Louis-Ferdinand CÉLINE

New edition and the first printing of Jacques Tardi’s illustrations.
Publisher’s white boards, smooth spine.
A handsome copy.
Presentation inscription, dated and signed by Jacques Tardi to Joëlle Passani, with an original black-felt drawing depicting a sorrowful-faced Bardamu in a small vignette.
 

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half black long-grain morocco binding, smooth spine tooled in palladium with author, title, and date, anthracite-grey paper boards, original wrappers and spine preserved (the latter with two small stains at head and foot), endpapers and pastedowns of anthracite-grey paper, binding signed Thomas Boichot.

Precious and exceptional signed presentation inscription by Louis-Ferdinand Céline: "A Mac Orlan son admirateur et ami fidèle. LFerd"

First edition, with no deluxe paper copies issued (except for No. 7) for each volume.
Our complete set comprises:
Céline Notebooks 1: Céline and the Literary Scene 1932–1957.
Céline Notebooks 2: Céline and the Literary Scene 1957–1961.
Céline Notebooks 3: Semmelweis and Other Medical Writings.
Céline Notebooks 4: Letters and Early Writings from Africa 1916–1917.
Céline Notebooks 5: Letters to Female Friends.
Céline Notebooks 6: Letters to Albert Paraz 1947–1957.
Céline Notebooks 7: Céline and Current Events 1933–1961.
Céline Notebooks 8: Progress followed by Works for Stage and Screen.
Illustrations.
Rare complete set.

First edition with all first printing  features, one of the press copies.

Exceptional presentation copy inscribed by the author to the famous singer Yvette Guilbert, to whom Céline himself sang and offered one of his scandalous compositions, “Katika la putain,” [Katika the Whore] later renamed “À Nœud coulant” [With a Slipknot"] "A madame Yvette Guilbert en témoignage de ma profonde admiration. LFCéline.” 

Beneath Céline's inscription, the actor Fabrice Luchini added: “A Yvette Guilbert in memoriam. FLuchini” ; and on the half-title, actor Jean-François Balmer wrote in turn: “Merci en bon voyage. JFBalmer.”

With pasted-in entry tickets to their respective performances of Voyage au bout de la nuit at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées for Luchini, and at the Théâtre de l’Œuvre for Balmer.

First edition, one of 158 copies printed on pur fil paper, following only 45 on Hollande.

A fine copy.

Bibliothèque de La Pléiade edition printed on Bible paper.
Rhodoïd slightly yellowed as sometimes occurs.
Rich iconography.
Publisher's full brown grained sheepskin binding, orange top edge, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets.
Fine copy complete with its rhodoïd, dust jacket and soft slipcase.

First edition, one of 41 numbered copies on Hollande paper, from the deluxe issue.

Contemporary half black morocco binding, smooth spine, wood-effect paper boards, marbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed, binding signed L. Bergeron. 

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 120 numbered copies on laid paper, deluxe copy.
Handsome copy.

First edition printed in 36 copies with a frontispiece portrait of the author, one of 30 numbered copies on vellum, the only issue after 1 Japan and 5 Holland paper copies.

Admirably printed, this extremely rare bibliophilic object is particularly precious for its complementarity with the first edition of Voyage au bout de la nuit.

Handsome copy presented in a full beige cloth chemise (with light dampstaining at foot) which appears to be the publisher's slipcase.

Bookplate affixed to verso of front cover.

Autograph manuscript signed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline written in blue ballpoint pen on a sheet of white paper numbered 565 in the left corner. One transverse fold. Some pin holes in the upper margin, evidence of the organization of Céline manuscripts in "bundles".
« torrents de phosphore jaillir des brèches ! ... et les avions foncer, charger, fendre ces flots ! les "forteresses" ! aller et retour ! et que c'est le Jules le crime » ["torrents of phosphorus gushing from the breaches! ... and the planes rushing, charging, cleaving these waves! the "fortresses"! back and forth! and that it's Jules who's the crime"]
The passage on our sheet conforms to the published version.
Published in 1954, Normance is a direct sequel to Féérie pour une autre fois which appeared two years earlier. Both parts were written during Céline's years of exile and imprisonment in Denmark. Upon his return to France in 1951, Céline undertook a work of "polishing" and published these two titanic texts independently, originally conceived as one. "Céline, while working on it, thought of this novel as a second Voyage au bout de la nuit, capable twenty years later of astonishing the public as much as the 1932 novel." (Henri Godard)

Autograph manuscript signed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline written in blue and pink ballpoint pens on a white paper sheet numbered 507 in the left corner. One transverse fold. Some pin holes in the upper margin, stigmata of the organization of Céline manuscripts in "bundles".
« j'ai pas de cinéma personnel, j'ai pas de bruitage, j'ai pas de critiques "rémunérés", j'ai que l'hostilité du monde et la catastrophe ! je perds la catastrophe je suis perdu ! [...] chienlit ! charlatan ! barbeau mou ! Comme ça vous m'intitulez si vous me trouvez pas dans la loge en plein enragement d'éléments ! je veux pas que vous... »
The passage in our sheet presents some variations from the published version.
Published in 1954, Normance is a direct sequel to Féérie pour une autre fois published two years earlier. Both parts were written during Céline's years of exile and imprisonment in Denmark. Upon his return to France in 1951, Céline undertook a work of "polishing" and published independently these two titanic texts originally envisioned as one. "Céline, while working on it, thought of this novel as a second Voyage au bout de la nuit, capable twenty years later of astonishing the public as much as the 1932 novel." (Henri Godard)

Autograph manuscript signed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline written in blue ballpoint pen on a sheet of white paper numbered 237 in the left corner. Some stains as well as a central fold of no consequence. Some pinholes in the upper margin, evidence of the organization of Céline's manuscripts in "bundles".
"Y'en a un charlatant là-haut ! et terrible ! et vous le connaissez !... donc de dessous, là ! de dessous la table, je regarde le moulin... pas loin... peut-être deux cents mètres... et dans quel air éblouissant !... eh bien je vous dis comme je l'ai vu..." ["There's a charlatan up there! and terrible! and you know him!... so from underneath, there! from under the table, I look at the windmill... not far... maybe two hundred meters... and in what dazzling air!... well I tell you as I saw it..."]
The passage from our sheet conforms to the published version.
Published in 1954, Normance is a direct sequel to Féérie pour une autre fois published two years earlier. The two parts were written during Céline's years of exile and imprisonment in Denmark. Upon his return to France in 1951, Céline undertook a work of "polishing" and published these two titanic texts independently, originally conceived as one. "Céline, while working on it, thought of this novel as a second Voyage au bout de la nuit, capable twenty years later of astonishing the public as much as the 1932 novel." (Henri Godard)

Autograph manuscript signed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline written in blue ballpoint pen on a sheet of white paper numbered 243 in the left corner. Some stains as well as a central fold of no consequence. A tiny lack of paper at the lower right margin of the sheet. Some pinholes in the upper margin, evidence of the organization of Céline's manuscripts in "bundles".
"pour aller traverser les lignes, des barrages, quelque chose !... au galop ! et je me suis bien fait sonner ! ça arrivera pas à Lauriac ! ni à Tartron ! ni Larengue !... Ils ont pris le bon versant de la vie : le flan !... pour ma concerne je regrette rien ... c'est fait ! c'est fait ! la preuve ma tête... mais enfin pour la griserie, cette sorte de bravoure somnambule, j'admire les doués... je les respecte... j'arrive moi que par le stoïcisme, le sang froid, là ! hop !" ["to go cross the lines, barricades, something!... at a gallop! and I really got myself beaten up! that won't happen to Lauriac! nor to Tartron! nor Larengue!... They took the right side of life: the flank!... as for me I regret nothing... it's done! it's done! the proof my head... but finally for the intoxication, this sort of sleepwalking bravery, I admire the gifted ones... I respect them... I only achieve it through stoicism, cold blood, there! hop!"]
The passage from our sheet, referring to Mauriac, Sartre and Aragon, conforms to the published version.
Published in 1954, Normance is a direct sequel to Féérie pour une autre fois published two years earlier. The two parts were written during Céline's years of exile and imprisonment in Denmark. Upon his return to France in 1951, Céline undertook a work of "polishing" and published these two titanic texts independently, originally conceived as one. "Céline, while working on it, thought of this novel as a second Voyage au bout de la nuit, capable twenty years later of astonishing the public as much as the 1932 novel." (Henri Godard)

Manuscript pages from ‘Conversations with Professor Y', n.p. [Meudon] n.d. [1954], various sizes (from 10x21 cm to 27x21 cm), 34 sheets.
Autograph manuscript by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, 34 sheets of various sizes, written in blue and sometimes pink ballpoint pen. Some of the pages are numbered by Céline at top left. The last folio numbered 159 is signed by the writer at the bottom.
Two leaves contain previously unpublished passages: the first, a few lines long, refers to the Professeur. The second leaf numbered 136 features another full-page text on the verso which we did not find in the ‘Professeur Y' or in any of the published works of Céline. Céline refers in this unpublished passage to article 75 of the penal code condemning to the death penalty any French citizen found guilty of intelligence with the enemy. It also mentions a certain "Me Johann Niels Borggensen" no doubt a pseudonym for his lawyer Thorvald Mikkelsen: "...supposedly to protect me from police curiosity! holy cow! he was having a ball...when you've got the warrant up your arse (crossed out: article 75), anyone can do what they like with you! what a joke! we can do what we like with you...it wouldn't have been Borggensen, perhaps someone else would have been worse...give me article 75, and I'll put the whole of France in a Mouse hole for you! and Germany with it! and England, such a nag, and Europe with it! no bomb needed! H ! Y ! Z ! I'll make you fit the atom into a..."
Important set of working manuscripts bearing witness to the writing of ‘Conversations with Professor Y' Céline's true Ars poetica.
Since the first part of ‘Féerie pour une autre fois' [Fable for Another Time] was not as successful as expected, Céline wanted to give the release of the second part - Normance - as much publicity as possible and restore his reputation after his years of exile in Germany and Denmark. Instead of writing the usual promotional note (prière d'insérer) – he suggested to publisher Gaston Gallimard this eulogy written in the style of an imaginary interview between himself and Professor Y alias Colonel Réséda, a prostatic old man. This zany "interviouwe" was published in several parts in the Nouvelle Revue française in 1954, and the finished work through Éditions Gallimard the following year. Céline speaks fervently of his style and his conception of literature, and vehemently criticizes the world of letters and public taste. Unlike Céline's other works, the genesis of this text crucial to the understanding of his oeuvre is poorly documented and its manuscripts are rare. The Pléiade edition of Celinian novels contains only a few pages of an earlier version very close to the published text.
This set of pages covering every passage of the text, contains both heavily crossed-out sheets and neatly rewritten notes. It bears witness to the different stages of the writer's work: drafting an initial sheet, crossing out and rewriting on the same page, then transcribing short passages on separate notes. The last page of the text is extensively crossed out and rewritten, resulting in a slightly different version of the published version.
The manuscript also contains the famous metaphor of the metro, typical of the writer's emotive style compared here to the "dry language" of his peers: "Did you see? Have you noticed? All caught up in my metro!... what do I leave on the surface?... the worst rubbish in cinema!... foreign languages then!... translations!... retranslations of our worst rubbish that they use for their "parlants" [talking pictures], superb foreign languages!... in addition to the psychology! the psychological mumbo jumbo!... all the crap. [...] Me, it's something else! me, I'm much more brutal! me, I capture all the emotion!... all the emotion on the surface! all at once! I decide! I stick it in the metro! my metro! all the other writers are dead! and they have no idea!"

Two unpublished autograph manuscripts signed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline in blue and red ballpoint pen: the first contains 9 pages numbered in the left-hand corner from 1480 to 1488; the second contains 7 pages numbered from 1498 to 1504. Each text is signed by Céline in red ink at the bottom margin, with the words "Meudon 54" also in his hand (ff. 1485 and 1505). There are numerous variants, lines and words crossed out, modified and repeated.
Traces of pinholes in the upper left-hand margin of every sheet, as Céline organized his manuscripts in "bundles".
Normance was published in 1954 as a sequel to 'Fable for Another Time' published two years earlier. Both parts were written during Céline's years of exile and imprisonment in Denmark. Upon his return to France in 1951, Céline began "polishing" his writings and published these two monumental texts, initially envisaged as a single book. "Céline, while he was working on it, thought of this novel as a second ‘Journey to the End of the Night' twenty years later, capable to astonish the public as much as the 1932 novel" (Henri Godard).
This set of manuscript pages corresponds to two passages from the second half of the novel (Romans, Pléiade, IV, p. 371 to 375), significantly different from the published text. This is an earlier version, unknown to scholar Henri Godard, as evidenced by a note in the Pléiade edition where he explains the difficulties encountered by Céline's secretary Marie Canavaggia when translating the word "planqaouzeuze" - appearing here on one of the manuscript leaves. Her transcription "plaquouseuze" eventually remained in the published text. Godard further stated he had no knowledge of this part of the manuscript, i.e. our manuscript, not appearing in the intermediate versions transcribed and published in the Pléiade edition.
The first of the manuscripts recounts the ransacking and looting of psychic Armelle's apartment: "How many decks did Armelle have? Her fortune-telling cards were taking the air! [...] Ah, seeress! Something she hadn't guessed was how her trembles would be tarred! They'd rip open her armchairs, crush her fine hiding places! ah Pythonisse! ah the quilt now! the inside of the pillows flies! flies away!" Céline also evokes Madame Toiselle, the building's concierge: "- It's a mess, Madame Toiselle. I yell it at her... she was a maniac! [...] moron! she's looking now! she's looking good! ah I see her consternation...she's there in front of me on all fours. I can see her head! Her hoe! - Omelette head!" I shout to her, ‘Omelette head'!”
The second focuses on Raymond, in the grip of a delirious crisis, thinking he's a donkey: "Raymond Raymond! but it's your wife you're looking for! it's true he was looking for his wife...! well maybe five minutes ago he was looking for his wife! Denise! ... now he's looking for himself. [...] - Hiian! hiiian! he answers me!” There's also a comical settling of scores between Mimi and Rodolphe: "There goes Mimi, then there goes Rodolphe! Rodolphe! they're coming! and how they're treating each other! where were they? on the threshold, the two of them! they're taking advantage of the lull in the bombs! - Pig! Pimp! - Cabotine! coureuse! and they attack their costumes... "
Remarkable manuscripts bearing witness to Céline's tireless pursuit in finding the right word, and his willingness to place himself as a direct witness to events both historical and autobiographical.
These unpublished manuscript lines are typical of the Celinian style of this ambitious novel: "The story, style and tone of Normance set it apart from the rest. It is nothing more than the long account of a night of bombing in Montmartre, told in his own way by Céline, who had been deeply impressed by the spectacle of the bombing of the Renault automobile factories in Boulogne-Billancourt, which he had witnessed from the windows of his apartment in Rue Girardon. The book is dedicated to Pliny the Elder, who also witnessed, then chronicled, a fantastic spectacle: the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It's a vast fresco where noise plays an important role [...]" (F. Gibault, Céline - 1944-1961: Cavalier de l'Apocalypse).
The profusion of noise is a defining characteristic of the two manuscripts where Céline uses onomatopoeia and shouted dialogues between characters: "Crrac! she tears a piece...a piece of pants to the ferocious one! she opens all the front ! ... Crrac!... like that!... no matter how hard he slaps her (sic)! sorry! she wins! she wins. - You've got it! you've got it! he shouts... You've got what?... I don't know...Ah it's the vulnéraire! ...but so what?"
The very handwriting of the manuscript shows the writing fervor of these action-packed scenes, as if he were reliving them as he wrote them, crossing out entire passages and hesitating over the choice of words: "... there are nasty explosions not far away and lightning bolts! ... the ground jerks less and dildos less... but the other one neighs in my ear... and cries out its distress - Raymond! Raymond he [in red pen: re] still searches!... [crossed out: the explosions are spacing out...the lightning] the explosions are rather [crossed out: less / less / almost / hard / close]"
Remarkable unpublished signed autograph manuscripts of a novel that required a colossal editorial effort from Céline: "This book has cost me an enormous amount of work and time." (Letter to Claude Gallimard, 26 February, 1954).

Autograph letter signed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline addressed to his lawyer Maître Thorvald Mikkelsen. Two pages written in blue ballpoint pen on a large sheet of white paper; number "583" in Céline's hand in red pencil at top left.
Transverse folds inherent to mailing.
This letter was very partially transcribed in L'Année Céline 2005.
Céline, after complaining extensively about the difficult living conditions in Mikkelsen's hut, thanks the latter: "Merci pour le petit Noël mon cher maître on va passer ça gentiment ! Le chauffage électrique est installé." ["Thank you for the little Christmas my dear master we'll get through this nicely! The electric heating is installed."]He is still awaiting the precious passport that will allow him to return to France: "Votre frère a une magnifique tête de Héros des Glaces. Je lui vois une sacrée place à prendre : celle de Nansen à l'ONU ! Quelle autorité ! lui, m'aurait un passeport !" ["Your brother has a magnificent head of an Ice Hero. I see a hell of a place for him to take: that of Nansen at the UN! What authority! He would have gotten me a passport!"]Philosophically, he concludes: "Et c'est la rigolade qui compte en ce monde "où tout au fond des choses le Ridicule et la folie sont à l'ordre du jour et où il ne convient de prendre au sérieux que les apparences". Ces lignes sont de Telly auteur très peu connu du 19eme s. (amant prétendu de Marie Antoinette)." ["And it's the laughter that counts in this world "where deep down the Ridiculous and madness are the order of the day and where one should only take appearances seriously". These lines are by Telly, a very little-known 19th century author (alleged lover of Marie Antoinette)."]
In 1947, Céline, pursued by French justice for his collaborationist involvement, was secluded in Denmark. It was in May 1948, accompanied by Lucette and Bébert, that he arrived at his lawyer Maître Thorvald Mikkelsen's home in Klarskovgaard. The latter owned a large property by the Baltic Sea and invited the exile to stay there. On February 21, 1950, as part of the purge, the writer was definitively sentenced in absentia by the civic chamber of the Paris Court of Justice for collaboration to one year in prison (which he had already served in Denmark). The Swedish Consul General in Paris, Raoul Nordling, intervened on his behalf with Gustav Rasmussen, Danish Foreign Minister, and managed to delay his extradition. On April 20, 1951, Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour, his lawyer since 1948, obtained Céline's amnesty as a "severely disabled veteran of the Great War" by presenting his case under the name Louis-Ferdinand Destouches without any magistrate making the connection. Céline would leave Denmark the following summer, after three years spent at his lawyer's home.

First edition, one of 250 numbered copies on pure thread paper, the only deluxe copies after 60 on laid Arches paper.

Half apple green shagreen binding with corners, spine with five raised bands lightly faded set with blind fillets, gilt date at foot, frame of black fillets on marbled paper boards, pebbled paper endpapers and pastedowns.

First edition, one of the numbered copies on vellum from the Savoie paper mills.
Work illustrated with original illustrations by Pierre-Marie Renet alias Frédéric Monnier.
Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 41 numbered copies on Holland paper, the deluxe issue.
Bound in full jansenist dark green morocco, smooth spine very lightly sunned, grey suede endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, all edges gilt, housed in a slipcase trimmed with dark green morocco, paper-covered boards with a wood-grain effect, grey paper lining; a superb full morocco binding signed by A. Bourdet.
A pleasant copy, finely bound and preserved.
Provenance: from the library of the distinguished bibliophile François Ragazzoni, with his bookplate mounted on an endpaper.

First edition, one of 41 numbered copies on Hollande paper, deluxe issue.

Binding in half black morocco-grained shagreen with bands, smooth spine, gilt date at tail, gilt fillet frame on mouse-grey paper boards, guards and pastedowns of black paper, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, others uncut, full black morocco-grained shagreen slipcase with black paper interior, binding signed Montécot.

A fine copy.

Autograph letter signed, partly unpublished, by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, addressed to his lawyer, Maître Thorvald Mikkelsen. Two pages written in blue ink on a large sheet of white paper; numbered “575” in Céline’s hand in red pencil at the top left corner.
Fold marks from mailing.
This letter was only partially transcribed in Année Céline 2005, p. 64.
 
A moving and bitter letter by Céline, who had just lost his aunt Amélie (the “Aunt Hélène” of Death on Credit), and witnesses the slow disappearance of the world he once knew. The writer finds solace in the memoirs of Élisabeth de Gramont, another witness to a bygone era.

Photographic portrait of Charles Destouches, uncle of Louis-Ferdinand Céline, pictured with his wife and their young daughter Charlotte Destouches—Céline’s cousin known as “Lolotte”—on albumen paper mounted on a card from the Parisian studio A. Lauga.
 
Small loss to lower right corner. Some glue residue along the edges. Handwritten caption on verso.

Rare photographic portrait of Amélie Destouches, aunt of Louis-Ferdinand Céline, in cabinet card format on albumen print mounted on cardboard from Studio Louis.
Manuscript captions "Suzannica 3 ans, Bucarest ce 14 juin 1877" ["Suzannica 3 years old, Bucharest this 14th June 1877"] and "Zenon Zawirski" in another hand, on verso.
The portrait was taken by Studio Louis, at 127 Calea Mosilor in Bucharest.
 
At twenty-four, Amélie married the wealthy Romanian Zenon Zawirski, who poses beside her with their daughter Zenone Zawirska, then three years old. Céline devoted an unflattering portrait to her in Death on the Installment Plan, borrowing her features for the character of Aunt Hélène, whose Slavic adventures he transposed to Russia rather than Romania. Though still alive when the novel was written, Céline nonetheless had his character die in dishonor and shame:
"Elle a pris tout le vent dans les voiles. Elle a bourlingué en Russie. À Saint-Pétersbourg, elle est devenue grue. À un moment, elle a eu tout, carrosse, trois traîneaux, un village rien que pour elle, avec son nom dessus. Elle est venue nous voir au Passage, deux fois de suite, frusquée, superbe, comme une princesse et heureuse et tout. Elle a terminé très tragiquement sous les balles d'un officier. Y avait pas de résistance chez elle. C'était tout viande, désir, musique. Il rendait papa, rien que d'y penser. Ma mère a conclu en apprenant son décès : 'Voilà une fin bien horrible ?! Mais c'est la fin d'une égoïste ?!'" ["She caught all the wind in her sails. She knocked around Russia. In St. Petersburg, she became a whore. At one point, she had everything, carriage, three sleighs, a village all to herself, with her name on it. She came to see us at the Passage, twice in a row, dressed up, superb, like a princess and happy and all. She ended very tragically under an officer's bullets. There was no resistance in her. She was all flesh, desire, music. It made papa sick, just thinking about it. My mother concluded on learning of her death: 'What a horrible end?! But it's the end of a selfish woman?!'"]

Original photograph mounted on rigid cardboard, showing Fernand Destouches, father of writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline (top right) posing alongside his brothers René, Georges and Charles - from top to bottom and left to right.
Edges of the rigid cardboard slightly bumped.
 
This portrait of the four Destouches brothers in uniform with laurel collar, dates from their happy schoolboy years at the Le Havre lyceum. The photograph, a true incarnation of a carefree and bygone past, must undoubtedly have held importance in the eyes of the four brothers, who would reproduce as adults the exact pose of this childhood portrait for a second, family portrait, preserved in the collection of François Gibault (Anton, Sonia, « Louis-Ferdinand Céline, d'un Havre à l'autre : entre autofiction, transposition et imaginaire », Le Territoire littéraire du Havre dans la première moitié du XX^è siècle, 2013, fig. 20, photograph taken around 1905).
 
Our photograph is reproduced on page 11 of the Album Céline (Gallimard, 1977).