SCHMIED (François-Louis) - KIPLING (Rudyard). Kim.... Lot 130

SCHMIED (François-Louis) - KIPLING (Rudyard). Kim. Translated by Louis Fabulet and Ch. Fountaine-Walker. Lausanne: Gonin et Cie, [1930]. - 3 volumes in-4, 306 x 247: frontispiece, 267 pp, (4 ff. first and 2 last blank), 8 plates, illustrated cover; (2 blank ff.), 263 pp, (4 ff. first and last blank), 6 plates, illustrated cover. Red morocco, boards entirely covered with a geometrical and symmetrical decoration, distinct for each binding, composed of gilt and black fillets as well as mosaic motifs in black and white morocco, smooth spine decorated with diamond-shaped motifs in gilt and black morocco, framed in red morocco decorated with circular motifs in black morocco and gilt on the inside, red moiré silk lining and endpapers, double endpapers, gilt edges on witnesses, cover and spine preserved, lined slipcase (R. Laurent). A brilliant edition of 160 copies on japon paper, illustrated with 57 superb color compositions by François-Louis SCHMIED (1873-1941), including 1 frontispiece, 15 chapter headings, 15 lettering, 11 culs-de-lampe, 1 colophon vignette and 14 plates. The hors-texts and chapter headings bear the artist's printed signature. Copy no. 39, signed by the publisher on the justification, one of 30 with a double suite of engravings, in black on vellum and in color on japon. This double suite has been bound in a separate third volume. The frontispiece and second headband are in a single state on japon. PRECIOUS EXEMPLAIRE BINDED IN THE EPOQUE BY RENÉ LAURENT, a Belgian bookbinder who was a pupil of Charles de Samblanx. These bindings are decorated in the purest Art Deco style, with great elegance and perfect execution. Each binding has a very similar but distinct composition in the center. Designed for the famous Belgian bibliophile General Jacques Willems (1879-1937), president of the Société des Bibliophiles et Iconophiles de Belgique. It is enriched with the following items. Text volumes : - ORIGINAL GOUACHE BY SCHMIED, signed and dedicated in pencil: "pour Kim // à Monsieur le général Willems // en attachement respectueux // F. L. Schmied." - L.A.S. from Schmied to Jacques Willems, two pages in-8, with particular reference to the original composition mentioned above: "I have just finished your two watercolors. The one intended for "Kim", depicting a Tibetan city as I imagine it, is, I believe, one of my best creations." - One of 160 suites on japon nacré of the 15 additional plates drawn and engraved by François-Louis Schmied. - Color state of 8 of the 15 chapter headings, including 2 on japon nacré and one with the handwritten note "1er essai". - A color proof on japon nacré of plate XIII. Volume of suites: - Suite no. 7 of 15 additional plates in double state, black on vellum and in color on Japon nacré. - Color decomposition on japon for plate IX of this suite. A perfectly preserved copy. Provenance : Jacques Willems.