Kienné de MONGEOT - René GARCIA. L'Abbé chez les nudistes. É - Lot 462

Kienné de MONGEOT - René GARCIA. L'Abbé chez les nudistes. Éditions Vivre d'abord ! 1954. Editions Vivre d'Abord ! 1954. In-4 sheets 168pp 2 unencumbered leaves including proof of printing in folder and slipcase. Adorned with 54 handsome black illustrations by René Garcié, wood-engraved by Gérard Angiolini: 26 large initials adorned with a vignette, 19 lamp-heads or drawings in the text, 8 hors texte, 1 hors texte on a double page. Deluxe edition, 1 of 1203 numbered copies on crèvecoeur du Marais wove paper. A fine, fresh copy, complete with text and illustrations, enriched by a letter from the author. Marcel Kienné de Mongeot (1897-1977) was the initiator of gymnosophical nudism in France, a highly successful movement advocating a return to nature and physical exercise. Total nudity was seen as a way to soothe both body and mind, and to combat vice and vulgarity.