De Vinne Press. Mérimée, Prosper (1803-1870) & Edmund Garret, trans. and illus. (1853-1929) Carmen, with an original watercolor.
Winchester, MA: De Vinne Press, 1896.
Limited edition, octavo; number 1 of 50 copies on Japanese paper, signed by the translator and illustrator, Edmund Garrett; title printed in red and black; extra-illustrated with original watercolor, "A Street in Granada," painted on half-title, titled and signed in the lower margin, and 17 etched copperplate illustrations throughout; bound in full parchment, gilt-lettered spine, brass clasps, printed endpapers, top edge gilt (bowed, area of scuffing to bottom edge of lower board); American actor Francis Wilson's (1854-1935) ex-libris bookplate and ownership signature at front; 9 x 5 3/4 in.
Mérimée's sensationalist novella on the Romani culture of Southern Spain was originally printed in the travel journal, La Revue des deux Mondes in 1845. The sordid plot of jealousy, violence, and overwhelming desire inspired composer Georges Bizet's opera of the same name.
