LORRAIN (Jean). Lot n° 44

Modernities. Les Montreurs. Parisian modernities. Mondains and modernisantes. Flowers of mud. Le Crépuscule des dieux. Paris, Nouvelle Librairie Parisienne, E. Giraud et Cie, 1885; in-16, red half-maroon with corners, spine gilt, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (Semet & Plumelle). First edition, printed at the author's expense. Copy of first issue. One of the few copies on vellum (not justified and not reported by Talvart & Place). Five poems are printed in red. Autograph address: "To Mr. Paul Margueritte, tribute from the author. Jean Lorrain. January 1885." Paul Margueritte's literary beginnings date back to 1884. It is with two collections of parnassian works, published at his own expense by Lemerre, that Jean Lorrain made his debut in 1882-1883. More ambitious, Modernités is his third poetic collection. The pieces of these "Fleurettes du Mal" are dedicated to Zola, Maupassant, Huysmans, the painters Willette, Rochegrosse, etc. The scandal caused by the collection made the reputation of the author, considered as the Petronius of the decadence. Ex-libris Albert Natural.