Léonard Rosenthal’s follow-up to In the Kingdom of the Pearl was this volume with illustrations by Léon Carré. In the Garden of Gems was published in 1924 in an edition that matches the earlier book for page layout, print quality and decoration. The illustrator, Léon Carré (1878–1942), was more of a painter than a book illustrator, being one of the many Orientalist artists that France produced in the 19th century. Given the quality of his illustrations it’s a shame he didn’t work on more books, although there was a French edition of the Thousand and One Nights that he illustrated a few years later.
Rosenthal’s note to the reader describes his own book as “the study of the passionate, obstinate, cruel, and sometimes tragic struggle waged by humankind to conquer precious stones, the examination of beliefs, allegories, legends, and symbolisms…”. Individual chapters are devoted to the history of the emerald, ruby and sapphire. As with the earlier book, each chapter is embellished with a decorative header and drop cap whose details change according to the subject. This peacock obsessive approves of the profusion of pavonine motifs.
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive
Lots of Dulac with just a hint of Gauguin! But seriously, these are a nice addition to the collection of early 20th century illustration work you’ve been gathering.
Yes, one of them is very Gaugin-like. I think the illustrations in this book and the Dulac volume may have metallic gold printed as a fifth colour on the artwork, something that never would look good in an original copy but never works in reproduction.
A current perusal of Victorian ceramicwurk we alight upon…
A Postcript of Attendant Perils Pavonine
>https://etruscanmajolica.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-tale-of-minton-majolica-loch-ard.html
Thanks, I think that’s the first mention I’ve seen of an international exhibition in Melbourne.