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an old book with a picture of a castle on itan old book with a picture of a woman and a man on itan old book with a picture of a woman sitting in a boata drawing of a man and a woman standing in a garden
Maître Paul PASTAUD

1415 - SCHWABE (Carlos) & ZOLA (Émile). *Le Rêve*. Illustrations by…
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Estimate €100 - €150
Sale commission
Description
SCHWABE (Carlos) & ZOLA (Émile). *Le Rêve*. Illustrations by Carloz Schwabe and Lucien Métivet. Paris, Marpon and Flammarion, [1892]. In-4 Bradel cardboard binding covered in the publisher’s two-tone illustrated silk. Spine faded, some wear to the head and foot caps and edges. Black title vignette and 55 black-and-white illustrations by Carlos Schwabe (27 full-page, 5 borders, 1 in the text, 11 end-piece illustrations and 11 chapter headings); 10 illustrations by Lucien Métivet at the end of the volume (5 full-page, 1 chapter heading and 4 end-piece illustrations). A copy from the standard run on vellum. Scattered foxing. A landmark in the history of the modern illustrated book, by the Swiss painter Carlos Schwabe (1866–1926), a leading figure of Symbolism and fin-de-siècle Idealism: “Self-taught, Schwabe made a name for himself with his fairy-tale interpretation of *The Gospel of Childhood*, an illustration exhibited at the Rose+Croix Salon (…) in 1892. An extraordinarily meticulous style, tinged with archaism and distortion, combined with a highly original, visionary iconography, characterises the art of Carlos Schwabe. He thus established himself as one of the most promising young artists of the idealist movement. At the same time, Émile Zola was completing the *Rougon-Macquart* cycle, a monument of naturalist literature. A meeting between these two figures, who seemed to have everything set against them – their worldviews, aesthetics and generation – therefore appeared unlikely. Yet the determination of the publisher Ernest Flammarion, keen to publish an illustrated edition of *Le Rêve*, fostered an unexpected and unpredictable collaboration between the two men. Schwabe’s illustrations are based on a free interpretation of Zola’s text, verging on a dreamlike and fantastical world. This did not fail to surprise Zola, who discovered in the plates “so many things he did not recall having put into the book”. The twenty-six-year-old artist replied boldly that he ‘should have put them in’! (…) The illustrations for *Le Rêve* remain one of the major works of Symbolism: the novel’s experimental theme, together with the clash between Zola and Schwabe, made it a showcase for the aesthetic and intellectual conflicts of the era, pitting Naturalism against Idealism.” Presentation of the exhibition “Symbolism and Naturalism: Carlos Schwabe, Illustrator of Zola’s *Le Rêve*”, Musée d’Orsay 1994 (curators: Rodolphe Rapetti and Jean-David Jumeau-Lafond). See also the excellent article by Jean-David Jumeau-Lafond devoted to this edition in the BNF-Gallica archives.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 3 of 4 – Nos. 1085 to 1642
Auction location
Auction time 08/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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