Diderot et d'alembert

1924 · ST19296 — Paris: Auguste Blaizot 1924. No. XXI OF 355 COPIES. 310 x 225 mm. 12 1/4 x 8 3/4". 3 p.l. XI 1 blank 197 5 pp. <br/> SPLENDID INDIGO CRUSHED MOROCCO BY ÉMILE MAYLANDER stamp-signed on front doublure covers with elegant gilt frames featuring flowers and acanthus leaves raised bands spines richly gilt in compartments with pomegranate sprig centerpiece MOSAIC MOROCCO DOUBLURES with inlaid frame of maroon morocco and gilt-latticed cornerpieces of blue morocco on a caramel-colored background maroon silk endleaves all edges gilt. Original wrappers bound in. Housed in matching morocco-trimmed chemise lined with leather in matching slipcase. With three engraved vignettes in the text and 34 plates by Bernard Naudin two of them double-page. AN IMMACULATE COPY.<br/> <br/> Virtually unchanged since the day it left the bindery this is a beautiful luxury edition of Diderot's vicious satire skewering the hedonism cynicism and materialism of opponents of the Enlightenment. The work takes the form of a dialogue between "Moi" the narrator standing in for Diderot and "Lui" the jaded sophisticated "Nephew of Rameau" of the title. The operas of French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau 1683-1764 are among the topics Moi and Lui debate--the alleged superiority of Italian opera being one of the "culture wars" of the day--along with the worship of money and the possibility of morality without God. Fearing repercussions from political and cultural elites mentioned by name in the work Diderot never published it. The manuscript was in the library he sold to Catherine the Great of Russia and a copy found its way via Schiller into the hands of Goethe who translated it into German and published it in 1805. In 1890 French librarian George Monval found a copy of the manuscript in Diderot's own hand and the original text finally came into print. Our edition uses this text enlivened by the etchings of Bernard Naudin 1876-1946 whose genius for satirical caricature is well matched to the subject. Born into the trade as the son of a gilder in the Marius Michel workshop Emile Maylander 1866-1959 was still a child when he began to train with the best doreur of the day Gustave Bénard. By the age of 10! he was working for the atelier of Domont where he perfected his craft. He later worked for the great Cuzin and for Émile Mercier in whose workshop he was the premier doreur. After Mercier's death in 1910 he began doing high-end gilding work for other binders before opening his own studio in 1920. Flety tells us he quickly established a grand reputation among collectors. According to Duncan and De Bartha Maylander preferred bindings that used classical designs "which he executed with a faultless technique drawing the admiration of a number of bibliophiles." He chose such a classical design appropriate to the late 18th century for this work creating a harmony of text illustration and binding. Auguste Blaizot unknown