Paysages Africains: Tchad ..., Rene-Jean Clot & Leclerc, 1945, 446/1700, VG

Clot, René-Jean, and Général Leclerc. Paysages Africains: Tchad, Tibesti, Fezzan, Borkou; Précedé de La Colonne du Tchad (Paris: Pierre Tisne, 1945).

French, No. 446 of 1700 copies, Very Good, SC, 4to, 11" x 9," [3] 1-16 + [149] pp., including 68 plates, one map, and Tables des Planches.

ISBN: N/A

Text in French. Beige paper wrappers. Black lettering and illustration printed on front. No lettering to spine. Covers have faint dampstaining along edges, light to moderate age toning, slight wear to extremities, and former owner's signature in dark gray ink on inside of front cover, else clean and intact. Pages have light age toning and slight offsetting, else pristine and intact. Replete with plates in black-and-white and color, some of which are tipped in. A beautiful and unique book containing many plates that depict paintings and drawings by René-Jean Clot (1913-1997), a French artist and author. The subjects of Clot's artworks are portraits, animals, and desolate yet picturesque landscapes in Chad, Tibesti, Fezzan, and Borkou. These plates are preceded by "La Colonne du Tchad," a collection of diary entries from the early 1940s by Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1902-1947), a Free-French general who served during World War II. Leclerc's entries give a brief impression of military operations based in Chad during the war. While stationed in Africa, he fought against Italian forces and undertook a roughly 1,000-mile expedition from Chad to Tripoli to rejoin the British Eighth Army. Following the plates is a brief essay about Clot and the African regions depicted in his art. Back colophon: "Ce volume achevé d'imprimer le six Octobre mil neuf cent quarante cinq par l'Imprimerie des Beaux-Arts, Phototype par G. Duval; hors-texte en couleurs par Laffray; Deberque; Artra; Kauffmann; clichés bussière et nouel a été tiré a mille sept cent vingt exemplaires numérotés 1 a 1.700 et H. C. I a XX; 446."