Almanach du Marque d’Or 1921.

(Paris): A l’enseigne du Marque d’Or chez Devambez, 1921. First edition 13.6 by 14.4cm. Unpaginated. The delightful first printing of this almanach which was only published for two years. Charming and now uncommon literary and artistic almanac issued by the celebrated Parisian publisher Devambez. Conceived in the tradition of the fashionable French annuals of the Belle Époque and immediate post-war period, the volume brings together a wide range of literary, artistic, musical, theatrical, and social contributions intended to survey the cultural life of contemporary France. The publication contains contributions by a distinguished group of writers and cultural figures, including André de Fouquières, René Boylesve, Robert de Flers, Henri de Régnier, Gabriel Fauré, Jacques Boulenger, and others. Throughout, the text is enlivened by the decorative colour pochoir work of Édouard Halouze, whose illustrations and ornaments lend the volume much of its visual appeal. Issued at a moment when Paris was reasserting itself as the cultural capital of post-war Europe, the Almanach du Marqued’Or reflects the elegance, wit, and cosmopolitan spirit of the French literary and artistic world of the early 1920s. Combining belles-lettres, social commentary, anecdote, illustration, and decorative design, it stands among the more attractive examples of the illustrated French almanac tradition. A very good copy in decorated boards, housed in publisher’s checkered card slipcase.