Boutiques Paris 1925-6, A Trilogy from the Mainstone Press (FORTHCOMING)

Released on 12th October

Edition of 500

Boutiques Trilogy – a celebration of 1920s Parisian shopfronts, fairground rides and writers.

Boutiques by Lucien Boucher

The first book in the Mainstone Press’s Parisian trilogy celebrates the city’s charming boutiques, whose characterful shopfronts are often depicted with similarly colourful proprietors. Originally published in 1925 by Marcel Seheur, Boutiques paired the jewel-like illustrations of Lucien Boucher with the surreal  text of bohemian favourite Pierre Mac Orlan. Snapped up by collectors, the small
limited edition of 500 copies sold out on publication and is now recognised as a classic of the art deco period. The book was also coveted by artists, including Eric Ravilious, whose High Street (1938) owes a great debt to Boucher’s witty and detailed style.

Boutiques de la foire

The success of Boutiques led to a sequel the following year – Boutiques de la foire – again featuring text by Mac Orlan and 37 enchanting autolithographs by Lucien Boucher depicting this time fairground rides and stalls rather than shopfronts. The edition of 500 copies, highly praised by artists and critics alike, joined Boutiques in the ranks of instant classic. This new edition presents Boucher’s delightful images alongside newly commissioned captions by Andrew Stewart that give a fascinating insight into the 1920s world of the fairground and the many attractions depicted. In a captivating and beautifully illustrated essay, Pascal Jacob discusses the tradition of the fairground in 20th-century art, early cinema and picture books, and explores Boucher’s influences alongside his lasting legacy.

Boutiques Littéraires: Henri Guilac’s Literary Shops

Imagine if the literary greats of 1920s Paris were not in fact writers but shopkeepers. What type of shop would Colette, author of La Vagabonde, open? And how about Max Jacob, André Gide or Marcel Proust? This is the delightful premise of Prochainement ouverture de 62 boutiques littéraires, a visual jeu d’esprit played by Pierre Mac Orlan, Henri Guilac and Simon Kra. Sixty-two authors from the Parisian literary scene are reimagined standing in the doorway of their own shops, each of which is named after a play on their most famous work. This, the final book in our trilogy, was originally published by Simon Kra in 1925 and featured pochoir illustrations by Henri Guilac, one of the leading satirists at the Le Canard enchaîné and a friend of the literary avant-garde. The book includes an introduction by Pierre Mac Orlan, who also makes an appearance as one of Guilac’s shopkeepers.