This is the first, in what promises to be a very large collection of titles published by Charles Carrington, either openly or under one of his clandestine imprints, many of the titles originate from the Michael Neal collection, which provides some very interesting, rare and obscure titles, others have come from various sources and have been in my possession for varying amounts of time, some I have listed previously on this site and are no longer in my possession, but as the nature of the site is to catalogue and preserve images of actual books, I am able to link them retrospectively and avoid the expense of having to purchase them again. More of this another time.

I have chosen, for no other reason, than a Van Maele connection, to list “Pan Michael”, as the first title in this new collection, and in doing so I have stumbled upon a bibliographical mystery, as I cannot locate another 1904 edition, and  as I cannot find a listed copy of the 1902 Carrington edition that has the Van Maele illustrations. I can only assume the the illustrations were designed specifically for the 1904 edition and there were never any in the 1902 edition.

There are various earlier editions of this title in English, French and Polish. I am not clear why Carrington chose to publish this title, as despite his forays into, pseudo-scientific and medical publications, as well as folk lore, the underlying theme to both openly published and clandestine imprints is sex, including a large selection of books on the flagellation theme, even with the books by Anatole France there is a gothic/demonic content with a very erotic and sensual imagery, both textual and especially in the Van Maele illustrations, I just cannot make this title fit into any of Carringtons traditional genres. Unsure if anyone can answer this question, but a always any suggestions or contributions to enhance the listing are always welcome

 The description provided by S.A. Perry, in her Martin Van Maele bibliography. references in detail the 1904 edition. My copy does not have the original covers which explains why I have 10 illustrations, the “onze” (eleven), referenced on the title page, included the illustrated, cover. Still 10 is better than none, and this leaves the door open for some generous donor to provide an image of the  cover, to complete the listing.

As will be the norm, my description is titled “This Book” and describes the copy I have in hand “warts and all”, this will be followed by a full bibliographical description (where there is one), which describes the book as it was (allegedly) when it was produced. A note of caution is, that many bibliographers have never seen the actual book, and their descriptions, are often the result of using earlier bibliographers descriptions, or from research on-line or in National, or University  collections. In the worst case scenario descriptions are from publishers catalogues, which in the case of Carrington, and similar publishers, are largely fabricated, and with false information as to the limitation numbers, the various luxury editions and the cost of such items. This goes with the territory of publishing erotica in whatever form, and such activity in this area is still happening today, with false provenance of newly discovered works and mysterious unknown artists, suddenly appearing on the market.

It must be said of Carrington, that whatever false claims he made, he did produce an astonishing number of incredibly beautiful books, sadly the only way you can experience the reality of such an object is to hold it in your hands, to take in the exotic scent of an old book, to feel the quality of the paper and weight and physical presence of the object, which is in itself a work of art, that cannot be reproduced today. And that is without even thinking about the illustrations, which lose their essence when paint shopped to make clean electronic copies.

THIS BOOK

 Title Page

Rebound in blue marbled boards, with green cloth spine, title, author, motif in gilt, with 3 sets of gilt parallel lines. ( see image at head of this listing). Lacking original paper covers, endpapers and any reference as to limitation. Commences with title page. 638 pages, dimensions (with binding 18 x 13 x 4 cm), weight 700 gr.  Contents complete with 10 full page plates from engravings, single sided on slightly heavier paper than the text, presumably tipped in, but attached in sequence to the page of relevant text. Each image indexed and with textual description, and signed with Van Maele’s motif signature. Overall condition good, with general marking and wear appropriate to a book of this age which has been in circulation. as mentioned above the title page indicates “Onze” (eleven) illustrations, this includes the illustrated cover which is absent from this book. Rare Title. Not for sale.

Cover

Sample text

Full Bibliographical Description.

Pan Michaël HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ | [short rule] | Pan Michaël | (MESSIRE VOLODVOVSKI) | TRADUIT PAR CHARLES GROLLEAU | [short rule] | Puisque saint Michael conduit toute | l’armée des Cieux et a gagné tant de | victoires sur les légions infernales, | je le choisis pour patron. | (Le Déluge.) | NOUVELLE ÉDITION | Onze dessins de Martin VAN MAELE | [short rule] | PARIS | CHARLES CARRINGTON, LIBRAIRE-EDITEUR | 13, FAUBOURG MONTMARTRE, 13 | [short rule] | 1904
In-12. (13 x 19 cm). 638 pp. 10 captioned hors-texte drawings in black signed with Van Maele’s monogram. Illustrated front cover (title in red) signed Martin + his monogram. Printed by E. Arrault   et Cie. Hors-texte: 37, 65, 95, 223, 271, 349, 391, 445, 481, 536 From a 1904 Carrington catalogue published in the back of Le Pantalon Féminin, 1906: « Nouvelle édition de dix dessins hors texte, par Martin van Maele, et d’une couverture illustrée par le même. Un fort volume in-18 jésus de 600 pages. 50 exemplaires sur Hollande, 15 sur Chine. » (Bibliothèque Nationale: 8-Y2-53302. Private collection)

Perry, S. A.. Martin Van Maele: An Illustrated Bibliographical Checklist (Kindle Locations 538-543). . Kindle Edition.

The Illustrations

 

See Also

Books for Trade: Octave Mirbeau The Diary of a Lady’s Maid . Paris: Charles Carrington, 1903. illustrations by Emile Mas, engraved by Eugène Dété.

Books for Trade: Charles Sackville: Mr Howard Goes Yachting: London -Paris, Printed for Subscribers Only MCMVIII. (Carrington)

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