GOETHE (Johann Wolfgang von) and Franz SCHUBERT. The Alder King. Paris, Édouard Pelletan, 1904. In-4 (295 x 232 mm), bound in two copper plates with engraved and lacquered decoration inspired by the work, smooth beige morocco spine, chevron decoration on the inside of the copper plate, grey tabis lining and endpapers, gilt edges on witnesses, cover and spine, folder and slipcase, modern cloth box (Jean Dunand - René Kieffer). First edition of the translation by Catulle Mendès, accompanied by Goethe's original poem in German and the score of Schubert's lied. The illustration consists of numerous colour compositions by Henri Bellery-Desfontaines wood-engraved by Ernest Florian, including six full-page figures and a double portrait of Goethe and Schubert. Edition of 214 copies, this one of 200 on Marais vellum, to which is attached the announcement leaflet. Exceptional copperplate binding with engraved, lacquered and kiln-fired decoration by Jean Dunand. Executed by René Kieffer, it was made before 1920, when Jean Dunand abandoned brass (yellow copper) plates in favour of ebonite, a much lighter material. "In the early days of Art Deco, Jean Dunand (1877-1942), who later collaborated with his friend François-Louis Schmied to decorate some of the latter's bookbindings with lacquer, demonstrated his skills as a coppersmith and chiseller. Long before the 1920s, the famous decorator commissioned René Kieffer to produce a binding for Le Roi des Aulnes, in which the copper plate decoration was designed and produced using a technique very specific to the artist. After lightly engraving the design into the metal, Dunand used a blowtorch to deposit silver or nickel silver filings into the plate, these two metals melting at a lower temperature than the copper. Once this operation is complete, the plate is cleaned, chiselled, flamed and patinated before being varnished. This appears to be the only known example of this type of decoration made by Jean Dunand for a bookbinding" (Jérôme Callais). This magnificent binding, not mentioned by Félix Marcilhac, is reproduced by Alaister Duncan and George de Bartha in their reference work Art Nouveau and Art Déco Bookbinding (London, 1989, no. 107, ill.). It was featured in the exhibitions D'or et d'argent (Paris, 2004, no. 178), Livres Art Déco (Reims, 2006, no. 12, ill.) and Une vie, une collection (Brussels, 2008, no. 128, ill.). From the Frederick R. Koch library (1995, II, no. 181). Carteret: Illustrés, IV, 189 - Mahé, II, 255. Félix Marcilhac, Jean Dunand, vie et œuvre, Paris, 1991, pp. 185-186 - Jérôme Callais: Une vie, une collection, p. 132.