La légende et la vie d'Utrillo
Year: 1927
Author: Francis Carco (1886 - 1958)
Illustrator: Suzanne Valadon
Artist: Maurice Utrillo (1883 - 1955)
Publisher: Éditions Marcel Seheur
Deluxe copy
Novelist Carco, author of this biographical sketch, was a Montmarte expert par excellence. The deluxe copy in the Koopman Collection is one of five copies printed on Japon ancien; the entire edition consists of a mere 105 copies. According to the antiquarian book dealer Henri Matarasso, who sold the book to Louis Koopman in 1936, this copy originally came from the author's own library (in a letter from 4 January 1936). The deluxe edition has a few additional prints of the lithographs on various kinds of deluxe paper: Chinese, Japanese and Dutch. Moreover, prints 'après rayage' of a number of lithographs have been included. That means that the stone has been defaced and that no further unspoilt impressions can be taken. These cancels usually show lines or a cross. The artist's mother, Suzanne Valadon, drew Utrillo's portrait, prints of which have been included in this copy on four different kinds of paper.