first edition
by KING, Jessie M.; KIPLING, Rudyard; KIEFFER, René
Paris: Rene Kieffer, 1921. Jessie M. King illustrates Rudyard Kipling's 'An Habitation Enforced'
A Superb Example of One of the Few Copies Specially Bound by René Kieffer
KING, Jessie M., illustrator. KIPLING, Rudyard. KIEFFER, René, publisher & binder. L'Habitation Forceé. Traduction de de Louis Fabulet et Robert D'Humieres. Illustrations en Coulers de Jessie M. King. Paris: Éditions René Kieffer, 1921.
First edition illustrated by Jessie M. King. Limited to 550 numbered copies on hand-made paper and 50 numbered copies printed on Japanese vellum. This copy is number 94 of the 500 on hand-made paper.
Quarto (9 1/4 x 7 1/8 inches; 235 x 180 mm.). [1-7], 8-93, [1, imprint], [2, list of publications] pp. Publisher's color pictorial front wrapper bound-in at front, publisher's printed spine bound in at end. Twenty-eight fine colored pochoir illustrations by Jessie M. King.
Special publisher's binding by René Kieffer. Full brown seakskin, covers elaborately stamped in black depicting a house set in an oval framework of flowers and leaves, smooth spine lettered in gilt, green and brown marbled endpapers, fore and lower edges uncut. With the printed booksellers label "Librairie - Papeterie / M Gonon / 67 Av. du Roule /Neuilly Seine" on verso front free endpaper. A very fine copy.
An Habitation Enforced (original English title) is a romance by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published in Century Magazine, a New York publication, in August 1905. It describes how a young American couple, on a visit to Edwardian England, discover the wife’s roots - her family emigrated to the newly independent USA round about 1800 - and, drawn by the association of place, settle down to make their home there.
"A number of these copies were bound by Kieffer in, variously, brown sealskin, grey snakeskin and lizard skin, all with embossed pictorial gilt cover onlay not by JMK, and with non-JMK lettering on spine, top edge gilt. A copy has been noted in black reverse-calf blind-stamped with a non-JMK decoration of of a house set in an oval framework of flowers and leaves, and with gilt-stamped spine lettering. Other examples from the same stamper might exist… Several different endpapers were used for this edition, including purple/silver; marbled gray; alternating stripes of dark and mid-blue on blue, and black and gold stripes on red. In each case the original upper wrapper was bound in. Jessie M. King's illustrations were originally commissioned for Le Mercure de France who intended publishing the book in 1914. The book had reached the proof stage but the outbreak of the war forced the cancellation of the project and, indeed, the closure of the firm itself. After the war Kieffers bought the rights and had Jessie M. King alter the title-page to include their own imprint. At least one set of the sheets exists with the Mercure de France imprint." (Colin White, p.71).
Jessie Marion King (1875-1949), a Scottish illustrator associated with the Art Nouveau movement, was known for her delicate, ethereal drawings. Her time in Paris inspired some of her best works, including the illustrations for L'habitation Forcée. The pochoir technique, a method of hand-stenciling colors, was used to reproduce her illustrations. This method is praised for its precision and vibrant clarity, making King's work in this book among her finest achievements. The use of pochoir was common in luxury book production, and it allowed for rich, detailed coloring that elevated her designs.
René Kieffer (1875-1964), was a notable figure in the world of bookbinding and design in Paris during the early twentieth century. His innovative approaches to bookbinding, particularly in the Art Deco style, and his reputation as a skilled craftsman, made him one of the most important bookbinders of his time. Kieffer's craftsmanship was key to producing high-quality, visually striking editions, and his involvement in printing L'habitation Forcée added a level of prestige to the book's design. The combination of King's exquisite illustrations and Kieffer's masterful book production reflects the high level of artistry and craftsmanship in early twentieth-century book design.
Louis Jacques Élie Fabulet (1862-1933), was the translator of the novel Walden or life in the woods by Henry David Thoreau in France. He was also one of the main French translators of Rudyard Kipling, in particular of his Jungle Book. The French Academy awarded him the Langlois Prize in 1901 for this translation.
Robert d'Humières (1868-1915) was a friend of Marcel Proust, he helped the latter with his translation of John Ruskin's The Bible of Amiens. He was also the friend of Oscar Wilde who gave him a dedicated copy of his Poems.
Colin White. A Guide to the Printed Work of Jessie M. King. B 136, p.71. (Inventory #: 06043)
A Superb Example of One of the Few Copies Specially Bound by René Kieffer
KING, Jessie M., illustrator. KIPLING, Rudyard. KIEFFER, René, publisher & binder. L'Habitation Forceé. Traduction de de Louis Fabulet et Robert D'Humieres. Illustrations en Coulers de Jessie M. King. Paris: Éditions René Kieffer, 1921.
First edition illustrated by Jessie M. King. Limited to 550 numbered copies on hand-made paper and 50 numbered copies printed on Japanese vellum. This copy is number 94 of the 500 on hand-made paper.
Quarto (9 1/4 x 7 1/8 inches; 235 x 180 mm.). [1-7], 8-93, [1, imprint], [2, list of publications] pp. Publisher's color pictorial front wrapper bound-in at front, publisher's printed spine bound in at end. Twenty-eight fine colored pochoir illustrations by Jessie M. King.
Special publisher's binding by René Kieffer. Full brown seakskin, covers elaborately stamped in black depicting a house set in an oval framework of flowers and leaves, smooth spine lettered in gilt, green and brown marbled endpapers, fore and lower edges uncut. With the printed booksellers label "Librairie - Papeterie / M Gonon / 67 Av. du Roule /Neuilly Seine" on verso front free endpaper. A very fine copy.
An Habitation Enforced (original English title) is a romance by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published in Century Magazine, a New York publication, in August 1905. It describes how a young American couple, on a visit to Edwardian England, discover the wife’s roots - her family emigrated to the newly independent USA round about 1800 - and, drawn by the association of place, settle down to make their home there.
"A number of these copies were bound by Kieffer in, variously, brown sealskin, grey snakeskin and lizard skin, all with embossed pictorial gilt cover onlay not by JMK, and with non-JMK lettering on spine, top edge gilt. A copy has been noted in black reverse-calf blind-stamped with a non-JMK decoration of of a house set in an oval framework of flowers and leaves, and with gilt-stamped spine lettering. Other examples from the same stamper might exist… Several different endpapers were used for this edition, including purple/silver; marbled gray; alternating stripes of dark and mid-blue on blue, and black and gold stripes on red. In each case the original upper wrapper was bound in. Jessie M. King's illustrations were originally commissioned for Le Mercure de France who intended publishing the book in 1914. The book had reached the proof stage but the outbreak of the war forced the cancellation of the project and, indeed, the closure of the firm itself. After the war Kieffers bought the rights and had Jessie M. King alter the title-page to include their own imprint. At least one set of the sheets exists with the Mercure de France imprint." (Colin White, p.71).
Jessie Marion King (1875-1949), a Scottish illustrator associated with the Art Nouveau movement, was known for her delicate, ethereal drawings. Her time in Paris inspired some of her best works, including the illustrations for L'habitation Forcée. The pochoir technique, a method of hand-stenciling colors, was used to reproduce her illustrations. This method is praised for its precision and vibrant clarity, making King's work in this book among her finest achievements. The use of pochoir was common in luxury book production, and it allowed for rich, detailed coloring that elevated her designs.
René Kieffer (1875-1964), was a notable figure in the world of bookbinding and design in Paris during the early twentieth century. His innovative approaches to bookbinding, particularly in the Art Deco style, and his reputation as a skilled craftsman, made him one of the most important bookbinders of his time. Kieffer's craftsmanship was key to producing high-quality, visually striking editions, and his involvement in printing L'habitation Forcée added a level of prestige to the book's design. The combination of King's exquisite illustrations and Kieffer's masterful book production reflects the high level of artistry and craftsmanship in early twentieth-century book design.
Louis Jacques Élie Fabulet (1862-1933), was the translator of the novel Walden or life in the woods by Henry David Thoreau in France. He was also one of the main French translators of Rudyard Kipling, in particular of his Jungle Book. The French Academy awarded him the Langlois Prize in 1901 for this translation.
Robert d'Humières (1868-1915) was a friend of Marcel Proust, he helped the latter with his translation of John Ruskin's The Bible of Amiens. He was also the friend of Oscar Wilde who gave him a dedicated copy of his Poems.
Colin White. A Guide to the Printed Work of Jessie M. King. B 136, p.71. (Inventory #: 06043)
(818) 222-4103
