MALATESTA & FLAUBERT (Gustave). The legend of S. Julien - Lot 188

MALATESTA & FLAUBERT (Gustave). The legend of S. Julien l'hospitalier. Paris [Montrouge], Draeger, 1906. In-4, bradel cream cloth boards, title in red Gothic letters on spine, cover preserved. Unique edition of 170 copies on japon. Published for the Société Normande du Livre illustré, under the direction of Raymond-Claude Lafontaine. "Et voilà l'histoire de Saint Julien l'Hospitalier, telle à peu près qu'on la trouve sur un vitrail d'église dans mon pays" (last words of this Flaubert tale). The illustration, skilfully designed and engraved by Malatesta, comprises a frontispiece, a title vignette, an hors-texte figure, 51 in-text figures, 2 headpieces, and numerous initials, culs-de-lampe and other illustrations. The artist has calligraphed the text in Gothic script, and illustrated each page with vignettes of stained glass windows, whose lead settings strongly emphasize the naïve yet expressive design. This calligraphic manuscript, illuminated and historiated by Henri Malatesta, was then reproduced in facsimile by Reymond (photoengraver) and Henri Jouffroy (chromist), using 6 typographic plates for each page.