The Battle of Waterloo
Westport, Connecticut: The Limited Editions Club, printed at the Harbor Press, 1977. Detaille, Edouard. Limited Edition. Hardcover. No. 351 of 1600 copies, quarto size, [110] pp., with LEC Monthly Letter, signed by Drew Middleton. Fine / fine. Item #171031214
Victor Hugo's (1802-1885) rendition of the Battle of Waterloo, taken straight from the pages of his novel "Les Misérables", first published in 1862. Hugo was a passionate patriot, so impassioned of France's glory that at times he set aside facts for feeling: his "Battle of Waterloo" sways the reader to believe it was Napoleon rather than Wellington that came out ahead. To round out Hugo's text the Limited Editions Club invited "New York Times" Military Correspondent Drew Middleton to write a historically authoritative introduction, a balance the Club claimed "absolves us from a charge of Gallic chauvinism." The illustrations by French military painter Jean-Baptiste Edouard Detaille (1848-1912) were chosen for "accuracy and authenticity," characteristics for which Detaille's work was known.
___DESCRIPTION: Original quarter olive-green calf and French marbled paper covered boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, top-edge gilt, olive-green endpapers, title-page in black and red, fifteen illustrations reproduced from engravings, sheets printed french fold; Janson type, Mohawk Superfine paper, quarto size (10 7/8" by 8 1/2"), pagination: [i-x] 1-99 [1 colophon], limited edition, this number 351 of 1600 copies, with LEC Monthly Letter slipped in, signed by Drew Middleton at the colophon. Housed in a slipcase covered with green paper, gilt lettering on the spine, with original glassine dust jacket.
___CONDITION: A fine copy, internally bright and free of prior owner markings, straight corners, clean covers, text block is tight and square, the glassine wrapper is clean and without wear and just a hint of age-toning, the LEC Monthly Letter fine with only the original folds, slipcase is near fine except for a hint of age-toning at the backstrip; overall a fine copy.
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Price: $125.00