Beschreibung
19,9 x 13,3 cm. 48, [784] pp. Contemporary half cloth (possibly re-cased?), tiger-marbled boards. Binding slightly worn, one corner damaged, some leaves with a small tear, otherwise in very good condition. ¶ 19,9 x 13,3 cm. 48, [784] pp. Contemporary half cloth (possibly re-cased?), tiger-marbled boards. Binding slightly worn, one corner damaged, some leaves with a small tear, otherwise in very good condition. ¶ A novel recounting the promiscuous adventures of a young girl in decadent Paris, illustrated with photographs (including one in colour), and drawings by "Couturier". ¶ The novel begins with Ninie, the heroine, being sent to live with her aunt in Paris. There she becomes the mistress of a journalist who introduces her to prostitution. She travels to Brussels, Monaco and even Algeria, drinking absinthe and enjoying adventures with princes, duchesses, soldiers, politicians and artists. ¶ She meets a large number of interesting characters, including a tattooed woman and "Kalakana Ier, roi des Iles Sandwich": Kalākaua, the last king of Hawai'i, who visited Brussels during his circumnavigation of the world in 1881. The novel ends with Ninie becoming a dancer at the famous Moulin Rouge. ¶ The heroine's name is clearly a reference to the Moulin Rouge's famous cancan dancer, Nini-patte-en-l'air ("Nini-leg-in-the-air"), a European celebrity who apparently also visited England. The English poet Arthur Symons was so impressed by her performance that he wrote a poem about her in 1892, praising her as the "Maenad of the Decadance". ¶ It was published weekly in 16-page issues, each consisting of a single quire. The present volume includes 52 numbered quires/issues, and ends with a colophon, with the first 14 issues illustrated with both photographs and drawings, later issues only with drawings. Only the pages of the first three issues are consecutively numbered 1-48; the other issues are not paginated. ¶ We've found only one other copy, held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, apparently consisting of only 25 issues. (Confusingly, WorldCat also lists a copy in microform, held in BnF too and consisting of 62 (a typo?) fascicules.) ¶ The BnF attributes the illustrations to Léon Couturier (1842-1935), a painter and illustrator who specialized in maritime and military subjects. However, the present illustrations are signed "Couturier," whereas Léon Couturier apparently used to sign his works "Leon Couturier" or "L.C." ¶ Bibliocuriosa; Bibliographie de la France 12773; Meizel, Inventer le livre illustré par la photographie en France 1867-1897, 874/70. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers ABE-1683976854348
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