In 1972 the Paris-based publisher Les Editions de l’Ibis commissioned designer-editor Roger Antic to produce a limited edition boxed set of the six major works of Pierre Louÿs. Of the six volumes, only Les chansons de Bilitis illustrated by Amandine Doré and Poèmes Libres illustrated by Camille Hilaire and Les chansons de Bilitis illustrated by Amandine Doré (which you can see here) have any real originality in their plates, the other four being Aphrodite (Pierre Letellier), Les aventures du Roi Pausole (Raymond Brenot), Psyché (De Guily Joffrin), and Le femme et le pantin (De Grau Sala).

The Hilaire illustrations for Louÿs’ erotic poems are a perfect foil for the words, and demonstrate the artist’s love of the naked body, using his signature curves and colour planes to full advantage.

The Editions de l’Ibis set of Louÿs’ works was issued in a limited edition of 1,572 numbered sets.