[Henri Matisse] James Joyce. Ulysses

With an introduction by Stuart Gilbert and illustrations by Henri Matisse. New York, The Limited Editions Club, 1935, XV,(1),363,(2) pp., printed in 1500 numb. copies (this is nr. 1427) signed in the colophon by Henri Matisse, with 6 full-p. soft-ground etchings, 20 lithographed studies for the etchings on yellow (12x) and blue (8x) paper, orig. gilt pict. cl., in board slipcase, sm. folio.

The fifth etching is foxed. Binding weak on inner hinges and the gilding on spine has dulled; upper corners sl. bumped. Slipcase lacks bottom strip and is spitting on corners. In all, still a good copy. With loosely inserted The Monthly letter of the Limited Editions Club, Number 77, October 1935. Slocum and Cahoon A22; The Artist & the Book 197: "One of the very few American livres de peintres issued before World War II. According to George Macy, who undertook this only American publication of Matisse's illustrations, he asked the artist how many etchings the latter could provide for five thousand dollars. The artist chose to take six subjects from Homer's Odyssey. The preparatory drawings reproduced with the soft-ground etchings (Matisse's only use of this medium) record the evolution of the figures from vigorous sketches to closely knit, if less spontaneous, compositions."