At the time of René Kieffer's death, the library at the Kieffer home, 12 rue du Pré-aux-Clercs, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, contained just over 300 works bound by him and, in some cases, by his son Michel. In 1965, on the death of Madame Kieffer, the library was moved to his home at 4 rue de Solférino, 7th arrondissement.
In 1998, on the death of Michel Kieffer's wife, the couple's 3 children shared part of the library: their son collected less than 10 bound books; their eldest daughter Mariane kept almost exclusively paperbacks, as well as around ten bound books; their youngest daughter Véronique Kieffer-Joly set aside around 115 bound books. We are exhibiting and offering for sale around one hundred of these, representing a third of the original Kieffer library.
The remaining volumes, some 165 bound books, including 7 by Michel Kieffer, were dispersed during 2 voluntary sales organized in 1999 and 2001 at Hôtel Drouot by Picard Audap Solanet et Associés.
This catalog presents the pinnacle of the bookbinder-publisher's career. It covers the entire Art Deco period, from its beginnings to its decline, from 1910 to 1935. In addition to an early Art Nouveau binding influenced by Marius Michel's “flore ornementale” (ornamental flora) from the previous period, the collection also includes bindings with geometric or typographic decor inspired by his collaboration with Pierre Legrain. The seemingly unique bindings designed by Kieffer for his own copies stand side by side with the range of publisher's bindings designed by him for the works he published.
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