A sumptuous, unique copy of the first edition of a series of poems written by the French journalist, novelist, poet, and painter Jean François Louis Merlet (1878-1942), themed around Nitokris or Nitocris, a semi-legendary queen of the sixth dynasty. She was, according to tradition, the first female "pharaoh" (king of Upper and Lower Egypt) in the history of ancient Egypt, succeeding her assassinated husband, Merenre-Nemtyemsaf (Merenre II). According to Herodotus, Nitokris "succeeded her brother. He had been the king of Egypt, and he had been put to death by his subjects, who then placed her upon the throne. Determined to avenge his death, she devised a cunning scheme by which she destroyed a vast number of Egyptians. She constructed a spacious underground chamber and, on pretence of inaugurating it, threw a banquet, inviting all those whom she knew to have been responsible for the murder of her brother. Suddenly as they were feasting, she let the river in upon them by means of a large, secret duct". The published edition contains a photographic portrait of the author, and of La Sylphe; and engraved sketches by Max Bugnicourt. This copy, however, is embellished with original photos of a performance - based on these poems - in a pharaonic setting, enacted in the famous Olympia theatre in Paris, in 1911. It also includes an original coloured drawing of a costume for La Sylphe, designed for this performance by the French illustrator and costume designer Robert Étienne Bonfils (1886-1972). "In 1903, he enrolled in the École Germain Pilon, in 1905 at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs and between 1906 and 1909 at the École des Beaux Arts. Starting from 1909, Bonfils regularly exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and from 1912 onward at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, then at Tuileries and in most expositions of painting and the graphic arts, in France and abroad. Bonfils was among the organisers of the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in Paris, while also participating in the organisation of the Exposition of 1937. He created theatre sceneries starting from 1913, and since 1915 textile designs, which were manufactured by Bianchini. Since 1918, he also designed tapestries. He created many illustrations for books and publications" (Wikipedia). François Max Bugnicourt (1868-1935) was a French landscape and portrait painter. The performing artist, "La Sylphe" was the highly successful American exotic dancer Edith Lambelle Langerfeld (1883-1968). She became famous by performing in Richard Strauss's Salomé. Merlet is the author of several novels on the French penal colonies such as Au bout du monde: drames et misères du bagne (1928), he authored several biographies of famous painters. Merlet himself mainly painted landscapes and portraits of domestic animals. Inscribed and signed by the author (on the blank verso of an inserted drawing by Robert Bonfils), viz., a dedication to Madame C. read more