The Closed Door (1917)

 

Illustrated by Jean de Bosschère

 

 

On the left, we show The Closed Door (1917) - as written and illustrated by

de Bosschère and published by John Lane, The Bodley Head (London).

 

This example retains the original gold-stamped black cloth cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the right, we show the

Title Page to the 1st Edition.

 

The Closed Door (1917) is a translation of a poetic work written by Jean de Bosschère himself - accompanied by his own

illustrations (the translation being undertaken by the English poet, Frank Stuart Flint).

 

Jean de Bosschère and his work is commented upon by Sinclair in her Foreword thus:

 

... to appreciate this poet you must bring to him something of his own. For, let there be no

mistake, Jean de Bosschère has nothing in common with the Belgian poets who are best known

and most honoured in this country. He has no well-known mark by which we can recognise

him. There is not anything in the world of literature to which we can attach him. He slips

through our fingers. He is aristocratic, fastidious, unbending. His art makes no appeal to our

tendernesses, our prejudices, our picturesque emotions. He may be a mystic and a visionary,

but his is not the mysticism and the vision we have been made familiar with through the

poetry of Sir Rabindranath Tagore. Jean de Bosschère is not what we like a mystic and

visionary to be. He does not say the proper sort of consecrated things. He is not really what

we like a foreigner to be. He is not innocent; he is not naïf; he is not spontaneous. He is

deliberate, rather, and very sure. There is guile in his subtlety, and a little malice. And with

all his simplicity he is not really simple. He is full of that profound and penetrating and

complex irony which people hate.

 

In keeping with the summary provided by Sinclair, in this case, Jean de Bosschère's art does confront and compel a deeper

level of thought - and in doing so, it continues to stimulate.

 

 

Our Greeting Cards and Reproduction Images

 

 

For connoisseurs of the work of Jean de Bosschère, we have prepared sets of 15 Greeting Cards displaying images from his contributions to The Closed Door (inclusive of the frontispiece) and on the left, we show an example of how these Greeting Cards appear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Code: JB CD CS(15)
Price: US$75.00

 

When presented on Greeting Cards, these images are prepared as tipped-in plates - in hommage to the hand-crafted

approach typical of prestige illustrated publications produced in the early decades of the 20th Century. Each card is

hand-finished and the images are presented on White card stock with an accompanying envelope. The rear of each

card carries information about Jean de Bosschère, this wonderful suite and the profiled illustration - we have left the

interior of the cards blank so that you may write your own personal message.

 

Should you wish to order a Reproduction Print of one or more of these images, we have provided some options below.

Each of these large format prints is also accompanied by information about Jean de Bosschère, this suite and the profiled

illustration.

 

To purchase, simply click on the appropriate "Add to Cart" button and you will be taken through to our Shopping Cart

secured through PayPal. Multiple purchases will be consolidated by that feature and shipping and handling costs to any

destination in the world are accommodated by our flat-rate fee of US$20 for every US$200 worth of purchases.

 

Of course, should you wish to discuss some customised options, we welcome your contact on any matter through

ThePeople@SpiritoftheAges.com.

 

In the meantime, enjoy perusing these images from Jean de Bosschère.

 

 

The illustrations

 

His Memories are Gathered together

 

Take, Oh Hermit my

Substantial Offering

 

 

Ulysses with Colours of

Black and Red

 

 

He went away in the Snow

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M1 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M2 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M3 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M4 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

You never saw me

Laugh or Cry

 

 

Look at his old Meditative

Tapir's Snout

 

Blue Negroes and

Hindoos of Copper

Yet I am alone in this

Green Solitude

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M5 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M6 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M7 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M8 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

A White Bosom of Ivory

 

 

Will they break me To-morrow

this Circle which shut me in?

 

 

You see a Cluster of

Lilac opening

 

 

The Maiden darts forward

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M9 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M10 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M11 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M12 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 
   
A Little Girl Weeps

Her hat, a black tiara of

jet and pearls

 

 

    

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M13 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD M14 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

The frontispiece

 

   

Self Portrait by

Jean de Bosschère

 

 

    

Reproduction on 12x18" sheet

Code: JB CD F1 (12x18)
Price: US$60.00