Aerostation/ Olympics/ Belle époque/ Grand Monde/ Aisne - Lot 165

Aerostation/ Olympics/ Belle époque/ Grand Monde/ Aisne Book: "Le Carnet du Sportsman". A classy curiosity, this blank notebook in its publisher's hardback binding. It gives an indisputable idea of what sport was like in the Belle Epoque for a certain class, that of the sportsman. The talented and mysterious L. Henraux is the driving force behind this notebook, penning 12 full-page "sports" frescoes in diaphanous shades (imitation wood paper), giving us a "Grand Maulnes" atmosphere. Cars, golf, tennis, polo, shooting, horse shows, hunting, yachting and theater are all treated with hushed, dignified glee, each work accompanied by a double-page spread with columns for related notes. Each work is accompanied by a double-page spread with columns for note-taking, and each is topped off with a cheerful frieze. Scores, actors, autographs, everything is to be noted. One imagines the same room under Marcel Proust's pencil. In fact, he invites us on a sort of aerial voyage into the world of sports in its infancy. In the first illustration, we take to the skies in Count Henry de La Vaulx's balloon during the 1900 Exposition Universelle, a 1925 km, 35-hour raid (the map is here) in the company of Georges de Castillon de St Victor, landing near Kiev. The Comte de La Vaulx (1870-1930) had a fantastic career as an aerostation pioneer (Aéro-Club, FAI), entrepreneur (Zodiac), war hero, popularizer, writer, explorer (Patagonia), photographer and more. Consumed by his passion during a flight in the USA, he is buried near his château in Rozoy-Bellevalle, Aisne. We couldn't have wished for a more exemplary godfather than this absolute sportsman... In-4 Italian style (22.5x33). Imprimerie Prieur et Dubois (litho). 1900. TBE