PAINTERS & ENGRAVERS. Exceptional set of around 70 lette - Lot 327

PAINTERS & ENGRAVERS. Exceptional set of around 70 letters from 19th-century painters, engravers, caricaturists, etc., all illustrated with drawings. Rich and beautiful set: GACHET, Paul Ferdinand (1828-1909), physician, engraver, art collector and friend of Van Gogh. Set of 3 autograph letters signed and illustrated. Auvers-sur-Oise and [Paris], n.d. Two letterheads from his medical practice. "To Mons G. Murer Premier pâtissier de la République française une et indivisible [...]. Mille merci mon cher ami de votre exactitude dont les deux hémisphères ont été émues [...]. [Eugène Mürer (1846-1909), a friend of the Impressionists and collector portrayed by Renoir, had settled in Auvers-sur-Oise in 1881. Like Gachet, an enlightened art lover, he supported local artists]; DANTAN jeune, Jean-Pierre (1800-1869), sculptor and caricaturist. L.A.S. with a small caricature. Enclosed is an illustrated letter addressed to him by Lallemand; BUHOT, Félix (1847-1898), painter and engraver. One of France's greatest aquafortists. L.A.S. S.l., January 28, 1875. 2 pp. in-folio. Large, handsome letter illustrated with an owl against a background of a full moon and mountains, à la "Edgard Poë" author's note, suffering. "[...] I dare not go out, for fear of frightening my friends, being nothing more than a translucent shadow, a sort of diaphanous lantern [...] for a month I have not touched a copper plate, except for a large, boring and "serious" plate that I missed. I'm getting a bit of revenge on the paper [...] [I] find, in the midst of the madness it contains, a little sketch that I'd like to engrave for the newspaper [...]". He recalls "your good Doctor VAN RYSSEL [i.e. Dr. Gachet, himself a master of etching] ... I would have taken the liberty of going to see him and asking for a little medico-artistic consultation [...]". He hopes for "some care", etc.; GILLE, Philippe (1830-1901) librettist. L.A.S. addressed to François or Léon BONVIN, illustrated with a portrait of Savonarola. S.l.n.d. 1 p. 1/2 in-8. "[...] poor Bonvin won't be sorry to have an objet d'art in his home, a nice drawing will please him, v'lan, I've profiled the great man who looks like Meyerbeer to ask him for a spyglass. If I were a scoundrel like Marx, I'd make you this sweet joke: I'd tell you; Mon cher Bonvin, voilà mon dessin, montrer-moi le vôtre; malheureusement j'en ai un ravissant de vous (aquarelle de Carrières) [...]"; BEAUVOIR, Roger de (1807-1866), French Romantic novelist, poet and playwright. Set of 8 illustrated documents, including 6 autograph letters signed, an autograph poem signed and a drawing. Amusing conversation, sometimes in verse form, between Beauvoir and her friends: Asseline (with fine portrait; ink has burned away parts of the paper), Béraud, etc.; CLAUDET, Max (1840-1893), French sculptor and ceramist. Autograph letter signed and illustrated. Salins-les-Bains, February 10, 1870. Very interesting letter on the construction of the tomb of his great friend, the poet and novelist Max Buchon (1818-1869), who had died two months earlier. He draws the monument surmounted by a bronze bust in his hand, discusses costs, etc.; DELPRAT, Edouard, aquafortist. Beautiful L.A.S. with large pen-and-ink drawing. S.l.n.d. 4 pp. in-8; GIRAUD, Eugène (1806-1881), French painter and engraver. His best-known work is the portrait of Gustave Flaubert, painted around 1856 and now in the Château de Versailles. Illustrated L.A.S.; RIDOUARD, Maxime. L.A.S. Poitiers, June 30, 1881. 2 pp. ½ in-8; SIMIL, Alphonse (1841 1916), French architect. C.A.S. with fine drawing on verso of the "1000-foot tower"; LEMAIRE, Madeleine. C.A.S. on strong paper featuring flowers and printed leaves. S.l.n.d. & p. In-12; VILLA BELLA, Félicien de [?] L.A.S. to "Asselinetto", illustrated with a full-page hanging; NEGRE, Alphonse. L.A.S. illustrated with the painting he was preparing to send to Paris for the Salon; STOP, Louis Pierre Gabriel Bernard Morel-Retz dit (1825-1899), caricaturist, draughtsman, illustrator and engraver. Illustrated L.A.S. Evokes the Hydra of Lerna, Neptune and his chariot, which he draws surrounded by tritons; deplores the fact that the three Graces are always represented in the same way, evokes the dresses of the Nine Muses, etc.; DURANDEAU, Jean Émile (1827-1880), French painter and caricaturist. Full-page cartoon signed in turquoise ink. S.l.n.d. 1 p. in-8; LELOIR, Maurice (1853-1940), French painter, draftsman and engraver. L.A.S. with small sketch at foot. S.l.n.d.; ZUBER BUHLER, Fritz (1822-1896), Swiss painter. L.A.S. illustrated with a pencil bust portrait of a woman. Fermaincourt, September 7, 1887. 2 pp. in-8; COLOMB Georges dit Christo