Stéphane Mallarmé [Maurice Denis]. "Petit Air, sonnet", December 1894. Album and 11 proofs. 1) L'Épreuve / Album d'Art, 1ère livraison [sur 12 en 10 fascicules] de la jeune revue de Maurice Dumont, [entre le 6 et 13] décembre 1894; gr. in-4 en ff. titled cover, 1 double f. impr. with program, summary of 11 plates (the 11th by Coulon reserved for the deluxe edition could never be identified). Copy no. 30 to the compositor, the fasc. having to have the same number on each of the 10pl. (9pl., Louis Legrand's Danseuse missing). The paper mix is original to this 1st Album, hastily put together in view of the delay (scheduled for early November) caused by numerous difficulties, notably the drawing of Rodin. All but two of the numbered proofs here are on simili-Japan. In order of contents (idem Bonafous-Murat directory,192-201, pl. 1 to10): Eug. Carrière. Étude de femme [Élise riant], wash-litho on Chine (side fold and small corner missing); - M. Denis. Petit air, sonnet (enclosed); - A. Rodin. Michel-Ange modelant l'Esclave [wood by Auguste-Hilaire Leveillé] (corner crease and upper edge creased); - L. Legrand (missing); - J. Danguy. Mélancolie, litho (small corner crease); - M. Denis. La Femme à l'aiguière, litho, impression vert d'eau (very small corner crease and one creased edge); - Crébassa. Les Femmes à l'absinthe, litho; - Jossot. Bazouge, litho on blue-green vellum (monogr. stamp on verso); - Bussy. Eve, etching; - M. Dumont. Hilda (sic), sonnet [Albert Samain's autographed Ilda], saccharography in bluish gray (Bonafous reprod. p. 30). Fold in the plate. Two proofs by Maurice Dumont are enclosed: - Ilda (see above) before the letter in blue on Chine (upper right corner damaged). - Vision mélancolique], 1894, monogr. saccharography (8 x 8.4) printed in black on tinted vellum with wide margins (first trial of the process, of which the 1st state was printed in 3 copies, Bonafous-Murat, no. 12 p. 31) Announced edition of 215 + 10 separate proofs. This corresponds to a launch program for young inexperienced artists (they also call on the reactions of subscribers) and does not necessarily determine that of the first Album, which must have been smaller. To be distinguished from L'Épreuve littéraire, the future "supplement to L'Épreuve Album d'Art", which did not appear until March 1895. 2) Petit air. Lithograph of La Baigneuse with the untitled sonnet followed by the autographed monogram. With its number 30, there's no doubt that this is the print that belongs in the Album (id. reprod. by Bonafous) and not the one with the autographed poem (see next no.). Jules Le Petit, the "eminent bibliophile" (dixit Dumont), undoubtedly the financial backer, in any case duly associated, signs an enthusiastic plea for the disinterested program of this creative and innovative youth. This figure has escaped Mallarmé's notice. He was one of the greatest French bibliophiles of the 19th century, in books, manuscripts, autographs and drawings. In particular, he owned the original manuscript used for the Poésies photolithographiées. It was to him that Mallarmé thought on November 12, 1894 (Marchal Corr. 2269), when he missed Dumont's visit to receive Petit air on the evening of the 14th: "The certainty of your collaboration," Le Petit replied, "delights me and will fill our friends with joy, those young people who admire and love you. [...] these artists, these poets, need guidance and support. They have come to you. Thank you, on their behalf, for your gracious response" (Austin VII p. 101). But who introduced Dumont to Maurice Denis? It was the young composer André Rossignol, whose melody Apparition, based on a text by Mallarmé, was also published by Denis in December and advertised in L'Épreuve, the only one we know of [see no. 90]. "We would be very honored to collaborate with you, and are very grateful to M. Rossignol for agreeing to act as our intermediary with you", Dumont wrote to Denis on October 29, 1894 [and not the printer Rossignol, as J.-P. Seguin notes in his preface on p. 18]. Provenance: Mallarmé-Morel no. 231 (in part). References: -Maurice Dumont Painter-engraver, illustrator, poet and publisher of "L'Épreuve". Texts by Jean-Pierre Seguin. Catalog of Dumont's engraved and lithographed work. Directory of prints published in L'Épreuve Album d'art by Anne and Arsène Bonafous-Murat. BHVP, 1991. - Nectoux cat. no. 13 p. 209 (Mallarmé proof in black with autographed sonnet). - Marchal OC. I, Petit air I p. 1182 with publication of L'Épreuve in November.