VAN DONGEN (Kees) and MARGUERITE (Victor). La garçonne. - Lot 293

VAN DONGEN (Kees) and MARGUERITE (Victor). La garçonne. Avant-garde feminist novel illustrated with 28 color lithographs by Van Dongen. Paris, E. Flammarion, 1926. Paperback (250x195mm). [5ff.] 386pp. [2ff.] + 28ff. of color plates; cover illustrated with a vignette. Cover slightly soiled, two very small wet spots, quires split in various places, detaching the body of the book from the spine; held together, however. One of 26 HC lettered copies (here: U) on Arches à la forme paper. This novel was a huge bestseller - some 600,000 copies sold - and caused quite a stir. A year after its publication, over 150 articles had been published about it. In short, the book was a scandal. The story's main character, Monique, dresses like a boy, has short bobbed hair, smokes cigarettes, takes drugs and has mistresses. The book was described as pornographic, and its social and political significance - the equality of men and women - was not appreciated either. Such was the uproar that Victor Margueritte was stripped of his Légion d'Honneur knighthood. The story was later adapted for stage and screen (source: National Bibliotheek). Van Dongen's lithographs are captivating for their choice of color, the surety of their rapid, sketch-like strokes, and the perfection of their composition. Some are unmistakably Art Deco, others borrow from Japanese prints, and the silhouettes and faces on the pages exude the sweet scent of Modigliani...