[Art Nouveau] Roland Holst, R.N. (attrib. to). Original bookdesign for Johannes Viator

Proof copy of the second edition of Frederik van Eeden's novel Johannes Viator (Versluys, 1899), bound in half vellum w. mor. letterpiece, front cover w. red rose vignette and dots in corners, hand-drawn endpapers in green and red, hand-drawn title-p. in red and black w. rose vignette, and hand-drawn half title, a few pencil annotations in text, 4to.

Ex libris J. de Lang Zimmerman on upper pastedown, and his owner's signature on first p. of printed text. Binding sl. worn, upper joint splitting, letterpiece dam., hinges weak, sl. foxed. *See Braches 931009 and p. 159-160. R.N. Roland Holst expressed his desire in 1893 in his letters to F. Van Eeden and W. Versluys to design the binding for the second edition of Johannes Viator. Braches assumes that this design was never completed, as the published second edition reused the design of the first edition; however, the present work seems to contradict this. It remains unclear why the design was never used.