1279 - 1446 DUTCH LITERATURE (including AUTOGRAPHS)
- Occas. trifle foxed. A fine copy. = Van Vliet p.264, no.1.
- Some foxing. Most spine-ends rubbed; 2nd vol. binding partly browned and foot of spine sl. dam. A good set.
= De kleine zielen (whitish dec. on light grey cl.); Het late leven (brown dec. on greenish grey cl.); Zielenschemering (dark blue dec. on grey cl.); Het heilige weten (green dec. on greenish grey cl.). Van Vliet p.216, no.1-4; Braches 1453 I-IV.
- Zielenschemering upper hinge broken, but holding on cords, owner's entry cut out, library stamp on htitle; first free lvs. (sl.) foxed; Het heilige weten sl. foxed throughout; Het late leven owner's entry and stamp on title; De kleine zielen trifle foxed, mostly in the first few lvs., sm. owner's stamp on first free endpaper. Covers De kleine zielen and Het late leven in a (very) fine condition; Het heilige weten spine yellowed and spine-ends and corners rubbed; Zielenschemering sm. stains on frontcover and spine-ends rubbed.
= Provenance: Couperus Museum in The Hague. De kleine zielen (whitish dec. on light grey cl.); Het late leven (blue (!) dec. on grey cl., Variant); Zielenschemering (dark blue dec. on grey cl.); Het heilige weten (green dec. on greenish grey cl.). Van Vliet p.216, no.1, 3, 4, 5; Braches 1453 I-IV.
- Occas. trifle foxed. All vols. w. sm. erased stamp(s) on first free endpaper, remnants of ticket on upper pastedown and erased annot. in upper blank margin of title-p.; lower half of title-p. vol.1 cut out (w. loss of impressum) and replaced by blank paper; vol. 3 upper part of title-p. cut out and mounted on htitle, 2 lvs. fore-edge margen strengthened w. paper strip. Covers sl. rubbed. Nevertheless a good set of the rare first edition in contemporary bindings.
- Library stamp ("Couperus Museum" ) on title-p. Fine copy. = Van Vliet p.229, no.2; Braches 2153.
Idem. Psyche. Ibid., idem, n.d. (1898), 1st ed., (8),178,(6)p., orig. cream cl. w. dec. in black by J.TH. TOOROP.
- Owner's entry cut out from title-p.; library stamp ("Couperus Museum" ) on title-p.; a few sm. stains on backcover.
= Van Vliet p.187, no. 2; Braches 2128; Cat. Ned. Boek 56.
Idem. Babel. Ibid., idem, n.d. (1901), 1st ed., 199p., orig. cream cl. w. dec. in brown by J.TH. TOOROP.
- Owner's entry and stamp on htitle and title; first and last few lvs. (sl.) foxed. Cover sl. yellowed; spine-ends rubbed.
= Van Vliet p.212, no.1; Braches 2142.
- Some foxing. Spine-ends vol. 1 sl. worn. = Van Vliet, p.308, no.1.
Idem. Majesteit. Amst., L.J. Veen, n.d. (1895), 2nd ed., (4),306,(2)p., orig. cl. by R.N. ROLAND HOLST.
- Partly sl. foxed. = Van Vliet p.152, no.8.
AND 3 others by the same, i.a. Het late leven (ibid., (1902), 2 parts in 1 vol., orig. dec. cl. by TH. NEUHUYS. De boeken der kleine zielen, vol. 2).
- Both vols. htitle and last page browned from ofsetting of endpapers. Backstrips trifle sunned. Good copy.
= Van Vliet, p.308, no.1.
Idem. Het Snoer der Ontferming en Japansche Legenden. Ibid., idem, 1924, 1st ed., 271,(1)p., orig. giltlettered dec. blue satin by S.H. DE ROOS.
- Sl. foxed; leaf w. dedication mounted on htitle. Backstrip sunned and sm. stain at foot. = Van Vliet p.324, no.1.
AND 3 others by the same, i.a. Dionyzos (Amst., (1904), 1st ed., orig. dec. cl. by J. ROTGANS. Owner's entry on first free endpaper; binding soiled/ sl. stained and backstrip sl. faded. Van Vliet p.232).
- Erased owner's entries on first free endpaper. Otherwise fine copies. = Van Vliet, p.308, no.1.
Idem. Herakles. Roman in twee deelen. Amst., L.J. Veen, n.d. (1913), 1st ed., 2 vols., (4),245; (4),226,(2)p., orig. grey wr. w. dec. in blue by R.N. ROLAND HOLST.
- Poor copy. = Van Vliet p.280, no.2. Rare in its orig. wr.
AND 1 other in 3 vols. by the same: De Berg van licht (bindings stained/ worn. Van Vliet p.241, no.7-9).
- Some sl. occas. foxing. First work w. vague waterstain at spine-ends and adjacent corner of covers; 2nd work backstrip browned and binding partly faded/ sl. worn.
= Van Vliet p.318, no.1 and p.326, no.1.
AND 5 others by the same i.a. Williswinde (Amst., (1895), 1st ed., orig. wr. des. by L.W.R. WENCKEBACH. Spine-ends dam.; backwr. creased. Van Vliet p.164, no.2) and Fidessa (ibid., (1899), 1st ed., orig. dec. cl. by K. SLUYTERMAN. Owner's entries on first free endpaper; spine-ends sl. worn. Van Vliet p.194, no.1).
- Sl. occas. foxing. Spine-ends sl. rubbed.
= Couperus' second publication in the orig. publisher's binding. Van Vliet p.109, no.2. Rare.
Idem. Een Lent van Vaerzen. Utr., J.L. Beijers, 1884, 1st ed., 90,(6)p., printed in black and red, orig. wr. by L.W.R. WENCKEBACH.
- The vulnerable/ brittle wrappers lacking portions from margins, partly also sl. affecting the image of the frontwr.; backstrip dam. and pasted over w. scotch tape.
= Van Vliet p.104, no.1; Braches 2419. The author's debut.
- Vol. 2 and 3 sl. foxed. Vol. 3 backstrip sl. sunned; vol.1 backstrip and corners rubbed; vol.3 backstrip sl. rubbed.
= Van Vliet p.320, no.4. The rare DELUXE edition bound in gilt burgundy calf with gilt inside dentelles, marbled endpapers and gilt top edge, designed by J.B. VAN HEUKELOM, published in a very limited number of copies. "Er bestaat ook een zogenaamde 'Weelde-uitgave' in roodbruin leer met goudopdruk. Het aantal luxe exemplaren staat niet vast, maar zal niet veel meer dan enkele tientallen zijn geweest. Soms wijkt de kleur van het leer enigszins af." (Van Vliet p.322).
- First and last few lvs. sl. foxed. Spine, outer edge frontcover and backcover partly sunned.
= Van Vliet p.324, no.1.
AND 20 others by the same (incl. 1st eds.) and 3 on the same, partly defective, i.a. Wereldvrede (1895, Van Vliet p.162, no.1); Psyche (1898, 1st ed., Van Vliet p.187, no.1); Fidessa (1899, Van Vliet p.194, no.1); De Zwaluwen neêr gestreken (1911, Van Vliet p.269, no.1); Proza Eerste/ Tweede bundel (1913-1924, Van Vliet p.320, no. 1), Nippon (1925, Van Vliet p.326, no.1).
- Lower hinge broken, w. sm. tear in lower joint; covers trilfe foxed; backstrip faded and browned; spine-ends (sl.) worn.
= Van Vliet p.206, no.3; Braches 809.
- Sm. stain on frontcover. = Van Vliet p.304, no.2.
Idem. De Berg van Licht. Amst., L.J. Veen, n.d. (1935), 1st ed., 4 parts in 1 vol., orig. cl.
= Bookblocks from the first edition, bound together. Not mentioned by Van Vliet.
AND 28 others by the same, in various bindings, i.a. Uit Blanke Steden en onder blauwe lucht (1912, Van Vliet 1 and 8); Het Snoer der ontferming (1924, Van Vliet 1); Psyche (n.d., 2nd or 3rd ed., orig. gilt brown cl./ black hcl. (2 variants), 4to).
= The sculpture is inspired by the following sentence in the novel Extaze (1891): "Een houtblok brandde met een paar kronkeltongen in het haardje van nickel en verguld, als een vuurtje van stille intimiteit, als eene vlam van discretie, in die schemeratmosfeer van, met kant gedekt, lampeschijnsel, intimiteit en discretie verspreidden ook door geheel het nauwe vertrekje iets als een aroom van viooltjes, eene nuance van viooltjes-geur, die school in de zachtheid der tinten van behang en meubelen..." Extaze. Een boek van geluk, p. 2. Provenance: Louis Couperus museum in The Hague.
= Possibly handcoloured with colour chalk by the artist himself. The drawing was destroyed in 1944 during the bombardment of The Hague. Both items provenance: Louis Couperus Museum.
= Gifted to the Louis Couperus Museum in 2009.
Letterie, Frank (b.1931). "Louis Couperus 1863-1923". Bronze medallion, 1977, Ø 7 cm., monogrammed and "77".
= Published by the Haagse Kunstkring, on the occasion of the exhibtion Haagse Kunstkring, werk verzameld, in 1977. On verso a portrait of Louis Couperus and on recto large Agave as described on the first page of De berg van licht (1905-1906): In een dicht bladergeheim van tuinen, stille van wind, lagen in het wijde park de tempelgebouwen verspreid, (...) waartegen, lichtovergoten van rijzende maand, reusachtige agaven opstaken hare zwaarden òf wit òf zwart, naar mate het maanlicht zijn glans veegde aan de lemmers dier bladeren, of dat zijzelve zich spietsten in schaduw en wègpriemden in nacht.
AND a small collection of other items, all related to Louis Couperus, i.a. a small bronze patinated resin bust by Loek BOS (inscribed and "16"); silver ring (10 copies) w. the head used on the frontcover of De Komedianten and a set of cufflinks (Galerie Guthschmidt, all in boxes).
= From the library of F. BASTET.