Garvarni's Women In Lace

by Stephen J. Gertz

L'Amore

In 1844, Joseph Méry published Les Parures (The Ornaments) and Les Joyaux (The Jewels), each a "Fantasie par Gavarni," the two volumes graced with a total of thirty-two engravings by Paul Gavarni (1804-1866), the great French caricaturist and artist. A special and now quite rare issue of the volumes was simultaneously published, the steel engravings printed and delicately colored on paper with borders cut to various lace patterns, or decoupes en dentelles (cut lace), commonly known as doilies.

Schall (shawl)

Gordon Ray, author of The Art of the French Illustrated Book 1700 To 1914, only had a copy of the ordinary issue, but noted that the special edition was far more appealing, and believed that by presenting the plates in this stylish manner "Gavarni's designs become fashion plates of the first order."

Yes, the engravings depict costumes and fashions but are as much about the women as their clothing. An image of a Oriental woman in repose while smoking a hashish pipe is not about her manner of dress, exotic as it is. As captioned, the moon doesn't have to hit your eye like a big pizza pie to know that's L'Amore. And when an exotically clad Eastern woman is posed with her décolletage on vivid display, the rockets red glare, breasts bursting in air to give proof through the night, it ain't about her turban, despite the caption. This is oh la la, Paris, 1844. If it has yet become clear, The Ornaments and The Jewels do not refer to adornments for women but to the women themselves

Turban

Paul Gavarni was the nom d'art of Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier. His rise to fame coincided with that of Charles Philipon (1800-1861), the Parisian publisher whose satirical newspapers featured sharp lithographed caricatures with pointed captions (written by Philipon) that often became the subject of the French authorities attention; politics in France at this time was often chaotic.

The plates were engraved by Charles Michel Geoffroy (1819-1882) based upon Gavarni's designs.

La Mantille

Gavarni's work for Philipon humorously essayed the most striking characteristics, foibles and vices of the various classes of French society, in the same vein as Henry Monnier, who also worked for Philipon. Indeed, Philipon discovered and fostered the careers of many of Paris's finest young artists.

Though issued separately, the two books are considered a set but as such are scarce, particularly in this, the special issue. "La reunion des deux ouvrages avec les gravures marges de dentelles est assez rare rencontrer" (Carteret).

A beautiful set of the special issue of Les Parures and Les Joyaux has recently come into the marketplace.
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[GAVARNI]. MÉRY, Joseph. Les parures. Fantaisie par Gavarni. Texte par Méry. Histoire de la mode par le Cte. Foelix. (Perles et Parures). Paris: G. De Gonet, n.d. [1844]. Quarto. [2], 300pp. Frontispiece and fifteen steel engraved hors texte plates by Geoffroy after Gavarni, the whole finished by hand in colors, and the plates themselves printed on doilies tipped onto pink guards, the pink visible throughout the elaborately full percaline, elaborately gilt and colored with designs on both covers and spine.  Publisher’s original full percaline. All edges gilt.

Together with:

[GAVARNI]. MÉRY, Joseph. Les joyaux. Fantaisie par Gavarni. Texte par Méry. Minéralogie des dames par Cte. Foelix. (Perles et Parues.) Paris: G. De Gonet, n.d. [1844]. [2], 316pp. Frontispiece and 16 steel-engraved hors texte plates by Geoffroy after Gavarni, each finished by hand in colors, and the plates printed on doilies in the same format as the above volume. Publisher’s original full percaline. All edges gilt.

Carteret III.461; Ray 209a-210; Sander 468
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Images courtesy of Ars Libri Ltd, currently offering these volumes, with our thanks.
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Of Related Interest:

Gavarni's Paris Mornings and Mailbox.

Deceit They Name Is Woman, Thy Name Is Delilah!

How Did Hand-Colorists in the Past Know What Colors To Use?
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15th Century Woman's Heart (And Soul) Won With Extravagant Book

Books have been given as tokens of love for centuries, even before the invention of printing. Illuminated books of hours like the one pictured above were precious objects commissioned from highly skilled artists and were often given as a wedding gift. This book of hours was created in the middle of the 15th century, and the fineness of its execution indicates that it was created by a top flight atelier. It was a great treasure from the time it was created, and has survived in near-perfect condition to this day because it has always been treated with great reverence.

There are hints that this particular book of hours was created especially for a beloved woman. The sequence of prayers to individual saints, called suffrages, here is unusual in that the female saints precede the males: texts in the codex for Mary Magdalene, St. Catherine, St. Anne, St. Susanna, and St. Margaret come before those for St. Christopher, All Saints, and St. Sebastian. This sequence (and the fact that the "Obsecro te" and the suffrage to St. Christopher are in the feminine form) suggest that the first owner of the manuscript was a woman.

Most books of hours have miniatures depicting significant events in the life of the Virgin Mary: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation in the temple, and her Coronation as Queen of Heaven. Other frequent subjects are the Crucifixion, Pentecost, some portrayal of a funeral to remind the devout of their mortality, and perhaps King David composing the Psalms. A books of hours commissioned for an individual might include a miniature of the owner's patron or name saint. This Book of Hours is unusual in that it contains the quite rare Suffrage to St. Susanna; not only is the text of this Suffrage present, but the person who commissioned the manuscript has chosen Susanna's story as the subject matter for one of the book's six large miniatures.

The scene, shown above, depicts the central moment in the Apocryphal Book of Daniel, showing the saintly woman being defended by the young Daniel against two elders who had falsely accused her of adultery after trying to seduce her. Depictions of the story of Susanna are quite rare--her story in in the Apocrypha, and she was not one of the female saints especially venerated in Medieval times, as Saints Margaret, Catherine, and Barbara were. The only likely reason for including the tale of this beautiful and virtuous wife is that the woman for whom is was intended was named Susanna or Suzanne.

The next token of love, created some 400 years later, was a 25th anniversary gift. In the mid-19th century, Parisian publishers issued a number of elaborately presented religious works with illustrations from several hands . . . Curmer's 'Les Saints Évangiles' [the Gospels] is the most attractive of the lot." (Ray) The present copy also has added lovely illuminations, a charming original watercolor, and an exquisite binding by one of the top Parisian binders, Leon Gruel.

The most unusual binding is done in a Neo-Gothic style, its dark green silk velvet covers mounted with delicately and elaborately carved boxwood frames after designs by Martin Riester. The front cover is adorned with the recipient's monogram, and the edges of the leaves are elaborately gauffered in a red and gold design.

According to the handsomely designed presentation page at the front, this beautiful object was assembled at the order of C. J. T. Tiby, and given to his "dear wife," Anaïs Duret Tiby on 2 June 1855, as a "Souvenir of 25 years of Happiness." In the accompanying watercolor of the wedding ceremony (shown below), which took place at midnight a quarter century earlier, we see a shy bride in white and a tall officer in uniform standing before a candlelit altar, surrounded by their families.

Mme. Tiby must have been a shining example of the perfect wife, as described in the Book of Proverbs and recalled in the presentation, for her husband certainly would have committed to a liberal expenditure in commissioning this painstakingly crafted edition of the Gospels.

Like the thoughtful wife described in last week's post, M. Tiby and the husband of the Medieval Suzanne chose not a piece of jewelry, which can be worn and displayed, to honor their beloved, but a book, which in addition to being an object of great beauty to be enjoyed (and yes, displayed) is also something with which one engages intellectually and emotionally--a feast for the mind and the heart, as well as for the eyes.

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Images courtesy of Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts.

Older Women, Younger Books

by Stephen J. Gertz

“Experts warn that settling down with a ‘boy toy’ can reduce a woman’s life expectancy. However, older men with younger wives appear to live longer. Researchers said that while cougars, older women in their 30s and 40s who date much younger men, may believe that having a younger partner will help to keep them youthful the opposite appears to be true” (The Telegraph).

Women who read books younger than they are may be shortening their lives, according to a study released yesterday by the Mortimer Adler Institute for the Study of Reading and Longevity. The newer the book, the greater the chance that a woman may not make it to Golden Girl status.

If the book is seven to nine years younger than the female reader, her risk of prematurely dying increases by 20%.

The study also found that women who read books too much their senior may face a similar fate.

Researchers found that the Goldilocks Mean for women in a relationship with a book is when the book and woman are about the same age; statistically, they're “just right.”

Sal Hepatica, lead researcher at the Adler Institute, stated that "it appears that a woman's best book-match is with a volume published five years before or five years after her birth date. The issue revolves around stress. If the book is too much younger than the woman, she can't keep up with it, is anxious about her reading speed, and how she and the book appear when in public together. If the book is too old, the woman is worn out by the tasks of care-taking.

"One young woman in the study," Hepatica noted, "collected old and rare volumes. Tender joints, slightly unhinged, spine a mess, oxidation spots all over - and you should have seen the books!”

Only thirty-two years old when she began collecting old and rare books, within two years she had aged fifty.

“Modern advances in book conservation and restoration have dramatically increased the life-spans of books,” Hepatica added, “and they are lasting far longer than they were ever expected to. As a result of this constant care and attention to their older books, female book collectors may pay a price steeper than when they bought at the old Heritage Book Shop before it closed. Who cares for the caregiver?”

The financial security that a very old and rare book can often provide to a younger woman is obviated by the evidence that the female collector may not make it though the book’s probate hearing before they grave-dive. So much for footloose and fancy-free when the old book finally croaks and a newer edition enters the boudoir.

Many if not most old books require refurbishing, recasing, rebacking, and all manner of cosmetic and internal surgeries during their lifetime on Planet Book.

Hepatica referred to the many advertisements lately seen for book life-extension. “They’ve got polishes with vitamins and minerals, mega anti-oxidants, HGH, and testosterone to keep the leather lithe, athletic, and firm, and some kind of God knows what to keep the pages perky. It’s a racket.”

Men, unsurprisingly, are doing quite well with younger books. Men over fifty who read modern chick-lit become, for all intents and purposes, immortal. Older books, another story altogether.

“You know how they say that a dog and its owner will soon grow to look alike?” Hepatica said. “Same with old books and collectors. Choose your books wisely.”

Hepatica provided a solution to the May-December relationship with books.

“Buy an old and rare first edition. Handle it, adore it - and get it on the shelf, pronto, before you fall and can't get up. You want to read it? By a new paperback edition.”

But not one published seven to nine years after your birthday. Otherwise, you’ll age before your very reading-strained eyes and drop dead of exhaustion before you can say, Gutenburg. New books are killers. Older books? An antiquarian thirty-two year old woman reading a 200 year old book opened on an easel fixed to her walker as she shuffles to the bookshelf is not a pretty sight.