Rachilde

1929 · ref. 4240 — New York City United States: Covici Friede Publishers 1929. hardcover. Very Good. Majeska. Publication: New York Covici Friede Publishers 1929 Formatting: 8vo pp. viii 217. Condition Report: Very Good. The book presents beautifully in its original yellow cloth which remains vibrant and largely shielded from significant shelf-wear. The silver-stamped design on the upper board is impressively bright and completely unoxidised. Some minor rubbing and subtle darkening are present at the spine ends alongside mild age-toning to the untrimmed text-block edges. Internally the binding is tight and square with the pages remaining crisp bright and free of foxing save for a neat contemporary ownership signature "C. Harvey". A highly attractive well-preserved copy. Catalogue Note: This early English translation of Rachilde’s decadent masterpiece is a highly sought-after edition translated by Madeleine Boyd. The volume is significantly elevated by the striking stylised illustrations by Majeska which perfectly capture the novel's subversive and avant-garde spirit. It also features an introduction by Ernest Boyd and a preface by Maurice Barrès providing crucial literary context. Provenance includes a neat understated previous ownership signature to the endpaper. Copies of this specific illustrated edition in such well-preserved bright condition are increasingly scarce on the open market making it a desirable acquisition for collectors of decadent literature or early 20th-century illustrated volumes. First published in France to immense scandal Monsieur Vénus is a cornerstone of the French Decadent movement. Known to contemporaries like Maurice Barrès as "demoiselle Baudelaire" Rachilde subverts traditional gender roles and sexual mores through the story of Raoule de Vénérande a wealthy aristocratic woman who takes a young effeminate florist as her lover. Raoule systematically strips him of his masculinity transforming him into her kept "mistress." Rachilde's provocative exploration of gender fluidity sadomasochism and aestheticism remains as audacious today as it was at the fin de siècle offering a dark glittering critique of societal norms. Covici, Friede Publishers hardcover