Honoré de BALZAC

Œuvres complètes de Balzac [enriched with] handwritten letter signed by Balzac
First edition, one of the extremely rare copies all with the Furne address, including the last three volumes, complete with all its first print plates, set in an elegant, strictly contemporary, uniform binding. Our copy is also complete with the portrait of Balzac, on the frontispiece of the Comédie humaine and the biographical preface by George Sand which is most often missing.

“First collective edition under the title of Oeuvres, presenting a...

Illustrated edition with 8 original full-page engravings after Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret by Le Rat. 120 numbered copies on vélin satiné, our copy one of 100 nominative.
Beige morocco by Marius Michel, mint green morocco doublures, framed with a gilt floral frieze decorated with inlaid morocco pieces and fillets on the boards, moiré silk endpapers, original wrappers preserved, double gilt fillets on the edges, all edges gilt, case lined with morocco, moiré paper boards, superb binding signed Marius Michel.
Bookseller's ticket label glued on a guard.
Our copy includes a suite of 8 full-page etchings.
A very nice copy superbly set by Marius Michel in doubled morocco.

First separate edition, illustrated by Gavarni with 20 plates and 40 vignettes. The text had originally appeared in Le diable à Paris, a collective volume to which Balzac contributed several texts.
First edition of Louis Huart's work illustrated with 50 vignettes by Cham, published without date in 1846.
Contemporary half red shagreen binding. Spine with false raised bands handsomely decorated. Head and tail rolls. Corners slightly rubbed, one turned in. Some pale foxing on half-titles and indexes. Tinted paper for Paris marié, white for Paris au bal. Good copy.
Satirical and humorous writings in the style of physiologies.

First edition, one of 500 numbered copies on Lafuma.
Beautiful copy.

First collective edition under the title of Œuvres as well as first illustrated edition (Clouzot), including several texts in first edition, including the last part of Splendors and misery of courtesans, the third part of Lost Illusions, David Sechard; The museum of the department, the reverse of contemporary history, etc.
The book was originally intended to contain only 17 volumes, but the publisher Houssiaux, following the previous editors, completed them with the last three volumes which here constitute volumes 18, 19 and 20. However, our copy is mixed and has some notable peculiarities: thus the volume 1 is at the date of 1846, the volume 2 also
Binding half brown...

BALZAC Honoré de Les Français peints par eux-mêmes

First edition, one of the de luxe copies with a double state of the illustrations: one in black and white on colored paper and one of the same plates heightened in colors in "colori gommé" on white paper, protected by yellow silk paper guards, a sign of the first printing. This copy complete with all its hors-texte illustrations as well as its frontispieces, of Napoleon on a horse after Horace Vernet and the double-page map of France in Volume III, Province [The Countryside]. The work also has more than 1,500 illustrations to text. Volumes I and II (Paris) are from 1840, while Volumes III and IV (Paris) and...

First edition rare.
Spine repaired, covers soiled.
Library's stamps on the title pages and first text pages of each volume.
Handsome copy, softcover as issued.

BALZAC Honoré de
Unpublished autograph letter signed to one of his muses, the Countess Merlin: “you know only literary roses, but we all have thorns.” N. p. n. d. [circa 1843], 305 x 133 mm (12 x 5 1/4 ”), one and a half page on a folded leave
An exceptional autograph letter signed and as yet unpublished from Balzac to the Countess Merlin. One and a half pages in black ink. Balzac is writing to a noted female writer and singer of Spanish and Cuban origin, who was the inspiration for several characters in his Human Comedy.
Our thanks are due to Mr. Hervé Yon, a Balzac specialist, who helped us identify the...

The first edition, with 201 illustrations hors texte and 120 vignettes by Grandville.
Contemporary dark-green half shagreen over marbled paper boards by Werner, spine in five compartments with gilt garlands and triple gilt decorated compartments, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, corners bumped.
There’s no need to introduce this famous work, a satire of Second Empire society. The work was initiated by Hetzel who – under the pseudonym of de Stahl – authored several of the texts and commissioned others from the most notable writers of the day : Balzac, Musset, Sand, La Bedollière, and so on. The final chapter includes a fantasy of various writers being imprisoned in...

First edition, rare and very sought-after according to Clouzot.
Contemporary half spotted sheep over marbled paper boards, later dark-green title-pieces.
Occasional rare spotting, significant dampstain to inner margin of one volume, covers slightly scuffed, a close-cropped copy.
Provenance: from the library at the Château du Lac Tegern (Tegernsee), which belonged to Prince Charles-Theodore of Bavaria (1795-1875). Charles-Theodore of Bavaria, the son of the first King of Bavaria, Maximilian I, was "Generalfeldmarschall" and personal councilor to the King of Bavaria (stamp: "S.K.H.D Prinzen Carl V. Bayern Güter Administration Tegernsee").
A rare copy with a princely...