L'IMAGE. Paris: Floury, December 1896 - December 1897. - 12 issues in a large in-4 volume, 337 x 255: (3 ff.), 383 pp. 48 plates, 1 score; 8 pp. (specimen issue). Gray morocco, spine with 4 cold-stamped raised bands, central mosaic fleuron in tan and havana morocco, gilt title and dates, cold-stamped filleted edges, gilt inner fillets, illustrated covers preserved, edged slipcase (Canape R. D. 1908). Complete collection of this important monthly journal of modern art founded by the French guild of wood engravers, published under the literary direction of Roger Marx and Jules Rais, and the artistic direction of Tony Beltrand, Auguste Lepère and Léon Ruffe. L'Image's aim was "to unite writers, draftsmen and engravers in the same artistic pursuit, without bias towards a particular school, and to achieve absolute unity between illustration and text, offering only the original and the unpublished". Some of the great names of the time collaborated on this magazine, including George Auriol, Mucha, Maurice Denis, Daniel Vierge, Lucien Pissarro, Pierre Louÿs, Helleu, Remy de Gourmont, Jules Renard, Vallotton, Maurice Barrès, Victor Prouvé, Gustave Kahn, Lucien Descaves, Puvis de Chavannes, Auguste Rodin, Degas, Luc-Olivier Merson and others. The illustrations include numerous black compositions and reproductions, 48 of which are out-of-text. There is also a double-page out-of-text score. An exceptional copy by Roger Marx, literary director of the magazine, on China paper. This is one of 150 subscribers' copies printed on China paper, with a suite of all the illustrations before the letter and 12 smoked copies, here marked "Roger Marx's copy" in pencil in the margin. It also includes the specimen number on China paper (announced print run: 12 copies), enriched with a signed autograph dispatch from Auguste Lepère to Roger Marx. It is complete with the front cover and 12 illustrated covers. Inspector general of departmental museums at the French Ministry of Fine Arts and a renowned art critic, Roger Marx (1859-1918) was a friend and ardent defender of the great artists of the turn of the century, employing his energy to rise above quarrels of chapel. He took part in the Beaux-arts retrospective at the 1900 Universal Exhibition and advocated the organization of an Exposition des Arts Décoratifs. For L'Image, he wrote a column entitled "Cartons d'artiste", devoted to engraving painters (Jean-François Millet, Eugène Carrière, Jongkind, Puvis de Chavannes, Auguste Rodin, etc.). Spine faded, rare foxing. Provenance: Roger Marx. - Juan Hernandez, with bookplate.