HERVIEU (Louise). The soul of the circus. Morality crowned by the Académie Française. Paris: Librairie de France, F. Sant' Andrea et L. Marcerou, 1924. - In-4, leaves, filled cover, publisher's orange cloth spine folder. First edition of this "very interesting and highly-rated publication" (Carteret, IV, 202). In it, Louise Hervieu celebrates the circus and all its sides (children in the circus, fairground circuses, the clowns' dressing room, the juggler, etc.), incorporating the drama entitled "Le Tireur à la bougie" performed and composed by the Fratellinis. The edition is richly illustrated with a beautiful cover by Mariano Andreu, 29 compositions in the text and 14 plates, reproduced in black and color by Daniel Jacomet, after the greatest artists of the period, such as Jacques-Émile Blanche, Jean-Gabriel Daragnès, Maurice Denis, André Favory, Raoul Dufy, Hermann Paul, Pierre Laprade, Luc-Albert Moreau, Georges Rouault, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, Antoine Bourdelle, Pierre Bonnard, André Rouveyre, Jean Cocteau, Félix Vallotton, Pablo Picasso, André Lhote and others. Edition of 403 numbered copies, initialed by the publisher. ONE OF THE 12 FIRST ON JAPAN, this one numbered 5, with this autograph signed letter from Dunoyer de Segonzac on the false title: "Pour // Maurice Goddet très amicalement // A. Dunoyer de Segonzac. Spine of dust jacket damaged, ties missing. The book is perfectly preserved.