number 22 of a limited edition

A fine example complete with a full set of 12 engraved plates by Reidel after Brunelleschi, depicting theatrical characters including Harlequin, Scaramouche and Pierrot. The colourful costumed characters are shown on the foreground against imaginative stage sets with the outlines of luxurious Florentine palaces and gardens.

This is an early work by the Italian painter and stage designer Umberto Brunelleschi (1879–1949), who was also well known for his illustrations in the Gazette du Bon Ton and the Journal des Dames et des Modes.

First edition, number 22 of 415 copies on arches paper; folio (39 x 52 cm); half-title, title, [4] pp. introduction, index, 12 colour pochoir plates; two small defects to blank margin of last plate; contemporary half vellum, title in black and red and vignette painted on spine, upper wrapper bound in; slightly rubbed, lower margin of wrapper slightly cut.


Colas 1499; Hiler 740.