(Thomas, Alain. Artist). Le Livre de Marco Polo, publié en français

Above
Covers and double-page illustration
(Thomas, Alain. Artist). Le Livre de Marco Polo, publié en français moderne selong les travaux
de M.g. Pauhtier sur les manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Nationale d'après le seul texte véritablement
authentique rédigé sous la dictée de Marco Polo par Rusticien de Pise, revu ensuite par le célèbre
voyageur et donné par lui à Thibaud de Cépoy à Venise en 1307. Paris: Editions du Cadran 1987,
Copy #57 of 60 with the double plate in color, and a suite of the gravures in black and white. Signed
by the artist : Entire edition 700+ copies: 38 special copies in various states; 60 as ours, published
with an extra double-page plate signed numbered and framed (missing in this copy); 600 regular
copies in two states numbered from 61-310 and 311-660 (some were probably never published) and
20 hors commerce.
Folio. 10" x 13" x 2 ½" Publisher’s blue morocco with title in relief on upper cover, smooth spine
lettered in gilt “Marco Polo”; design of sailing vessel in gilt on lower cover. Floral border in blind.
Edges gilt. Open slipcase Very fine. 9 full page, 1 double page illustrations printed by pochoir after
Thomas’ watercolors. Text printed with initials in brown; title page, prologue and occasional page
with in-text color illustrations. Printed Jean Paul Vibert, reproductions of the watercolors in
pochoir by l’Atelier du lys. Bound Jean Ardouin. Translation into French of the text by MarieThérèse Richol.
A luxurious edition with finely printed illustrations after Thomas’ watercolors which have a close
resemblance to Persian miniature art . His website indicates that “each replica requires an average
of 35 stencils or different colours, but certain original compositions by Alain Thomas require up to
125! In this case, each stencil corresponds to a nuance, not simply to a colour. The same watercolour,
for example, can have up to 10 different shades of green.”
Born on February 14, 1942 in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique, France). Alain Thomas exposed his
paintings for the first time in Nantes in 1962. In 2003, in the environment of contemporary French
art, he is considered the leader of “naive-primitive” painting. Thomas is highly collected in France
and has been widely exhibited in Europe and Japan . He has also designed silks and Limoges
porcelain.
See: http://www.artactif.com/thomas-alain#.U9kxQPldU70
$1,000.00