Johann Wolfgang GOETHE. Faust, tragedy by M. de Goethe, tran - Lot 41

Johann Wolfgang GOETHE. Faust, tragedy by M. de Goethe, translated into French by M. Albert Stapfer... Paris, Ch. Motte et Sautelet, 1828. In-folio, black morocco with multiple framings of cold fillets and crosshatching on the boards, reserving a blank rectangle in the center, cold title of the work in the center of the first board, 5-rib spine entirely decorated with multiple horizontal cold fillets, interior framing in the same morocco with a repeat of the cold fillets, blood-red reps lining and endpapers, gilt edges on witnesses, half-maroquin folder with covers and slipcase (M. Fray). Brivois, 173 / Carteret, III-270 / Skira, 59 / Vicaire, III-1013 /// (2f.)-IV-148 / margins 41.2 x 27.6 cm. Title adorned with a woodcut medallion by Porret, a portrait-frontispiece and 17 plates hors texte drawn and lithographed by Eugène Delacroix, printed by Ch. Motte. A first-edition copy, printed on strong laid paper for the text, with the portrait printed on Chine monté and the plates printed on strong vellum, making the set very homogeneous. Lithography was a highly innovative technique at the time, having been discovered by Senefelder in 1796 and introduced in France in 1818. The work is rightly considered the first painter's book. It is the oldest book listed by Skira in its Anthologie du livre illustré par les peintres et sculpteurs de l'école de Paris. A splendid copy, with a binding that combines elegance and perfection. It is the work of Marguerite Fray, a bookbinder who practiced in Paris from 1930 until her death in 1974. From the Georges Lehmann library with bookplate. 5 of the plates are very slightly shorter in the outer margin, from 0.5 cm (4) to 1 cm (1). Several leaves show traces of old stains. The copy has probably been washed without excess, leaving traces of old freckling.