François-Louis Schmied | Illustrations for L'Odyssée, c.1930, 97 loose pochoir prints

François-Louis Schmied

Illustrations for L'Odyssée, c.1930

Suite of 97 pochoir prints (of 98, lacking double-page map) on vellum, heightened in gold and silver, all signed 'F.L.S' or 'F. L. Schmied', comprising:

68 portrait format (approx. 205 x 130 mm.), 24 landscape format (144 x 70 mm.), 4 vertical half-page (60 x 24 mm.), one circular portrait with title (131 x 161 mm.), all but two in mounts (405 x 280 mm.), and one glazed and framed, one slightly soiled, some mounts bumped

These vibrant illustrations were produced by François-Louis Schmied (1873-1941) for Victor Berard's translation of Homer's Odyssey, printed entirely on vellum in a limited edition for the Bibliophiles de l'Automobile Club de France. As the publication was prohibitively expensive, sadly not all the projected copies were printed. Given that this suite lacks both the blue and gold borders usually present and the accompanying text leaves, it may never have comprised part of a finished copy.

PROVENANCE:

From the collection of the late Colin White