Songs of Bilitis : Pierre Louys [ Ex Libris Victor Schertzinger ]
$550
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Description
Privately printed Parnassian Society edition of Songs of Bilitis from among the books of Victor Schertzinger with his bookplate
Louys, Pierre. Songs of Bilitis. Parnassian Society : London , 1920. Limited edition, 295 of 300 copies. Ex Libris Victor Schertzinger.
Scarce Parnassian Society copy of the infamous erotic literary forgery the Songs of Bilitis owned by American film director and composer Victor Scherzinger.
Explained in Pierre Louys’ introduction to have been found carved on tablets of “black amphibolite” in the tomb of its “author”, this collection of 143 poems purports to be the authentic record of the life of Bilitis, an ancient woman of half Greek and Phonecian decent, who studied poetry under Sappho and later became a sacred courtesan to Aphrodite.
An amusingly thorough hoax, Louys’ introduction includes extensive references to other authors and ancient works as well as an extensive bibliographic index. A friend of Andre Gide, to whom this work was originally dedicated, Louys changed his name to Louys with a Y for the “Greek I” (“igrec”), also a symbol of the tri via or three-way road of Hecate. His friendship with Claude DeBussy resulted in the composer’s Chansons des Bilitis for voice and piano.
Although in actuality Louys’ own creation, their authentic inspiration, borrowing from the Bucolics of Virgil and other ancient sources is evident, with the collections opening moving from an erotic encounter with a tree to an invocation of Pan and Silenus. The poems also inspired one of the earliest lesbian organizations in the United States, the Daughters of Bilitis , founded in San Francisco in 1955.
This copy bears the elegant bookplate of Victor Schertzinger , silent film director and classically trained composer. Director of 103 films from 1917 to 1942 he was one of the earliest directors to utilize technicolor and also the only director of the silent era with classical music training, as highlighted in his adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado (1939). His original compositions for film such as “I Remember You” (1941) have had lasting impact (including a Beatles cover in 1962). He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1942 and is memorialized with one of the earliest Hollywood Walk of Fame stars.
Six copies of this edition found in OCLC as of June 2021.
8vo, 169 pp + [3] index. Brown paper boards with white cloth spine. Corners bumped. Corners, edges, and spine ends rubbed. Minor soiling and bruises to back board. Endpapers and pastedowns spotted, bookplate of Victor Schertzinger front pastedown. Hand numbered 243 of 300 front half-title verso. Pg [xiv – xv] uncut. Some pages dog eared. Evidence of bookplate or sticker to Index title margin. Good condition.
If you liked this book you might also like this first edition of Voodoo-Eros or this early American edition of Goldsmith’s Roman History.
