The conference will address the place of the collection of the Book of Tomorrow in the landscape of the popular edition of the interwar period. It will address the creation of the Arthème Fayard bookstore in the middle of the nineteenth century and its evolution until the launch of the series in 1923.
It will highlight the originality and causes of its success with a new audience. By mentioning its authors, it will also present Fayard’s editorial offer and the partnerships concluded with its colleagues to attract new authors and support the pace of a monthly publication.
It will show above all how the real innovation of Arthème Fayard was the choice of book illustration with original woodcuts.
Created by the best artists of the period book, the collection was able to compete with the bibliophilic offer, which will evoke the golden age, and to which it could legitimately confront.
Finally, it will focus on showing the heritage value of an iconic collection for the city of Fontenay-aux-Roses. On the one hand because of the presence in Fontenay of the printing press Bellenand which produced almost all the numbers (235 in total until 1947). On the other hand, with his most prolific illustrator, the Russian-born font artist, Jean Lébédeff, who lived there for more than thirty years.
By Christian Fournier, architect and collector from Fontenaisien.
This conference will be followed by the screening of a film dedicated to Jean Lébédeff (duration: 40 minutes).