Game

Il etait une fois un alphabet. Texte de. . . illustre par. . . litho B.oris Grosser.

1952 · ref. 63021 — Paris: Imprimeurs L.I.E.S.A. 174 Quae de Jemmapes 1952. Oblong 4to. 9.25 x 7.75 in. 2 24 pp. colour-lithograph illustrations throughout 10 leaves unnumbered. consisting of 4 colour lithograph boards to cut out alphabet letters for playing 2 black & white lithograph letter pages for colouring cutting out themselves and playing word games 1 thick instruction leaf 3 printed leaves on blue- salmon- and green-tinted thin paper instruction sheets. Flexible boards colour-lithographed front cover rear board with model figures on verso to be cut out to create paper-engineered toys spiral metal comb binding as issued minor edgewear age toning still a VG and complete copy. First edition of this wonderfully illustrated and charming alphabet game/book featuring anthropomorphic letters in the “Kingdom of the Alphabet” set against the adventures of a Medieval/Renaissance Country of Vowels and the Isle of Consonants uniting over a banquet ball to form an alphabet. Marquet 1892-1984 and Desnoyer 1901-1988 were illustrators and miniaturists noted for their inventive games and illustrations who had originally designed this game/book in 1939. They were married to the well known painters Albert Marquet and Francois Denoyer respectively. Desnoyer a Russian-Ukrainian emigre from Kiev had originally landed in Bohemia by 1906 where she learned the Western alphabet and later settled in France. This particular copy not only features the four colour lithograph boards for children to cut out and play the suggested alphabet game but also the 2 additional boards for an adult word game and back board to create toys which are typically missing as are often the colour-tinted instruction sheets. Worldcat locates 4 copies U of WA & Princeton Incomplete Bibliotheque Nationale FR & Bibliotheque des Chiroux BE -- complete; See: Robert Bolick Books on Books Collection -- Souza Desnoyer and Marcelle Marquet Il etait une fois un alphabet 1951-2009 Dec. 22 2022. Imprimeurs L.I.E.S.A., 174, Quae de Jemmapes, hardcover