Fencing / Elysée / Mars. Attention unique piece. "L'escrime - Lot 124

Fencing / Elysée / Mars. Attention unique piece. "L'escrime à l'Elysée, Silhouettes des tireurs, preface by A.Tavernier (piquante sur 4 pages), portrait of the author by Carolus Duran" By MARS alias Maurice Bonvoisin (1849-1912). This 1882 in-folio gem (46x33) was printed in an edition of 100 copies, and here we offer copy no. 100, the artist's own copy (!!!!), with his fine signature, and a consignment to Monsieur Daniel Wilson (1840-1919, son-in-law - Alice's husband - of Jules Grévy, President of the Republic from 1879 to 1887, who was implicated in the decorations scandal and later acquitted). Among the 38 shooters nicely "troussés et pas croqués" by the master of Verviers, we find all the socialites (political, literary), who also played the fine blades, this colorful gallery thus goes from Daniel Wilson to Mars, himself, who as a good captain, closes the march, passing by Auguste Dreyfus, Felix Faure, Léon Grévy, Aurélien Scholl, A.Tavernier, Alfred Lacroix, Adolfe Gaiffe, Sanguinetti, H. De Villeneuve, Cpte Dermé and Baron R. Seillière. With its protective covers, very fresh, this prestige volume from the Atelier de Reproductions Artistiques has been superbly bound and the original cover reassembled and preserved in its core, with the illustrated title, gilded and signed by Mars. The perfect museum piece, it bears witness to a slice of history, and shows the interweaving of fencing, fine arts and politics in those gamey 1880s, including at the very top of the state...As for Mars, he's at his best here, having just begun his joyous series on the beaches of France. Thanks to him, we discover that if there was a chapel at the Elysée Palace, there was also a remarkable fencing room, with some hell of a crowd... Yes, fencing was the king sport before velocipedics overshadowed it ....