The collection « Les artistes du livre » by publisher Henry Babou (1928-1933)

Abstract

The  collection « Les artistes du livre » is a contemporary undertaking meant to preserve illustration as a specific artistic heritage in a period marked by a craze for illustrated books. Its publisher, Henry Babou, has adopted a system that imitates the codes of the object he is helping to sanctuarize, the luxury book. Moreover, the engagement of the authors, who were the first to benefit from the effects of illustration on their works, helped legitimize the practice, elevating it to the rank of art. In their “preface-letter”, they sketch out the outlines of a trend, the specific characteristics of the practice, and at the same time, they point the artistic singularities of the illustrator they are addressing to.