SCHMIED (François-Louis). - SUETONE. The Twelve... Lot 30

SCHMIED (François-Louis). - SUETONE. The Twelve Caesars. Paris, F.-L. Schmied, 1928. In-4, (8)-6-cccxxvi-(8) pp, brown morocco, smooth spine, mosaic decoration of garnet leather pieces with geometrical interlacing of black and gilt fillets covering the boards and the spine with lacquer on the upper board, inner threaded enca_x0002_drement, gilt edges, garnet stingray lining, burgundy moire endpapers, brown morocco spine and covers, lined case, cover and spine preserved (F.L.S. - lacquer J.D.). EDITION OF 175 COPIES ON ARCHES VELLUM SIGNED BY F.-L. SCHMIED, THE N° 1. Without the planned double suite. First edition of the translation by Joseph Estève, and of the preface by Louis Barthou. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BIOGRAPHICAL COLLECTIONS OF ANTIQUITY WITH THE ILLUSTRIOUS MEN OF PLUTARCH. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, now known as Suetonius, was secretary to the emperor Hadrian and, at the end of the first century AD, painted portraits of the first twelve emperors, breaking new ground with his precise style and a concern for accuracy that did not detract from his taste for the picturesque. RICH COLOUR ILLUSTRATION BY F.-L. SCHMIED: a frontispiece, 12 full-page portraits out of text, 10 plates in the text, the last one almost full-page. The pages of the general title, the intermediate titles and the completion of printing are decorated with a complex set of perpendicular interlacing. Printed in black with bistre typographical ornaments. THE BINDING BY F.-L. SCHMIED IS DECORATED WITH A LACQUER BY JEAN DUNAND. The interlacing decoration of the binding is based on the same principle as the titles of the book, and the imperial eagle with spread wings depicted on the lacquer offers a reinterpretation of the frontispiece. AUTOGRAPHIC ENVOILED SIGNED BY F.-L. SCHMIED: "TO LOUIS BARTHOU, my illustrious prefatory and friend... December 25, 1928". FRIEND OF F.-L. SCHMIED, THE STATESMAN AND GREAT BIBLIOPHILE, LOUIS BARTHOU (1862-1934) began his career as a lawyer before embarking on a political career as a deputy, senator, minister and president of the Council, but was assassinated by a terrorist. A music lover, he had a passion for Wagner and was one of the promoters of the Champs-Élysées theatre. Highly cultured, he wrote works on Lamartine, Baudelaire and Hugo, entered the Académie Française and was a regular at the Parisian salons. An avid bibliophile, he was president of the "Le Livre contemporain" society from 1914 to 1934, and built up one of the finest libraries of his time. It was dispersed in four auctions in 1935 and 1936. PROVENANCE: GASTON DOUMERGUE. When he resigned from the presidency of the Council in December 1934, he was offered as a departure gift the present volume that belonged to his former Minister of Foreign Affairs Louis Barthou, killed in October 1934. Attached is the accompanying letter addressed to Gaston Doumergue by his ministers, including Albert Sarraut, Adrien Marquet, Marshal Pétain, Pierre Laval, associated with the family of Louis Barthou: "[...] We want to tell you that we have not forgotten the courage and civic-mindedness with which you agreed to come out of your peaceful retirement to answer the country's call in critical circumstances. (Paris, December 29, 1934, 1 p. in-4 typewritten).