4to. 6 etchings and 20 reproductions of preliminary drawings on colored paper. Original publisher’s brown cloth, upper cover and spine gilt-decorated; original board slipcase, printed paper label on spine; glassine dust jacket (chipped).

 

LIMITED EDITION,ONE OF ONLY 250 COPIES SIGNED BY BOTH MATISSE AND JOYCE, number 482 from a total edition of 1,500 copies. "One of the very few American livres de peintres issued before World War II. According to George Macy, who undertook this only American publication of Matisse's illustrations, he asked the artist how many etchings the latter could provide for five thousand dollars. The artist chose to take six subjects from Homer's Odyssey" (Riva Castleman, A Century of Artists Books, pp.35, 61). When asked why he did not illustrate episodes from Joyce’s novel, he responded that he hadn’t read it. The American Livre de Peintre, 32; The Artist and the Book, 197; Slocum and Calhoun A22.