53. Félix Buhot
1847-1898

Le Chateau des Hiboux; Ex Libris de Léon Lerey (The Owl's Castle; Bookplate of Léon Lerey)

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Le Chateau des Hiboux

Le Chateau des Hiboux; Ex Libris de Léon Lerey (The Owl's Castle; Bookplate of Léon Lerey)

Etching, drypoint, aquatint, sulphur tint, roulette and burnishing, 1887 and 1877-78, 114 x 178 mm., Bourcard/Goodfriend 168 iii/v and 51 ii/ii. The plate was begun in 1877, on the right side, as a bookplate for the dealer Léon Lerey. It was never completed and the blank area of the plate was never cut off. Ten years later, Buhot retrieved the copper, drew the owl's castle at the left and, deciding to incorporate both images in one design, added the sketches and tonal variations in and around the two. A superb impression in brown-black ink on wove paper with full margins, signed and annotated in pencil. From the inventory of Henri M. Petiet with his mark.