For reasons I do not really understand myself, much of my recent collecting activity has been driven by éditions Astarté, and Christophe Bier, the first being the publisher and  the second Author come editor, of first the “Les Editions Couvre-Feu” bibliographical study, and now various books about or by Bernard Montorgeuil.

My interest in Montorgeuil is twofold, first because of the apparent mystery around his identity, and secondly how myth would have us believe that here was someone operating clandestinely , possibly in the 1930’s and providing works exclusively for wealthy collectors. I am not convinced of this story, and certainly there is no published material prior to 1970, when Editions Bel-Rose in Rotterdam produced two identical four volume editions,one in German of the series ” Die Gärten der lustvollen Freuden ” or the French version “Les jardins des delices des supplices”, therse are rather lovely books in limited editions on fine paper, printed on only one side, and in most cases signed.

So this post is the first in a series about the mysterious Montorgeuil, by no means unique, because there are a number of blogs dedicated to this author. I shall of course as always post the illustrations, but my theme is really around the books, and I would be very interested to have any contribution that evidences Montorgeuil, prior to 1970, and especially interested for any information regarding “Sinistre Editions S.A”, a Publisher who apparently published the series in English in the 1980’s.

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Bernard Montorgeuil, Vier Donnerstage, Die Gärten der lustvollen Freuden, Volume 1 Editions Bel-Rose Rotterdam.n.d (1970) . 108, pages in a signed limited edition of 1000, copies with 11 full plates.

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Limitation Page

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Cover

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The Illustrations

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See Also LINK:

Les Cruelles Frénésies de Van den Rook