Autograph letter dated and signed by Jean-Louis Barrault, addressed to Thierry Maulnier (20 lines in blue ink on a single leaf).
Folding marks from mailing, with a small tear at the foot of the letter.
Autograph note dated and signed by Paul Claudel, one page addressed to Thierry Maulnier (12 lines in blue ink on a single sheet).
Central folds.
Autograph letter signed by Robert Schuman to a lady, in black ink on a leaf with printed letterhead of the Assemblée nationale, accompanied by his visiting card.
Small crease to upper right corner of the visiting card.
"I hope that Mr Sauvage's matter will turn out well. As for Mr Jagoszewski, I am making enquiries. I do not know whether the Office has a position of this kind. I will inform you as soon as possible." (our own translation)
First edition including all the features of the first issue for Du Côté de chez Swann (Grasset printing error on the title-page, front cover with the date 1913, missing contents table, publisher's catalogue at rear). First edition on ordinary paper, one of the very rare first edition copies without a statement of edition for A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, from an edition of about 500 copies. Following volumes in first numbered editions on pur fil, only deluxe copies after the "réimposés".
Few small tears along the lower edge and a small crease mark to the upper cover of Du côté de chez Swann, with some foxing to the first two leaves; spine very faintly sunned and a marginal dampstain affecting three leaves not affecting the text in Du côté de Guermantes I; foxing to the inscribed leaves and opening leaves of Le Côté de Guermantes II – Sodome et Gomorrhe I and Sodome et Gomorrhe II-1, the latter with a small mark to the spine; marginal foxing to Sodome et Gomorrhe II-3; small lacks of paper at the foot of the spine and one at the lower right corner of the upper cover of La Prisonnière I; a small mark to the upper cover and a tiny tear at the foot of the spine of the first vol. of Albertine disparue; spine sunned and a discreet crease at the corner of the upper cover of the first vol. of Le Temps retrouvé, and a small mark to the lower cover of the last two volumes.
Complete collection of In Search of Lost Time including two important and precious presentation copies, signed and inscribed by Marcel Proust to Lucien Descaves, founding member of the Académie Goncourt:
- “à monsieur Lucien Descaves. / Respectueux hommage de l'auteur. / Marcel Proust” [to Monsieur Lucien Descaves. / Respectful tribute from the author. / Marcel Proust] on Le Côté de Guermantes II – Sodome et Gomorrhe I.
- “à monsieur Lucien Descaves. / Admiratif hommage. / Marcel Proust ” [to Monsieur Lucien Descaves. / Admiring tribute. / Marcel Proust] on Sodome et Gomorrhe II-1.
First edition (cf. Tailliart 2269).
Contemporary half cherry calf, the spines with five raised bands tooled with gilt pointillé and framed by double gilt panels, light rubbing to the spines and headcaps, marbled paper boards, hand-marbled endpapers, edges sprinkled.
Scattered foxing.
Drawing on a meticulous assessment of the Algerian situation ten years after the conquest, the author challenges the presumed merits of military administration and advocates the establishment of a fully civilian regime. The lawyer Evariste Bavoux (1809–1890) would later embark, in 1848, on a political career that led him to represent Seine-et-Marne in Parliament.
First edition illustrated with drawings by Jean-Jacques Sempé.
Publisher’s binding in full beige cloth, smooth spine, blue endpapers and pastedowns; a handsome copy complete with its illustrated dust jacket.
Dated and signed presentation inscription from Jean-Jacques Sempé to a woman named Christiane, embellished with an original drawing depicting a cyclist towing, in his trailer, an enormous flowerpot.
A rare and sought-after edition of the French Constitution, published the same year as the first edition, printed by Pierre-Samuel du Pont de Nemours, deputy to the National Assembly, who was also a journalist, philosopher, economist, and Franco-American diplomat. He worked as a bookseller-printer from 1791 to 1800 alongside the chemist Antoine de Lavoisier, then with his son Eleuthère-Irénée, founder of the world's oldest chemical company, E.I. du Pont de Nemours.
Contemporary full calf, smooth spines divided by gilt fillets, gilt floral decoration in compartments, red morocco label, boards framed with a double gilt fillet, board edges decorated with a thicker gilt fillet, gilt edges, blue paper endpapers.
Spine rubbed, headcaps missing, some browning to upper portion of front board, upper joint of rear board split for 4.8 cm, splitting starting at foot of rear board, corners bumped.
Inside this copy: a few very minor spots of foxing affecting first and last leaves, stain to verso of lower pastedown.
First edition of the French translation, one of the numbered copies on chestnut paper.
Spine and boards faintly and marginally sunstruck, as often; small tears to the head and tail of the spine; minor pale dampstaining to the lower edge of the upper cover.
First edition, one of 80 numbered copies on Rives vellum, the tirage de tête.
Only the copies on Rives vellum are enriched with the watercolor by Man Ray which he signed and numbered in pencil.
Handwritten signature of Louis Aragon below the justification of the print.
A very beautiful and rare copy.
New edition.
Bound in navy blue half morocco with corners, spine very slightly faded with four raised bands framed by gilt fillets and adorned with double gilt compartments, one featuring an inlaid red morocco panel; blind-ruled border on moiré-patterned paper boards; marbled endpapers and pastedowns; original wrappers and spine preserved; top edge gilt. Binding signed by Mabilde.
Inscribed, dated and signed by Anatole France to Madame Maurice Guénot.
A handsome copy, elegantly bound.
First edition, one of 50 copies on pure thread paper, part of the deluxe issue.
Half aubergine morocco binding, smooth spine, lacquered marbled paper boards, aubergine paper endpapers and doublures, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, slipcase edged with aubergine morocco, aubergine paper sides, aubergine felt lining. An elegant binding signed C. & J.P. Miguet, dated 1990.
First edition of this issue entirely devoted to Le Douanier Rousseau.
Includes contributions by Guillaume Apollinaire, featuring "Le Douanier", René Dalize, Adolphe Basler, three poems and letters by Le Douanier Rousseau...
Illustrated with seven reproductions of Rousseau's works.
A rare and appealing copy despite minor marginal tears on the covers and a small stain along the right margin of the front cover.
First edition in deluxe-paper, issued only a few days after the ordinary trade edition, which was printed in 950 copies on Marais paper. This copy is one of 200 numbered on Outhenin-Chalandre, the only deluxe issue. Rare signed presentation copy of Romain Gary’s first published work, inscribed: “À Roland Feuvrier, bien amicalement Romain Gary \ 15 nov. 1945.”
A pleasant copy despite a few small spots and minor marginal tears to the boards.
First edition.
A fine copy.
Inscribed and signed by Romain Gary.
Original colour print heightened in gold, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
First edition, of which no copies were printed on deluxe paper.
A fine copy.
Precious signed presentation inscription from Robert Badinter: “Pour Christine Okrent et Bernard Kouchner ce livre sur la difficulté d’être libres et égaux en 1789, en amical hommage. R. Badinter.”
First edition, one of 35 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies after 25 on vélin de lana.
Illustrated, with a preface letter by Pablo Casals.
Rare and appealing copy complete with its photographic dust jacket.
Autograph signature of Pablo Casals on the half-title page.
First edition.
Book illustrated with a lithographed cover by Joan Miró in seven colors, along with six color lithographs, including two original ones.
Text by Jacques Prévert and Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes.
Publisher’s flexible full paper binding, smooth spine, lacking the original rhodoid jacket.
Richly illustrated.
A handsome copy.
Our copy is enriched with an autograph inscription signed by Joan Miró accompanied by an original drawing depicting one of his characteristic figures, as well as an autograph inscription signed by Jacques Prévert, enhanced with an original drawing showing a little man offering a flower to the dedicatee.
First bilingual edition presenting the text in English with its facing French translation by Marie-Claude White, one of 28 numbered copies on vellum de Labna, the only deluxe copies printed.
Rare and handsome copy.
First edition of this issue of La Revue musicale dated December 1, 1930, entirely devoted to Serge de Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
With numerous contributions by Anna de Noailles, Gabriel Astruc, Maurice Brillant, Émile Henriot, Michel-Georges Michel, Mikhail Larionov, Auguste Gilbert de Voisins, André Warnod, among others.
Illustrated in black and in color with works by Jean Cocteau, Léon Bakst, Georges Braque, André Derain, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Pablo Picasso, Maurice Utrillo, and others.
Two small light dampstains at the foot of the spine and rear cover, otherwise a pleasant copy.
First edition of the French translation prepared by Pierre Klossowski, one of 15 copies on pur fil paper, ours unnumbered but duly justified "pur fil", copy from the head of the print run.
A handsome copy.
Partly original edition, entirely revised and corrected.
Half red shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands framed with black fillets, gilt "N" at the foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, four bookseller's description labels pasted beneath the bookplate on the pastedown, contemporary binding.
A pleasant copy.
Provenance: from the library of Nadar with his celebrated engraved bookplate "Quand même !"
First edition. One of 385 numbered copies on Vélin d'Arches. Six original lithographs by Georges Rouault and initialled by the author and the publisher, preface by André Suarès and catalogue of the E. Frapier gallery in fine.
The six lithographs are captioned and signed in the plate. Some foxing, shading caused by the protective paper facing the lithographs.
The copy contains an autograph post card signed by Georges Rouault to the publisher about the publication of the book:
“What a terrible job [...], don't change anything, I have reviewed it word for word – twice. I have retouched all the little sketches and the Bloy and the Baudelaire...”
Rare and beautiful copy.
First edition, with no mention of copies on deluxe paper.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands framed by gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge, contemporary binding.
Pleasant copy.
First 12mo edition, partly original as it is entirely revised.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge.
Some foxing,
Autograph manuscript by the author, two and a half pages in-8, published in the issue of May 11, 1944 of the Journal des Débats. Complete manuscript in very dense handwriting, with numerous erasures, corrections, and additions. Literary column published on the occasion of the release of Gaston Bachelard's L'air et les songes. Accompanied by the complete typescript.
« L'homme est d'abord rêverie, puissance d'imaginer avant d'être sensibilité et raison », Blanchot’s analysis of this new essay by Bachelard provides an opportunity to confront the philosopher with the uncertainties of his theory, which tends to fragment in the plurality of its forms. « Qu'est-ce pour lui que l'image et l'imagination ? On ne le voit pas nettement ».
Yet this sometimes severe critique is above all a device to highlight the true value of Bachelard’s work, which also coincides with one of the central themes of Blanchot’s thought: the creative power of poetic language: "L'image littéraire est un fait premier; elle est la poésie même; (...) se demander s'il y à en nous une poésie d'avant les mots, d'avant les images, un en deçà poétique, une blancheur et un silence que le langage essiaerait de reproduire, c'est méconnaitre l'activité littéraire qui une activité naturelle, originelle, correspondant à une action de l'imagination - faculté de produire l'irréel qui est la conscience même - sur le langage."
Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are of the greatest rarity.
First edition on ordinary paper.
Purple half-cloth Bradel binding, smooth spine with a gilt floral motif, gilt initials and double fillet at foot, marbled paper boards, lower corners rubbed, contemporary binding.
Spine sunned, a few small spots of foxing mostly affecting the margins of the leaves.
Precious presentation copy inscribed by Emile Zola to a major inspiration for Germinal: "A Yves Guyot son dévoué confrère. Emile Zola."
Guyot was the author of a novel on an accident and a strike in the mines of Northern France. Together with his economic theories and his series of reports on the Anzin miners’ strike, his work had a profound influence on Zola in the writing of this masterpiece. Guyot even assisted Zola in his research, and introduced him to socialist deputy Alfred Giard with whom Zola visited mines for his novel.
First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author in the first volume, 6 maps and plans, and 70 engraved portraits hors-texte, including 65 depicting the Grand Masters of the Order of Malta. (cf. Brunet, V, 1149. Cohen 1011. Saffroy 5420.)
Some restorations to the joints, early marginal annotations at the bottom of pages, library stamp on all three volumes, the third of which is bound slightly differently with regard to the gilt tooling; a loss on the endpaper of the first volume, which has been partially cut out.
A good copy.
The illustrations are distributed as follows:
Volume 1: 1 frontispiece, 3 folding maps, and 26 full-page portraits.
Volume 2: 1 plan and 20 full-page portraits.
Volume 3: 2 folding maps and 5 full-page portraits.
Volume 4: 19 full-page portraits.
Contemporary full speckled tan calf bindings, spines with five raised bands, richly gilt in double-panel compartments, gilt fillets along the board edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
A writer, historian, and member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Abbé de Vertot (1655–1735) authored several notable works, including Révolutions romaines (1719). Dedicated to the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Dom Antoine Manoel de Vilhena, the Histoire des chevaliers hospitaliers offers a chronological account of key events from the Order’s founding in Jerusalem in 1099. The final section includes a Dissertation on the Government of the Order of Malta, the Old and New Statutes of the Order, and an Alphabetical List of the Knight Brothers from the Langues of Provence, Auvergne, and France, as well as the Grand Priories of Aquitaine and Champagne.
First edition. One of 50 copies on Rives vellum, ours one of 15 hors commerce copies numbered in Roman numerals, a deluxe issue following 7 copies on Japan paper.
A fine copy with full margins, presented in a chemise and slipcase of half brown shagreen, smooth spine, sides in wood-grain paper, the ensemble signed by P. Goy & C. Vilaine.
The volume includes a full-page map of the city and its surroundings.
The author’s first book, it opens with the now famous sentence: "J'avais vingt ans. Je ne laisserai personne dire que c'est le plus bel âge de la vie".
On the half-title, signed autograph inscription in red ink by Paul Nizan to his publisher Frédéric Rieder,
First edition of the French translation, one of 200 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only deluxe issue.
Handsome illustrated cover by Paul Colin, the volume adorned with 16 previously unpublished illustrations.
Slight sunning marks at head and tail of spine.
A rare and appealing copy.
First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies on deluxe paper.
Minor, insignificant foxing to some edges, a handsome copy.
First edition, one of the rare press copies. No deluxe limited issue printed.
Full yellow box calf binding, smooth spine lettered in palladium, boards tooled in blind, upper board with inlays of grey box calf, yellow box calf pastedowns, beige suede endpapers, original wrappers and spine preserved, no gilt edges like every binding by Jean-Luc Honegger, half yellow box calf custom slipcase, smooth spine lettered in palladium, yellow lustrine cloth boards, beige suede lining, very fine set signed Jean-Luc Honegger (2023).
4400 copies of this first edition of The Stranger were printed on April 21, 1942: 400 press copies, 500 copies without a statement of edition and 3500 copies with false statements of second through eighth "editions".
The press copies, not intended for sale, do not bear the price indication [25 francs] on the back cover.
Paper was scarce in 1942, and as Albert Camus was an unknown author at the time, Gallimard did not print a limited issue on luxury paper (or large paper) as was often the case. For this reason, press copies or copies without a statement of edition are particularly sought-after.
A precious and rare copy, perfectly bound by the fine bookbinder Jean-Luc Honegger.
First edition.
Publisher’s binding in full old red Russia leather. Smooth spine richly decorated, with two compartments in grotesque style (stars) and two others featuring a central bee within a dotted lozenge. Surrounding the title, four bees. Two successive border friezes on the covers. Gilt edges. Headcaps rubbed with a 1 cm split. One gathering slightly protruding. Wormhole on page 668, then a 2 cm gallery from page 751 to 803, with some letter loss but no impediment to reading. Paper remarkably fresh.
A handsome copy.
Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate higher left.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
First edition on ordinary paper.
A good copy retaining its advertising band.
Handsome autograph inscription from Marguerite Duras to Claude Simon.
First edition. (cf Sabin, 44114. Duvivier, Haïti, II 92.)
Bound in Havana sheep, spine with five raised bands framed by blind fillets, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns of marbled paper, original plain blue wrappers preserved, later binding.
A rare and appealing copy.
First edition illustrated with 2 portraits and 318 in-text illustrations (mostly after photographs, some full-page) and a folding map at the end (cf. Rosove, Antarctica, 60 A.1d ["uncommon"]; Spence, 253).
Bound in contemporary half bottle-green shagreen, flat spine faded and decorated with gilt typographic motifs, upper headcap trimmed, cat’s-eye paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt, illustrated wrappers and backstrip preserved, corners slightly rubbed.
Account of the voyage, followed by reports on several scientific studies carried out by members of the expedition: meteorology, atmospheric electricity and terrestrial magnetism by Rey; animal and plant life by Turquet; geology and glaciology by Gourdon; photography by Pléneau; bacteriology by Charcot.
Original colour print heightened in gold, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
Original colour print, heightened with gold, on laid paper, signed lower right beneath the plate mark.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
Original colour print heightened with gold, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
Original colour print printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
First edition, one of the rare copies printed on laid paper.
This four-page issue includes a comic strip by Godefroy: "L'ours de Berne".
Literary contributions by Rodolphe Salis, Castille Milès with "La mauvaise fleur", Pimpinelli's "Nini" dedicated to Philippe Burty, Saint Jehan, and "La passion de N.S. Zola ou le maître de Nana embêté par Marie Colombier"...
A very good copy.
Le Chat noir was a weekly magazine founded by Rodolphe Salis and Émile Goudeau, published from 1882 to 1897 to promote the renowned cabaret of the same name, of which it served as a chronicle. It featured the texts performed during its stage shows. The publication stands as a significant literary and artistic record of late 19th-century Paris, capturing the spirit of bohemian life and the city's unique creative ferment.
Original colour print heightened in palladium, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
Original colour print heightened with gold, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.
Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.
First edition.
3/4 red morocco, smooth spine elaborately decorated with gilt typographic motifs and green morocco onlays, crossed musketeer swords gilt-stamped at center of spine, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards framed in gilt, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine (slightly toned) preserved, top edge gilt, small restorations to corners and spine color restored.
Rare inscribed copy signed by Edmond Rostand: "A Monsieur Henry Fouquier avec ma reconnaissance la plus cordiale. Edmond Rostand."
First edition of the French translation prepared by Maurice Solovine (cf. Weil 1116).
One tear with a small restored loss to the right margin of the front cover, spine and covers slightly sunned, foxing to covers, two tears at head and foot of spine.
Copy complete with the publisher's announcement leaflet.
First edition with the identifying feature of the true first printing, namely the absence of the elephant on the copyright page facing the first page of text.
Publisher's original binding, navy blue cloth spine showing slight discoloration, orange-red paper-covered boards, title label mounted on the upper cover and carried by Babar the elephant on his shoulders, a few scuffs, notably to the rear cover; green endpapers and pastedowns decorated with a long frieze of elephants holding each other's tails with their trunks; small abrasions to edges and corners.
One hinge slightly split at the head, with the leaves a little loosened at the top; internally well preserved.
Illustrated with drawings by Jean de Brunhoff.
Rare first edition of the French translation, one of 350 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies aside from 50 on pur fil.
A dampstain at the center of the lower cover.
Rare
Partly first edition, one of 31 copies on pur fil paper, following only 5 on Japon and 10 on Hollande.
A well-preserved copy, notwithstanding slightly and partially toned endpapers, of no consequence.
Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author drawn by himself.
First edition, an ordinary paper copy.
The three volumes are housed in a full black morocco case, spine ruled in blind, date at foot, inside lined with khaki sheepskin, by Goy & Vilaine.
Handsome copy inscribed by Marcel Proust to Henri Massis in the first volume:
“En témoignage de très vive sympathie Marcel Proust [a gesture of very fond affection].”
