Le Fardeau de la Liberte (Book and Lithograph)

1897

11 1/2 x 7 3/8 in /
27.9 x 17.8 cm

Both the cover and the lithograph
Lithograph:
First edition
Eight known impressions
Key stone printed in dark violet, color stones in yellow and grey-blue on imitation japan paper
Published by La revue blanche as one of the publications artistiques
Five in public collections
VERY RARE

Book Cover:
Image transferred from lithograph
Published by La revue blanche
RARE

This print, which appeared in the Edition de la Revue Blanche, was used with lettering as the cover for Tristan Bernard's comedy Le Fardeau de la Liberte (The Burden of Freedom), published in 1897. Bernard had commissioned Lautrec to illustrate for him before, most notably for the program cover for his other play Les Pieds, as well as for publishable erotica. Here, we have both the unlettered lithograph as well as the original cover.

References: Wittrock 233, Adriani 231, Delteil 214, Frey 356