A Season in Hell by Rimbaud, Arthur; Schmidt, Paul (Translator); Mapplethorpe, Robert (Photographer) - 1986

[New York]: The Limited Editions Club [Printed at the Wild Carrot Letterpress], 1986. Limited Edition. Leather. Fine. Mapplethorpe, Robert. Number 351 of 1000, quarto size, 98 pp., signed by Paul Schmidt and Robert Mapplethorpe, with monthly LEC Letter. Jean-Nicolas-Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) started life as a poet but stopped writing after a tumultuous period as a teenager - "burned out at the age of nineteen, he never wrote another line of poetry" (N.B., from LEC monthly newsletter for "Vowels"). He traveled the earth living in dangerous circumstances, having a leg amputated in 1891 which resulted in his death at the age of 37. This publication by the LEC is renowned for the photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), "known for his sensitive yet blunt treatment of controversial subject-matter in the large-scale, highly stylized black and white medium of photography" (per Wiki).

___DESCRIPTION: Fully bound in red leather, author's name stamped in black on the front, title stamped in black on the spine, fore- and bottom edges uncut, text in both French (presented on the left/verso of each page) and English (on the right/recto of each page), the eight dust-grain photogravures, on hand-made paper, are bound in throughout the text; type is Eric Gill's Perpetua (Monotype), quarto size (11.5" by 7.75"), pagination: [i]-xii, [1]-87, blanks [88-90], colophon [91]; limited edition of 1000 copies, this no. 351, signed by the photographer and the translator. Monthly newsletter loosely laid in, in publisher's slipcase fully covered in black cloth and lined inside with black velveteen.

___CONDITION: Volume is fine overall, the leather binding is soft and supple, with a strong, square text block, solid hinges, perfectly straight corners with no rubbing, the interior is clean and bright, and it is entirely free of prior owner markings; there are a few natural variations to the leather binding. The monthly newsletter is fine with only the original fold, no edgewear, the slipcase is fine overall, strong and sturdy, with a few almost invisible stray marks to the cloth.

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