VERLAINE (Paul) - BONNARD (Pierre). Parallel. Paris : Ambroise Vollard, 1900. - In-4, 302 x 245: (4 ff. first blank), 139 pp. (2 ff. last blank), illustrated cover. Jansenist pink silk, smooth spine, same silk lining, double endpapers, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved, slipcase (period binding). Montel, Bibliographie de Paul Verlaine, 1924, p. 12. - Galantaris, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, pp. 133-135. ONE OF THE MASTERPIECES OF THE ILLUSTRATED BOOK, CONSIDERED THE FIRST MODERN PAINTER'S BOOK. This is the first illustrated edition of Parallèlement, also including the Amies sonnets, completed on September 29, 1900 and advertised in the Bibliographie de la France of January 19, 1901. The edition is illustrated with 109 original lithographs by Pierre BONNARD (1867-1947) printed in pink, and 8 woodcut drawings by the same artist by Tony Beltrand printed in black. A second-issue copy with a black illustration by the artist on the title, repeated on the cover. The Imprimerie Nationale was a little late in noticing the sensual character of Verlaine's text and Bonnard's illustrations, and ordered that the Imprimerie Nationale mark and the leaf bearing the protocol statement Imprimé par décision spéciale de Monsieur le Garde des sceaux, Ministre de la justice be replaced as soon as possible by illustrations by the artist. First issue copies are therefore very rare. Boards slightly soiled, spine silk entirely fused, hinge of first board cracked. The interior is very well preserved, despite a brown mark on page 1 and occasional light transfers of the lithographs.