L'Oiseau bleu (1926) - Maurice Maeterlinck - Luxury Half-Leather Band

French edition from 1926 of L'Oiseau bleu by Maurice Maeterlinck, one of the most famous works by the Belgian Symbolist writer and playwright.

L'Oiseau bleu is a fairy-tale play in which the children Tyltyl and Mytyl go in search of the blue bird of happiness. The work was first performed at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1908 and received its Parisian premiere in 1911 at the Théâtre Réjane. This edition contains the full play text in six acts and twelve scenes, including the detailed descriptions of costumes and characters.

The book was published in Paris in 1926 by Librairie Charpentier et Fasquelle. The title page bears the inscription "Soixante-neuvième mille", an indication of how widely the work had come to be distributed by then.

This copy is bound in a classic half-leather binding with marbled boards and marbled endpapers. The spine has four raised bands and a dark title label with gilded lettering. This private binding gives the copy a considerably more attractive appearance than the original simple trade edition.

Inside the front cover is an old English-language library label with a rhyme asking the borrower to return the book after reading it, followed by a handwritten owner's name. A beautifully preserved detail from the book's history of use.

Details:

• Author: Maurice Maeterlinck
• Title: L'Oiseau bleu
• Subtitle: Féerie en six actes et douze tableaux
• Publisher: Librairie Charpentier et Fasquelle
• Publisher/imprint: Eugène Fasquelle
• Place of publication: Paris
• Year: 1926
• Printing indication: Soixante-neuvième mille
• Extent: 273 pages
• Language: French
• Genre: drama, Symbolist literature, fairy-tale literature
• Binding: half-leather with marbled boards
• Spine: four raised bands
• Title label: dark with gilded lettering
• Endpapers: marbled
• Provenance: old English-language private library label
• Dimensions: approx. 18.3 × 11.9 cm
• Thickness: approx. 2.4 cm

Condition:
Good used antiquarian condition. The interior is neat and the text is clear and easily readable, with normal age-related discoloration and occasional light foxing. The half-leather binding shows clear signs of use and age. The leather is discolored and locally worn, with wear to the edges, corners, and ends of the spine, and a small damage at the top of the spine. The marbled paper also shows normal signs of use. The title label and the gilded lettering on the spine are clearly readable. See the photos for a complete picture of the condition.