Eloge de la plaquette

First and only edition. THE EXTRAORDINARILY RARE FIRST PUBLICATION (of a grand total of two) OF THE SOCIETE DE BIBLIOPHILES "LES PLAQUETTES", AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF FRENCH PRE-WAR FINE AVANT-GARDE TYPOGRAPHIC PRINTING. 2 blank leaves; 27 pp. This bibliophile society was conceived by Gaston-Louis Vuitton in 1929, and by 1932 it had 57 members but hadn't yet published anything. In that year it lost all of its funds when its bank went belly up. The Society got rolling again in 1938, and finally printed this gorgeous book in 1939. The text, of course, is about booklets, and their history in France and in the world. Shortly after this book was printed World War II and the German Occupation put a final end to this Bibliophile Society: its only other publication was an equally rare edition of St Francis' "Cantique du soleil", printed in 1943. (Fleuret died in 1945.) Notable avant-garde typographical design on cover. Edition limited to 111 numbered copies (but much rarer, as few if any copies were ever actually distributed to the members of the Société) beautifully printed with huge margins on fine Montval laid paper. Folio. Publisher's wraps. UNCUT AND UNOPENED, FINE AND BRIGHT, LIKE NEW WITH NO DEFECTS. Original paper knife laid in. An incredible survival, even more so in such pristine condition. The only copy in WorldCat is the one in the Bibliothèque Nationale.