From the start, the Gazette strove to create an elitist image, distinguishing itself from larger and more mainstream periodicals like Vogue and Harper's. Even the title was derived from the French concept of bon ton, or timeless good taste. With that in mind, Vogel signed an exclusive contract with seven of Paris’ top couture houses, and included some of the greatest artists and illustrators of its day, including George Barbier.

Although not so large or on such a grand scale as Gazette de Bon Ton, Journal des Dames et des Modes is also one of the most beautiful of the Art Deco fashion periodicals. The plates are exquisitely printed.

Perhaps less deliberately, it also documents the transition from the end of the Belle Époque to a radically different period in world history. The journal ceased publication in August 1914 due to the outbreak of the First World War.

From 1918 to 1921 Barbier contributed to the celebrated periodical La Guirlande des Mois, a fine complete set of which we have in stock at present.  Although published in a small format due to wartime austerity, it is nevertheless extremely luxurious. In addition to the pochoir illustrations, Barbier contributed articles on such topics as the Ballets Russes, epigrams, opera, and the pleasures of love.

Personnages de Comédie. is one of the most important works by Barbier, rivalled only by Le bonheur du jour. Albert Flament’s text of 1914 is a diffuse meditation, half-waking and half-dreaming, which takes as its point of departure the great roles of world theatre. Barbier’s vignettes are magnificent decorative compositions.

Vies Imaginaires is a collection of 22 semi-biographical short stories about historical figures, incorporating myth and fantasy with historical facts.