#95 of 150 copies printed, with 8 mounted plates, pencil signed by the artist. 4to; vellum backed boards; gilt stamped paper spine label. Printed on all rag, deckle edge paper. Browning to vellum in spots primarily on front panel. A very clean copy.

First published in 1835. In September 1833, Gautier was solicited to write a historical romance based on the life of French opera star Mlle Maupin, who was a first-rate swordswoman and often went about disguised as a man. Originally, the story was to be about the historical la Maupin, who set fire to a convent for the love of another woman, but later retired to a convent herself, shortly before dying in her thirties. Gautier instead turned the plot into a simple love triangle between a man, d'Albert, and his mistress, Rosette, who both fall in love with Madelaine de Maupin, who is disguised as a man named Théodore. The message behind Gautier's version of the infamous legend is the fundamental pessimism about the human identity, and perhaps the entire Romantic age. [Wikipedia]

19th century Fiction Gay & Lesbian Studies