F.M. Melchers and L’an
/My ‘book of the week’ is L’an (The Year) published in 1897. The French text was written by a Brussels lawyer, Thomas Braun but the Franz M. Melchers illustrations are the reason to browse this book. I’ve selected two illustrations for each season from the book.
It is a treat to discover a book like this – enjoying it and then searching for information about the artist’s life. In Melchers’ case, there is not a lot of information available via search. He was Dutch, born 1868 and died 1944 in Antwerp (during the German occupation). He evidently made his living as an artist – moved around and included in many exhibitions (Munster, Veere, Brussels, The Hague, Antwerp). The only book he illustrated was L’an….and it is a gem.
