When the paintings of Giulio Aristide Sartorio were featured here a while back I wasn’t aware of Sibilla: poema drammatico in quattro atti, a book written and illustrated by the artist and published in a numbered edition of 1333 copies in 1922. Not content to merely write a lengthy dramatic poem then add some illustrations, Sartorio hand-crafted some 240 pages, text as well as illustrations, in what looks like woodcut printing but this page tells us was a style of relief etching which gives a woodcut appearance. At least half the book comprises full-page illustrations so it’s no surprise that Sartorio spent the best part of a decade working on it. The copy at the Internet Archive is one of the original printings, signed by the author/artist and his publisher, Ettore Cozzani. This page shows preliminary sketches for what has to be one of the final breaths of fin de siècle excess.
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Lussuria, Invidia, Superbia
• The art of Giulio Aristide Sartorio, 1860–1932