Matisse (Henri) Dessins, Thèmes et Variations, précédés de "Matisse-en-France" par Aragon, number 11 of 20 copies on Vélin d'Arches, from an edition limited to 950, this copy unsigned on limitation leaf but signed and inscribed by the artist to Lily Pons in pencil on half-title, linocut frontispiece, 125 plates after drawings by Matisse only (of 158, lacking A1,3 & 5, B1, C2 & 3, E1, 6 & 8, F1 & 9, G4, I1, 5 & 7, J2, L1, 4, 10, 16 & 17, M1 & 6, N6 & N bis3 & 4, P1 & 3), 3 small lithographs in text, frontispiece very lightly offset on title, rear endpapers browned from newspaper cutting, loose as issued in original printed wrappers, uncut, a few spots, original cloth-backed board portfolio with ties, joints worn and split, 4to, Paris, Martin Fabiani, 1943.

⁂ The inscription reads, "A la grande artiste Lily Pons de qui la voix ailée, les ciselures de sa diction ?évaquenter moi un précieux travail orientale. Henri Matisse Vence Avril 1945". Lily Pons (1898-1976) was a French-American opera singer who specialised in the colaratura soprano repertoire and was particularly known for the title roles in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Delibes' Lakmé. It is possibly to the latter, a tale about the daughter of a Brahmin priest, that Matisse refers in his inscription.