Théophile Alexandre Steinlen’s lithograph, “Les Soliloques du Pauvre”

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859–1923)

“Les Soliloques du Pauvre” (The Soliloquies of the Poor), 1895, proof impression of the cover to Jehan Rictus’ (aka Gabriel Randon) (1867–1933) poems, “Les Soliloques du Pauvre”, published by the Société du "Mercure de France" in Paris in 1897 (see https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb312150546).

I understand that the advancing figure on the right of the composition is the poet, Jenan Rictus—based on the Bibliothèque nationale’s advice that Rictus (transl.) “was a great friend of Steinlen who took inspiration from his silhouette to illustrate the most famous of his works: ‘The Soliloques of the Poor’” (see cat. no. 13: https://archive.org/details/bnf-bpt6k65340400/page/n22/mode/1up).

Éditions Gallimard offers the following insightful account of Jehan Rictus and this publication: (transl.) “Gabriel Randon, known as Jehan-Rictus … had a difficult and conflicted childhood, he left school around fourteen, lived in various small jobs and began to frequent the milieu of artists and anarchists in Montmartre. Leading a precarious life, homeless for a while, at twenty-two he frequented the world of tramps and vagabonds, a crucial experience that would inspire him with the best of his literary work. He was twenty-eight when he undertook to give voice to the little people of the streets and the declassed in poems entirely written in his language, Parisian slang. It will be The Soliloquies of the Poor which he made known by saying them himself in the Montmartre cabarets, notably at the Chat Noir. Unclassifiable book, without equivalent in the history of poetry, this collection which knows an immediate success because of its lyrical force, its oratorical power and its prosodic control is undoubtedly, after Villon and before Prévert or Queneau, one of rare examples of a poetry that uses popular language and in a certain way prefigures contemporary rap” (https://www.gallimard.fr/Catalogue/GALLIMARD/Poesie-Gallimard/Les-soliloques-du-pauvre-suivi-de-Le-coeur-populaire#).

Transfer lithograph printed in black on cream wove paper (see https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/2826/les-soliloques-du-pauvre).

Size: (sheet) 28 x 38 cm; (image borderline) 20 x 32.3 cm.

Lettered in plate: “Jehan Rictus/ Les Soliloques/ DuPauvre/ Dessins De/ Steinlen”.

Crauzat 579 (Ernest de Crauzat 1913, “L'oeuvre gravé et lithographié de Steinlen”, Paris Société de propagation des livres d'art, p. 156, cat. no. 579 [see https://archive.org/details/loeuvregravetl00crauuoft/page/156/mode/1up]).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, abrasions, stains or foxing.

I am selling this proof impression of Steinlen’s famous lithograph designed for the cover of his friend’s book of poems, for the total cost of AU$242 (currently US$164.68/EUR157.77/GBP136.20 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this graphically strong original lithograph capturing a bleak view of Parisian life in Montmartre towards the end of the nineteenth century, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Anthonie Waterloo’s etching, “Traveller Near a Wood”, c1645

Anthonie Waterloo (aka Anthoni Waterloo; Antoni Waterlo) (1609–1690)

“Traveller Near a Wood” (aka “Man with a Dog in a Forest”), c1645 ([Rijksmuseum dates] 1630–1663; [final reworked state] 1868), from the series “Six Landscapes” (H.53-58). This impression was published in 1868 by Philip Gilbert Hamerton (1834–1894) in London as plate v (opposite page 282) in “Etching & Etchers” (1868).

Etching on laid paper (partial watermark) with full margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 16.9 x 25.1 cm; (plate) 11.5 x 14.3 cm; (image borderline) 11.2 x 14.1 cm.

Inscribed in plate: (lower right): “AW F”

State iii (of iii) with “Cross-hatching added on the trunk of the tree at the center, just below the foliage. Heavy cross-hatching added in the dark area at the lower left” (Morse [1992], p. 61).

TIB 0201.053 S3 (Peter Morse [ed.] 1992, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Antoni Waterloo”, vol. 2, Commentary, Part 1, New York, Abaris Books, p.61, cat. no. 053 S3); Hollstein Dutch 53 (3) (Christiaan Schuckman 1997, “Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450–1700: Antoni Waterloo,” vol. 50, Rotterdam, Sound and Vision, p. 126, cat. no. 53).

The British Museum and Rijksmuseum offer the following descriptions of this print: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_F-3-61;  http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.193724.

Condition: a richly inked impression—note retroussage marks around the figure and dog—with full margins and red edging to the sheet (as published) in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this superb impression from the Hamerton edition of 1868—interesting to note the nineteenth century desire to add richness to an impression like this by the use of retroussage (i.e., a technique employed when wiping the still wet plate to allow ink to “spill” over the lines)—for the total cost of AU$298 (currently US$200/EUR193.20/GBP167.07 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this very beautiful etching, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Kono Naotoyo Bairei’s woodblock prints, “Plate 30: Hibiscus” & “Plate 31: Daylily”, 1890

Kono Naotoyo Bairei (幸野楳嶺) (1844–1895)

“Plate 30: Hibiscus” and “Plate 31: Daylily”, 1890, published by Tanaka Jihei (and later by Yamada Unsodo) in Kyoto (Kyoto-shi) in the four-volume series of 200 woodcuts, “Chigusa no Hana” 千種の花 (Flowers of a Thousand Varieties). I understand that that these impressions are from the first colour edition and that there was a black and white edition published in 1889. (Note that there may be inaccuracies in my description and I apologise if this is the case.)

Colour woodblock prints on fine buff washi paper.

Size: (each sheet) 23.8 x 15 cm.

Condition: both sheets are strong and well-printed impressions in near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this pair of original polychrome woodblock prints for a total cost of AU$300 (currently US$201.19/EUR193.66/GBP167.52 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing these masterworks of colour woodblock printing from the late 1800s, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Adolphe Appian’s etching, “Sentier au Bord d'un Étang”, 1865

Adolphe Appian (1818–1898)

“Sentier au Bord d'un Étang” (aka “Path at the Edge of a Pond”) 1865. This small etching was published by the Société des Aquafortistes in the album for their fourth year in 1^st January, 1866.

Etching on fine laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 14.2 x 22.3 cm; (plate) 7.8 x 12.9 cm; (image borderline) 5.9 x 11 cm.

Inscribed in plate within the image borderline: (upper left corner) “APPIAN 1865”.

Numbered in plate: (above upper right corner) “205.”

State ii (of iv) with the addition of the plate number (205), but before the addition of publication details.

Curtis & Prouté 17 ii (Atherton Cutiis & Paul Prouté 1968, “Adolphe Appian son Oeuvre Gravé et Lithographié”, Paris, Paul Prouté, [n.p.] cat. no. 17 ii); Jennings 14 (Herbert H Jennings 1925, Adolphe Appian (essay) in “Print Collector’s Quarterly,” vol. 12, no. 1, p. 114, cat. no. 14 [see https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/print_collectors_quarterly1925/0134/scroll]).

Condition: a richly inked, strong and well-printed impression in an excellent condition with no holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this marvellous etching capturing a broad panorama leading into the far distance within a very small sized plate, for the total cost of AU$288 (currently US$192.47/EUR192.47/GBP159.67 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this small and very beautiful jewel of an etching executed by an artist with a strong personal vision (as exemplified by this print) and close connection with the Barbizon School, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold 

Adolphe Appian’s etching, “Chaland au Bord d'une Rivière”, 1865

Adolphe Appian (1818–1898)

“Chaland au Bord d'une Rivière” (aka “Barge on the Edge of a River”; “River Bank with Two Figures”), 1865. This small etching was published by the Société des Aquafortistes in the album for their fourth year in 1^st January, 1866.

Etching on fine laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 14 x 22.1 cm; (plate) 7.8 x 12.9 cm; (image borderline) 5.7 x 10.8 cm.

Inscribed in plate within the image borderline: (upper left corner) “Appian 186[5]”

State i (of iii) before the addition of publication details.

Curtis & Prouté 18 i (Atherton Cutiis & Paul Prouté 1968, “Adolphe Appian son Oeuvre Gravé et Lithographié”, Paris, Paul Prouté, [n.p.] cat. no. 18 i); Jennings 15 (Herbert H Jennings 1925, Adolphe Appian (essay) in “Print Collector’s Quarterly,” vol. 12, no. 1, p. 97 & 114, cat. no. 15 [see https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/print_collectors_quarterly1925/0134/scroll]).

The British Museum holds a copy of this print in its third state: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1878-1109-225.

In Hamerton’s 1876 edition of “Etching and Etchers”, Hamerton offers the following interesting insights about Appian’s prints: “…his [Appian’s] work is that each plate, however large or however small it may be, is conceived from the first as a whole, and the first conception is never departed from for the disproportionate realisation of some obtrusive detail.” Going further, “…Appian sees always in masses, and gives quite as much detail as is consistent with the preservation of the mass” (pp. 202–03).

Condition: a richly inked, strong and well-printed first state impression in an excellent condition with no holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling.

I am selling this marvellous etching that in one sense sparkles with light and space, but, from a very different way of looking, seems to be overlaid inexplicably with a heavy melancholic mood, for the total cost of AU$288 (currently US$192.47/EUR192.47/GBP159.67 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this small and very beautiful jewel of an etching executed by an artist with a strong personal vision (as exemplified by this print) and close connection with the Barbizon School, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Joseph Strutt’s engraving, “The Virgin with the Rose”, c1785, after Master ES

Joseph Strutt (1749–1802)

“The Virgin with the Rose”, c1785, after the engraving in the same direction, 1461, by Master ES (c1420–c1468), portraying the Virgin holding the Christ child on her arm and a rose in her other hand before a chapel (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1853-0611-244). This engraving was published in London in 1785 by J. Davis as an illustration to Joseph Strutt’s “A Biographical Dictionary” (see https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict00stru/page/n39/mode/2up).

Engraving printed in sepia ink with plate tone on heavy laid paper with partial watermark. and collectors’ stamps verso.

Size: (sheet) 28.4 x 21.1 cm; (plate) 26.6 x 19.5 cm; (image borderline) 18.3 x 13.1 cm.

Inscribed in plate with the date following the inscription by Master ES: (under the foliage of tree at upper left) “1[4]61”.

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “The Virgin with the rose (copy after Master ES); Mary stands in a chapel before a seat, holding the Child on one arm and a rose with her right hand; through the left window a tree is seen. c.1785 Engraving” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_E-1-2).

Condition: a well-printed impression with generous margins. There is thinness verso resulting from former mounting with pencil inscriptions and ink stamps of previous collectors, otherwise the sheet is in a good condition with no tears, holes, folds, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this beautifully executed engraving after the design of the German master who was possibly the first artist to inscribed his engravings with his initials—hence his title “Master ES”—and arguably the first engraver to employ cross-hatching (see my early blog post, “Dotted Lozenge: Goltzius” [https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2012/11/goltzius-dotted-lozenge.html])—for the total cost of AU$263 (currently US$177.59/EUR170.69/GBP146.89 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this curiously interesting engraving, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.