J. Mycielski, S. Wasylewski - Polish portraits of Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. 1927. one of 100 ex....

MYCIELSKI Jerzy, WASYLEWSKI St[anisław] - Polish portraits of Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun 1755-1842. 24 engravings in heliagrave on separate plates. Lviv-Poznan 1927. publ. Polish Publishers. 4, pp. XIV, [2], 148, 15, [1], plates 24. dust jacket. psk.
Small local stains inside, one plate glued by bookbinder, one with traces of moisture, otherwise good condition. Published in an edition of 1,100 numbered pieces, of which 100 pieces with heliogravures on Chinese paper and the authors' own signatures of Stanisław Wasylewski and Jerzy Mycielski. Here we present one of those 100 special pieces. Binding: red half leather, 6-panel spine with gilt and ornamentation, top trim in gilt. Binding signed on inside back cover: "Bookbinder - Jerzy Budnik". Boards in heliogravure, mostly protected by tissue guards. Handmade paper (with watermarks of the Polish Publishing House) came from Mirkow. The heliogravures were made by the Viennese firm of F. Paulussen. The lettering layout of the title page was designed by Ernest Czerper. Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun is the most famous painter of the 18th century. She was the portraitist of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. She painted mainly portraits of European aristocracy, including Polish. Among the people portrayed were: H. Lubomirski as the "Genius of Fame," Izabela of the Czartoryskis Stanislawowa Lubomirska, Anna of the Cetners Kajetanowa Potocka, Rev. Adam Czartoryski, Pelagia of the Potockis Franciszkowa Sapieżyna, Maria of the Lubomirskis Protowa Potocka, Szczęsny Potocki junior, Feliks Woyna, King Stanislaw August Poniatowski. The portraits were described from the point of view of an art historian by Jagiellonian University professor Jerzy Mycielski (1856-1929). Biographical notes of the portrayed figures were compiled by Stanislaw Wasylewski (1885-1953) - writer and historian, employee of the Ossolineum in Lviv. At the end there is a bibliography and a list of the Polish portraits of Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, along with the date of their creation, dimensions, signature, owner data and copies.
In his memoir "Forty Years of Success," S. Wasylewski wrote: "The whole [...] was a jewel of publishing technique in our country, unheard of perhaps since the albums [...] 'Patterns of Medieval Art' [...]. Reviewers were dumbfounded with admiration [...]. There was much to marvel at!" (Wr. 1959, p. 216). He added that the high price ("something like 200 zlotys") did not frighten wealthy bibliophiles.