(CHAHINE, EDGAR. ) France, Anatole. Histoire Comique. 28 etchings and drypoint engravings plus illustrations in the text by Chahine, a suite on Chine, and a series of canceled plates. 4to, 3/4 red morocco gilt, extremities rubbed; hinges cracked, original wrappers bound in. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, (1905)
special dedication copy by chahine to his fiancée mary jacobson who died shortly after the publication of this work. This copy is among those with the suites on Japan paper from a total edition of 300 copies and bears a colophon dedication press-signed for Jacobson. The artist was devastated by her death and it affected him for many years. He must have held onto this copy before gifting it to a good friend many years later, as evidenced by a penciled note on the front endpaper. Its recipient explains that Chahine gifted this copy to him in 1920, with an inscription and signed small pencil bust sketch of Simone Gaumet, Chahine's second love, whom he married in 1921. She served as the model for his masterly nude studies in the 1920s.
