Le Livre des rois
31 compositions by François-Louis Schmied, engraved on wood by Philippe Gonin and printed in color with gold or silver highlights: 5 plates, of which 2 are signed, 17 in-text illustrations and 9 decorated initials.
One of 175 copies on Arches paper (no. 32).
“The first three reigns of Saul, David and Solomon occupy two-thirds of the books of Samuel-Kings, known as the Former Prophets. These three sadly exemplary names were followed by a succession of kings. The books of Kings trace them over more than three centuries, down to the exiles in Assyria and Babylon. This chronicle is not the work of historians but of prophets, and they retained little of these reigns beyond apostasies, crimes, reckless alliances, and fratricidal struggles following the schism caused by the madness of Rehoboam, son of Solomon — in short, their headlong rush toward the abyss, the Exile that would ultimately prove liberating” (Jacques Cazeaux, Le Livre des rois, présentation, Cerf éd., 2021).
A fine copy, enriched with 4 suites of states (breakdown of 4 engravings) and a suite of 26 compositions in black or in color.
Monod, Manuel de l’amateur de livres illustrés modernes, 7214; Ritchie, 34: “The illustrations are lively and printed in bright penetrating colors suggestive of the Near East”; Carteret IV, 264.