BEDIER Joseph - ENGELS Robert. Le Roman de Tristan et Iseut

Paris, H. Piazza & Cie, 1900.

Large In-4, on Japan paper, paperback, illustrated cover. [8]pp. [136]pp. [8]pp.
130 woodcut compositions by Robert Engels including the cover, the half-title, the print page, the title page, the tailpieces, 6 full-page compositions and 118 in the text.
Typographic composition in English Elzévir typeface from the Henri Chaix et Cie foundry.
Suite on Japan paper in color and suite on China paper in black. Subscription booklet with print sample.
Original publisher's box.

Publisher's copy on Japan, unnumbered, having belonged to Charles Masson, partner of Henri Piazza.

One of the great books of Piazza editions from the early twentieth century with Antar (poème héroïque arabe, illustrations en couleurs de E. Dinet, 1898) and Ilsée, Pincesse de Tripolis (Lithographies de Alphonse Mucha. 1897). It impresses with the amount of illustration that accompanies the story as well as the style and beauty of the drawings, whose dark and powerful style aligns with the idea that one would have of the atmosphere of this medieval period and the tragic story of Tristan and Isolde.

A curious detail, Isolde is written with a "Y" on the subscription booklet and on the box and with an "i" on the book.

For more information:
The book is fully digitized on the BNF website: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1521861p/f9.planchecontact
For more information on Robert Engels: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Engels_(illustrateur)

Condition: the box is a little rubbed with age. Very good condition of conservation for the interior.