Leather binding à la Vernier

Thin covers, purple dyed natural calf, vertical wavy lines embossed with etched zinc plate over the entire cover, semé of fine paladium embossed dots, gold title on the front cover; three-sided white gilt edges, leather endpapers; purple suede endpapers throughout; half leather chemise lined with suede, monochrome paper cover, slipcase with paper cover. Gilt work by Claude Ribal, Paris.

About the content:

Nathalie Sarraute: Martereau

Ex. No. 20 of 45 of the special edition on Vélin pur fil Navarre.

Edition Gallimard, Paris 1953 Nathalie Sarraute's second novel, published in 1953, explores a young man's obsessions with hypocrisy and the pretensions of the adult world. He takes an interest in Martereau, his uncle's devoted friend and business partner, who seems like a kind, trustworthy man until his possibly devious motives are partially revealed by his suspicious behaviour regarding a shady real estate deal.

About the artist: Louise Bescond was born in Les Lilas in 1984 and lives in Brussels since 2005. She graduated from the École Estienne in 2005 and continued her training at the École Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre in Brussels, where she received a Master in bookbinding in 2008.

Nicaise. Between 2015 and 2019, she followed an advanced training in the workshop of Renaud Vernier, Maître d’Art. In 2013, the first exhibition of her bindings was held at the Librairie Nicaise, followed by showing 47 of her bindings at the Galerie Charpentier (Sotheby’s Paris) in 2017. In December 2021, Michel Scognamillo exhibited 38 of her most recent bindings at his Librairie Métamorphoses in Paris. The catalogue, “Louise Bescond – Reliures 2017–2020”, contains an introduction by Fabienne Le Bars, head of restoration at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.