A page from an 1897 Paris edition of Robert de Flers’ Ilsée, Princesse de Tripoli in which the text is framed by 132 coloured litho illustrations, borders and other decorations by Alphonse Mucha, sold for $10,000 (£7635) by Swann Galleries.
One of 252 copies, still bright and fresh in the original pictorial wrappers and folder and signed by Flers, it was sold for $10,000 (£7635) by Swann Galleries (25/20/12% buyers’ premium) on January 29.
Ilsée... is a work that has been described as Mucha’s “most complete statement in the Art Nouveau style... [and] one of the best examples of total book design”.
Only three examples from the group of 35 copies printed on Japon have made a little more at auction.
One of them was Copy No.1 which, featuring an original watercolour of Ilsée looking at a butterfly on a half title, made $11,000 in the same New York rooms in 2006.
