Download a PDF sample (700 KB)
First published in France in 1867, Manette Salomon is considered one of the classics of the art-in-fiction genre, if not the classic. Yet as far as we can tell, it has never before been published in English. It came twenty years before Zola's well known work, The Masterpiece (L'Oeuvre) and in fact at the time, the de Goncourts felt Zola's story too closely followed their own.

Project Notes:
This work is believed to be in the public domain. It was written in French and rather than an author, the project team for this book will need to be centered around a strong translator.

The Project Team (Contact ):

• Project Manager: apply
• Translator: Michael Shreve
• Editor: apply
• Publicist: apply
• Designer: apply
• Bookstore Sponsor: apply

Download a PDF Sample (1.1MB)From TIME magazine, "Sterile Modernism", March 10, 1930:

"Who can name an art critic? An art critic is a public commentator, supposedly invested by virtue of his learning and taste with the right to interpret the esthetic trend to the commonalty, to denounce that which he considers bad and proclaim that which he considers good. In any society pretending to cultivation and beauty, the position of art critic should obviously command renown and respect. Yet who can name an art critic?

"Thoroughgoing readers of either Scribner's magazine or the New York Herald Tribune will immediately give the name of Royal Cortissoz (pronounced Kor-tee-zus). A small, chunky, lively gentleman with iron-grey hair, moustache and goatee, he has conducted Scribner's art department for six years and the Herald Tribune's for 38. No art critic in the U. S. exhibits a more dignified, fastidious, yet spirited approach to his subject. None writes with more alertness and lucidity. Through all his years of professional journalism, Royal Cortissoz has preserved the gusto of an amateur."

Project Notes:
This book is currently out of print and in the public domain, so is freely available for republishing.

Project Team Members:
None. This project was submitted by the Hol Editors and is open for anyone to take the lead on. Apply to work on this team.

Download a PDF Sample (1.2 MB)First published in France in 1886, The Masterpiece is a novel about a Parisian artist during what would be later seen as the dawn of modernism, written by a man who was a friend and peer to many of the artists we most associate with that time.

I first heard of the books while reading "Artist's Models", a New Yorker essay by Rachel Cohen which describes Zola's friendship with Cézanne. Cézanne is the artist most associated with Claude Lantier, the main character in The Masterpiece, though notably, the first part of the book (including the posted PDF excerpt) focuses on Lantier's creation and exhibition of a work undeniably based on Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe.

Project Notes:
This work is in the public domain and so open to publication. Note however, that particular translations might still be under copyright. If an interested party were to form, they could freely reprint an older, public domain translation, or could develop and publish a new translation by adding a translator to their team.

Project Team Members:
None. This project was submitted by the Hol Editors and is open for anyone to take the lead on. Apply to work on this team.