Books

Paris: Hachette et Cie,, 1902. Presented to a doyen of the arts of Islam First edition, limited presentation issue, inscribed by the author on the recipient's presentation page to Henri Vever, one of the preeminent European jewellers of the age and a pioneering collector of Islamic and Asian art: "Bon souvenir d'impressions communes, Hugues Krafft". This is an excellent association copy of Krafft's spectacular, award-winning visual record of the region. Krafft's inscription, which can be rendered as "happy remembrance of shared impressions", reflects the two men's infatuation with the region. In 1891, Vever travelled to Samarkand, Bukhara, and other cities, where he became entranced by the brilliance and richness of Islamic art. With fellow-collector Georges Marteau, he organized the first exhibition on the art of the Islamic book in Paris in 1912. Krafft and Vever were friends of the art dealer Samuel Bing. Raymond Koechlin, a professor at the École des Sciences Politiques,…