First edition, one of 470 numbered copies on Holland paper, the only deluxe copies with 59 on China paper.
Full violet morocco binding, spine with five raised bands uniformly sunned, date and place gilt at foot, double gilt fillet on edges and headcaps, endpapers and pastedowns - framed with wide gilt dentelle - of paste paper, all edges gilt on witnesses, covers and spine preserved, binding signed David. Upper corner of first cover lightly rubbed.
Bookplate pasted on front pastedown.
Handsome copy of this collection containing three fantastic tales: "L'entrevue", "Le Pavillon fermé" and "Marceline ou la punition fantastique".
First edition complete with its 72 pages of Japanese texts in colors bound at rear.
Contemporary binding in half blue shagreen, spine with five raised bands richly decorated with grotesque compartments, double gilt fillet on marbled paper boards, top edge gilt retaining deckled edges. Corners bumped (one slightly cracked) and surface wear.
Rare.
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 XXè siècle, 2013, fig. 20, photograph taken around 1905).
Our photograph is reproduced on page 11 of the Album Céline (Gallimard, 1977).
New Plantin press editions in portable format of these three works. Ruled throughout in red ink.
Copy with the arms of Nicolas de Villars, clerical councillor at the Parlement of Paris and treasurer of the Sainte-Chapelle, later bishop of Agen.
Contemporary full soft brown morocco, a fanfare binding with the rare Duodo-type decoration: smooth spine gilt with six medallions each containing a flower, gilt foliage border, covers fully gilt with 24 medallions, some emblematic (sun, heart, acorn, bouquet, sheaf of wheat), arms stamped in the centre, edges gilt. Discreet restorations to joints, corners, and headcaps; upper and lower borders with minor wear to leather (0.5 cm); lacking ties; pinhole at head of spine. From the first title-leaf, a wormhole in the lower margin extending through to the final leaves of the Fables of Aesop, gradually diminishing.
A magnificent copy of the utmost rarity.
The singular decoration of this style of binding, representing one of the pinnacles of the art of French bookbinding, is today identified as Duodo, after Pierre Duodo, Venetian ambassador to Paris from 1594 to 1597. About 150 small volumes were uniformly bound for a portable library (only part now known), probably towards the end of his stay. It is unlikely he ever enjoyed these treasures, which fell into oblivion for nearly two centuries. When they reappeared on the English market at the end of the eighteenth century, they were mistakenly attributed to Marguerite de Valois, an error that persisted until the 1920s.
Although the name Duodo remains attached to this style of decoration, another great collector commissioned similar bindings: Nicolas de Villars, bishop of Agen. Duodo’s bindings are now well identified, while those of Nicolas de Villars are considerably rarer on the market.
While the spine here is very close to the Duodo examples, with flowers and foliage borders (though in a finer and denser design), the covers show 24 medallions, compared to only 14 on Duodo bindings, and the tools employed are not limited to floral motifs but include a variety of emblems such as the sun and the heart.
The set of largely unpublished autograph poems by Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac is brought together by the Count in a collection entitled Le Dernier Pli des neuf voiles, whose composition extends from his very first collection (Les Chauves-Souris, 1892) to his last trilogy (Offrandes, 1915).
Set of 620 autograph leaves. 532 unpublished, first draught, handwritten on the recto and numbered in pencil, preserved in 3 chemises in half red contemporary morocco, red morocco labels with gilt author and title; the poems are then placed in the chemises with a handwritten title and a number for publication. According to a note from the author, “the differences in ink have no meaning, mere change of copy”. Rare pages from the hand of his secretary Henri Pinard: p. 20 of “Huitième voile” and p. 29 of “Neuvième voile”. 23 pages present the printed or typewritten texts of the poems and are enriched with Montesquiou's handwritten corrections.
A set of printed proofs are found at the top of the first chemise, as well as a pencil tracing after Aubrey Beardsley drawn by the author and accompanied by his handwritten indications.
First edition published by Antoine Le Bouc in 1642 and later reissued for sale in 1684, with a cancel slip pasted over the original imprint, bearing the updated address of Antoine Vuarin. This intriguing bibliographical feature suggests that a portion of the original printing remained unsold. Notably, the work was never reprinted. Epistle addressed to Cardinal Richelieu.
Fine allegorical frontispiece by Avice. The illustrations include a genealogical chart of the House of Orléans; two genealogical tables of the House of Luxembourg; four plates demonstrating the Marquis de Gesvre's descent from Charlemagne; a plate detailing the quarterings of the Marquis de Noirmoustier's arms; a genealogical table of the Bourbons; and 106 in-text heraldic shields (approximately 10x15 cm), all engraved by Pierre Nolin.
Contemporary full brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands, richly gilt. Surface abrasion to upper board, and three wormholes. One small wormhole at the upper inner margin, developing into a narrow gallery from p. 60, then gradually diminishing. Minor tear (1 cm) in the outer margin of the Luxembourg genealogical plate. Lacks the preliminary blank before the frontispiece.
A very attractive copy, remarkably well-preserved.
New edition after the first published in 1768. Printed on strong laid paper. One frontispiece, one engraved title and 76 head-piece vignettes engraved by Corbould and Dent.
Contemporary English full dark green morocco binding with straight grain. Spine with false flat bands very richly decorated with 3 complex decorative compositions and various fillets, roulette at tail and head. Gilt titles. Red morocco onlay at tail bearing a library number. Wide blind and gilt border frame on covers, series of blind and gilt fillets. All edges gilt. Traces of rubbing. A slight tear at headcap. Several scratches on covers. Pale foxing on frontispiece and title otherwise the rest perfectly fresh and free from foxing.
Very handsome copy.
Commentary on Hogarth's works. The subtitle of the edition published in 1768 read: With an explanation, pointing out the many beauties that may have hitherto escaped notice; and a comment on their moral tendency. Calculated to improve the minds of youth, and, convey instruction, under the mask of entertainment. Now first published, with the approbation of Jane Hogarth, widow of the late Mr. Hogarth.
Unique collection of documents (photographs, posters, etc.) and manuscripts relating to the confidential theatrical adaptation of Au beau rivage by an admirer from Le Mans of René Fallet.
In 1972, Claude-Denis Renard from Le Mans, a great admirer of René Fallet, contacted the latter so that he would accept a theatrical adaptation of his novel Au beau rivage published in 1970 and for which he received the Humor Prize. Animated by his usual kindness, the writer joyfully accepted, forgetting to inquire about the contingencies linked to the exploitation rights of the novel held by the production company Prothea, whose reaction was not long in coming. Indeed, Mme de Almeida, in charge of managing the Fallet file, expressed numerous reservations regarding the exploitation of the name "Au beau rivage." The play would finally be performed under certain conditions and its title would be transformed to "Bistro story" for only six exclusive performances in Le Mans.
The collection we offer consists of the following documents:
- An autograph letter (17x23.5cm) signed and dated 11/04/72, written on Hotel George V letterhead: "Moi aussi je suis content que toute cette vérole se soit arrangé (sic) au mieux. Je signe des trucs ou écris sans y prêter trop d'attention et puis cela me retombe sur la tête. Mais je suis aise que la gentillesse ne soit pas toujours punie [...] J'accompagnerai bien sûr madame d'Almeida au Mans. Trouvez moi donc un maillot de coureur taille 4 du club local, je fais collection de maillots, je viens de ramener de Bruxelles celui de champion de Belgique. Bonne chance pour "Bistrot story" (marrant) 13 à vous, R. Fallet" ["I too am happy that all this mess worked out for the best. I sign things or write without paying too much attention and then it comes back to bite me. But I'm glad that kindness is not always punished [...] I will of course accompany Madame d'Almeida to Le Mans. Find me a runner's jersey size 4 from the local club, I collect jerseys, I just brought back the Belgian champion's from Brussels. Good luck with 'Bistrot story' (funny) 13 to you, R. Fallet"]
- An autograph postcard (13.5x9cm) signed and dated 16/05/72, written on the verso of the reproduction of a photograph representing him with a doll, posted from his stronghold of Jaligny sur Bresbe in the Bourbonnais in which he thanks the director Claude-Denis Renard for his hospitality.
- Two typed letters (21x27cm) dated March 6 and 21, 1972 and signed by Mme d'Almeida typed on letterhead of the production company Prothea, managing the rights for "Au beau rivage" and authorizing the theatrical adaptation under certain conditions.
- An autograph letter (21x27cm) signed by the same and dated April 28, 1972, written on the same letterhead, ensuring the presence of René Fallet, difficult to reach in the middle of the resumption of the Belgian cycling season, at the first performance of "Bistro story" on May 7, 1972.
- A telegram (21x12cm) from Mme d'Almeida dated 28/05/1972 confirming her coming accompanied by Fallet to a performance
- The text of the play under the title "Au beau rivage" typed under cover bearing some annotations probably in Claude-Denis Renard's hand (21x29cm)
- The program of the theatrical adaptation under the title "Au beau rivage" and its cast (21x29cm)
- The small poster of the play "Au beau rivage" with three small marginal tears (29x42cm)
- The manuscript and illustrated mock-up with an original drawing representing the protagonists of "Bistrot story" on tracing paper (44.5x75.5cm)
- Two states of the large poster of "Bistrot story" on tracing paper (44.5x75.5cm)
- The small poster of the play under the title "Bistrot story" framed (26x42cm)
- Two black and white photographs of René Fallet, one original (18x13cm) in silver print and a reprint (18x12.5cm), taken during performances of "Bistrot story"
