Les Chouans ou Le Bretagne en 1799. Collection "Je Raconte", de BALZAC, Honoré de. Racontés aux enfants par Madame Schlesser. Illustrated by Edmund BLAMPIED.:

Paris: Nelson, éditeurs [1930]. 1st edition thus, small format hardback (145 x 115mm), 136pp. With 8 full page colour plate illustrations by Edmund Blampied, the frontispiece repeated on the front cover as a pastedown. This is a near-FINE copy in lovely, bright condition, of a scarce Blampied-illustrated children's book, similar in format to Nelson's 'Told to the Children' series. "Blampied was commissioned in 1920 to provide eight colour illustrations for 'Les Chouans', which he did in pen and ink and watercolour and submitted them in April 1920 for a fee of 40 guineas. The book was not published immediately: in early 1921 Edwin Jack [whose firm T C & E C Jack was merged with Nelson in 1915] apologised to Blampied that 'Les Chouans' was being held back because "owing to the present condition of the business, we are drastically reducing our output." In fact it is not clear when this book was published as there are no copies in libraries in the UK and only one copy in the 'Catalogue Collectif de France', dated approximately 1930." (Andrew Hall, 'Edmund Blampied an illustrated life', Jersey Heritage 2010). Printed by Nelson, Edinburgh. Text in French.