Gauguin

1923 · 1596 — Paris: G. Crès et Cie. 1923. First edition. Octavo. Nicely bound in later red half morocco over red cloth boards ruled in gilt; the spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and with titles in gilt. Original illustrated paper wrappers bound-in at the front and rear. Page edges untrimmed. Illustrated with 27 black and white plates after designs by Gauguin. 241pp. Near-contemporary ownership inscription in pencil to the front endpaper "Clement Davenport / MCMXXXIII-IV". A very good copy the binding firm with a hint of fading to the spine. The contents with the odd spot of faint foxing to the preliminary pages and two neat Japanese-tissue repairs to the verso of the bound-in wrapper are otherwise in very good order. Gauguin's Avant et Après Before and After was originally a 213-page manuscript produced by the artist in Atuana Marquesas Islands between January and February 1903. Part-memoir and part-manifesto it provides a significant insight into his life relationships and thoughts and includes numerous ​drawings and prints.</p><p>The present copy was originally owned by artist and set designer for the Royal Opera House Clement Davenport née Hale 1913-c.1957 a close friend of the artist Julian Trevelyan and daughter of the American civil-rights lawyer poet and socialist Swinburne Hale 1884–1937 and the English actress lecturer writer and suffragist Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale 1883-1967. Paris: G. Crès et Cie. hardcover