Martin van Maele - La Grande Danse Macabre des Vifs

 Martin van Maele is a pseudonym for Maurice François Alfred Martin (October 12, 1863- September 5, 1926). He was a French illustrator for early 20th century literature who is renowned for his work in the field of erotic literature. During his career he worked on illustrations for Paul Verlaine's poems, H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon, Anatole France's Thais and Felix Juven's French translations of the Sherlock Holmes series.

Among collectors his 'Grande danse macabre des vifs' is best known. This 'Big danse macabre of the living', around 1905, consists of four series, each containing ten prints. It's almost sure that the edition was less than a 100 copies. The prints are both humoristic and satirical, somtimes cynical.