOUGLASS'S EARLY AMERICAN WORK ON INNOCULATION AND SMALLPOX. 1722. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: LIND'S FIRST TREATISE ON SCURVY. 1753. $15,000 - $20,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: RARE JENNER SIGNED CIRCULAR ON VACCINATION. 1821. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: MOST BEAUTIFUL OF MEDICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. BRIGHT. Reports of Medical Cases... 1827-1831. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PRESENTATION COPY TO HER MOTHER. 1860. $6,000 - $8,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: LORENZO TRAVER'S MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL OF BURNSIDE'S NORTH CAROLINA EXPEDITION. TRAVER, Lorenzo. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: ONE OF THE EARLIEST PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOKS ON DERMATOLOGY. HARDY. Clinique Photographique... 1868. $3,000 - $5,000
  • Bonhams, June 16-24: KELMSCOTT PRESS. RUSKIN. The Nature of Gothic. 1892. $1,500 - $2,500
    Bonhams, June 16-24: ASHENDENE PRESS. The Wisdom of Jesus. 1932. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: CHARLOTTE BRONTE WRITES AS GOVERNESS. Autograph Letter Signed, 1851. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS. BRONTE, Emily. New York, 1848. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: IAN FLEMING ASSOCIATION COPY. You Only Live Twice. London, 1964. $7,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: DELUXE EDITION WITH ORIGINAL PAINTING. BUKOWSKI, Charles. War All the Time. 1984. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN'S MOST POWERFUL STATEMENT ON THE ATOMIC BOMB. Original Typed Manuscript Signed, "On My Participation in the Atom Bomb Project," 1953. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN ON SCIENCE, WAR AND MORALITY. Autograph Letter Signed, 1949. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. WASHINGTON, George. Engraved document signed, 1786. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: AN EARLY CHINESE-MADE 34-STAR U.S. CONSULAR FLAG. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF LINCOLN WITH HIS SON TAD. 1864. $60,000 - $90,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: MALCOLM X WRITES FROM KENYA. Postcard signed, 1964. $4,000 - $6,000

Review Search

Archived Reviews