DON QUIXOTE De Bosschère, Jean; Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de Book Arts & Fine Press,Lit

Stunningly bound first edition thus, illustrated by the famed Belgian Art Nouveau artist. The capricious quest of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza is a fully realized satire on the culture of chivalry and the popular prose romances of the era. By turns funny and profound, the critical reputation of DON QUIXOTE in European literature is matched only by Shakespeare; Miguel de Unamuno called it "the Spanish Bible." Cervantes's modern translator Edith Grossman says "His writing is a marvel: it gives off sparks and flows like honey." De Bosschère's work bridges the fin-de-siècle symbolist approach of Aubrey Beardsley with a bright Art Nouveau style, favoring dynamic compositions that anticipate, and finally embrace, Art Deco. A mystic and a WWI ex-pat, de Bosschère's works show a fascination with the occult and often evoke an erotic spiritualism. He is one of the few great modernists whose work also harmonizes with the contemporary development of the "weird fiction" aesthetic of the pulp magazines. This copy has been finely bound by Bayntun-Rivière in a beautiful morocco binding of appropriately modern elegance. 10.75'' x 8.25''. 20th-century full brown goatskin by Bayntun-Rivière, Bath; ruled in gilt and black, gilt-stamped rosettes to spine and as cornerpieces, raised bands, gilt-lettered spine. Marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, gilt dentelles. Illustrated by de Bosschère with 25 full-page plates (some monochrome on colored paper, others color on white paper), as well as in-text black-and-white vignettes. 311, [1] pages. A few small spots of rubbing to boards. Interior clean and bright.