Les Sept Péchés capitaux
Paris, Simon Kra, 1926.
1 vol. (195 x 260 mm) of 4 leaves (blank, half-title, frontispiece, title), [183 p.] and [1] leaf. In wrappers, cover printed in green and black, in a chemise and slipcase (A. Devauchelle).
First edition. Limited to 300 copies. One of 44 copies on Hollande paper (no. 56), with a suite in bistre of the 15 original etchings by Marc Chagall, and a loose etched plate, included only in the deluxe copies (Japan and Hollande paper, i.e. the first 60 copies).
One of the important books of Chagall’s Paris period, illustrating seven short stories, each written by a different author: Jean Giraudoux, L’Orgueil, Paul Morand, L’Avarice, Pierre Mac Orlan, La Luxure, André Salmon, L’Envie, Max Jacob, La Gourmandise, Jacques de Lacretelle, La Colère, and Joseph Kessel, La Paresse. For these, Chagall created fifteen etchings that do not merely illustrate the moral subject but recompose the cycle of vices in his own aesthetic vocabulary. A remarkable achievement.
A very fine copy.
#29050
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