Paris (France)

L'œuvre [The Masterpiece]
Charpentier, Paris 1886, 13x19cm, bound.
First edition. One of 175 numbered copies on hollande, only deluxe copies after 10 on japon.
Half morocco signed binding by Laurenchet, raised bands, marbled paper covers, enpapers and pastedown endpapers, original wrappers preserved, gilt over untrimmed edges.
Nice copy in a handsome binding.

Monet tries to retrieve “Garden at Sainte-Adresse”

Paris 10 April 1913, 13,2x20,6cm, 2 pages on a folded leaf.
Autograph letter signed, two pages written in purple ink on a folded leaf. Small marginal tears at the folds.
Exceptional unpublished autograph letter signed by Claude Monet. The painter tries to buy back his painting, “Garden at Sainte-Adresse” (1867), a masterpiece exhibited in 1879 at the 4th Impressionist exhibition, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Directly confronted with the soaring prices of his own paintings, Monet informs an unknown recipient that his work of art had finally been sold to famous art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel.
The letter is mentioned in the MET's bibliography: “Claude Monet. Letter. April 10, 1913, probably refers to this picture in stating that he would have liked to buy it back in an exchange with Madame Frat but that the price of 30,000 francs was too high and that Monsieur Frat's original offer to him had been only 20,000 francs”
More than forty years after the creation of this painting, Monet wished to buy back Garden at Sainte-Adresse from his first owner Victor Frat, friend of painter Frédéric Bazille, who acquired it for only 400 francs in the 1870s. According to Monet's letter, Frat had agreed to sell it back to him: “The gracious offer that [he] had been made was only 20,000 [francs]”. This is the only source revealing the first offer's price. Victor Frat died in 1902 and his widow proved less generous, asking for 30 000 francs. Monet could not compete with Durand-Ruel who eventually bought it for 27,000 francs: “I can only inform you, with great regret, that having been informed by Mr. Durand Ruel that the sale of the painting in question seemed to me to be ratified, there was nothing left for me to do but to submit” Less than a month after its purchase, Durand-Ruel had already shipped the painting to the United States and exhibited it the following year. In 1926, it sold for $11,500 to Reverend Theodore Pitcairn and joined the MET's collections in 1967.
As the price of his painting climbed to new highs, Monet provides here precious information on one of the most famous Impressionnist views of Normandy which became emblematic of the Japanese influences in his work. Garden at Sainte-Adresse also had sentimental value, painted at a time of family turmoil. He included his father Adolphe in the composition, the wife of Adolphe-Aimé Lecadre, one of three nephews of Monet's aunt Marie-Jeanne Lecadre, as well as her daughter Sophie at the edge of the water. Monet's intentions behind this purchase remain obscure: did he want to sell the painting back to the recipient of this letter, did he plan to donate it to the French state, which he later did with the famous Water Lilies, or did he wish to keep one of his favorite paintings to himself?

The letter also underlines the importance of art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, a key figure in Impressionism who risked everything to promote the movement in its early days. After establishing the market for Impressionism in the United States as well as in Europe, he now had immense purchasing power to acquire Monet's paintings without his permission: “there was nothing left for me to do but to submit”, Monet complains in the letter. Within a few decades, Durand-Ruel bought more than 1,000 of the artist's paintings, which sparked immense interest among U.S. art collectors, as was the case with Garden at Sainte-Adresse.

This letter marks an important milestone in the journey of Monet's masterpiece “Garden at Sainte-Adresse”, which at that very moment escaped its author and left France forever. These few lines provide unpublished information on Monet's desperate attempt to reclaim a work that was of fundamental importance to him.

Edition in Latin and French illustrated with three plates by Scotin and a beautiful frontispiece title. With the avertissement
Fine contemporary fanfare binding, with the arms of Maria Josepha of Saxony, mother to the last three kings of France, spine with gilt-stamped fleur-de-lys, covers eloraborately tooled in gold to a fanfare design in the style of Florimond Badier (same as the one in Les Reliures d'art à la Bibliothèque Nationale, pl. 74), with the arms of Maria-Josepha of Saxony (O.H.R. pl. 2526, no. 2), green and gilt tabby pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt. Corners, joints, and spine-ends very skillfully restored. A few slightly foxed pages.
Daughter of King Auguste III of Poland and Archduchess Maria-Josepha of Austria, Maria Josepha of Saxony (1731 – 1767) was Dauphine of France and notably gave birth to the last three kings of the eldest Bourbon branch, the Duke of Berry (future Louis XVI), the Count of Provence (future Louis XVIII) and the Count of Artois (future Charles X). She was also the granddaughter of Emperor Joseph I of the Holy Roman Empire.
A pious, Catholic woman, she educated her children in accordance with her faith; among her children, Elizabeth died with a reputation for sanctity and Clothilde was declared venerable by the Catholic Church.
She never became queen, her husband having died prematurely of tuberculosis ; she followed him fifteen months later, breathing her last at Versailles, where she spent most of her life.
This copy comes from her personal library in Versailles, which mainly contains works of devotion in elaborately decorated armorial bindings.
An exceptional copy.

Samuel [BIBLE IN HEBREW] [ESTIENNE]
Robert Estienne, Paris 1545, 16mo (7x11,5cm), a volume bound in brown morocco.
First 16mo edition in Hebrew by Robert Estienne. This pocket edition was printed in 17 volumes between 1544 and 1546, after the success of the four-volume quarto edition printed from 1539 to 1544. Each individual volume (unnumbered on the title-page) could be acquired separately and considered complete in itself. Elaborate printer's woodcut device on the title page. Only the title page is in Latin-Hebrew.

"This little edition, said to be very accurate, is a true typographical jewel, and perhaps the most beautiful one ever printed in the Hebrew language.” “Cette petite édition que l'on dit fort exacte, est vraiment un bijou typographique, et peut-être ce qui a jamais été imprimé de plus beau en langue hébraïque" (A. A. Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne)
Brown morocco later binding (1590-1615), smooth spine with gilt fillets, double gilt borders on covers, all edges gilt. Rubbed spine-ends, upper end of spine a little worn, corners very slightly rubbed.
This edition is based on the Hebrew Soncino princeps published in 1488, and was established by Humanist François Vatable, early scholar of Hebrew studies during the Renaissance and royal lecturer of Hebrew under Francis I. The text in Hebrew follows the Masoretic tradition and presents diacritics that facilitate its vocalization.
Talented scholar François Vatable (1495-1547) was a member of the ‘Cénacle de Meaux' founded by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples and published with him in 1530 the first complete French translation of the Bible known as the Bible of Antwerp. After founding the Collège de France in 1530, King Francis I appointed him chair of Hebrew studies. As a Royal lecturer he actively participated ten years later in a Hebrew edition the Bible with Robert Estienne (1503-1559) – printer to the King in Latin and Hebrew.
This edition is undoubtedly a real typographical feat for a small format text in Hebrew lettering. It was certainly intended for scholarly use by Sorbonne and Collège Royal students, given its pocket size sold in separate individual volumes. The presence of numerous contemporary marginal notes further indicates its educational purpose.
A very beautiful and scarce collaborative work by two of the greatest figures of Parisian humanist scholarship – a fine example of the renewed interest in classical texts and their study in the original language.
Provenance: library of Charles John Dimsdale (1801-1872), fifth baron of the Russian Empire, with his bookplate on each pastedown endpaper.

Psalterium [BIBLE IN HEBREW] [ESTIENNE]
Robert Estienne, Paris 1544, 16°(7x11,5cm), a volume in brown morocco.

“This little edition, said to be very accurate, is a true typographical jewel, and perhaps the most beautiful one ever printed in the Hebrew language.”

(A. A. Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne)

First 16mo edition in Hebrew by Robert Estienne. Brown morocco slightly later binding (1590-1615), edges rubbed.
Elegant printer's woodcut device on title page with book titles set within woodcut cartouche head-pieces. Only the title page is in Latin-Hebrew. Numerous contemporary Latin marginalia and Humanist manicules, certainly made by a scholar at the time of publication.
Exceptional copy belonging to the Books of the Bible in Hebrew in first 16mo edition published by Robert Estienne. This pocket edition was printed in 17 volumes between 1544 and 1546, after the success of the four-volume quarto edition printed from 1539 to 1544. Based on the Hebrew Soncino princeps published in 1488, it was established by Humanist François Vatable. The text in Hebrew follows the Masoretic tradition and presents diacritics that facilitate its vocalization.
Talented exegete François Vatable (1495-1547), early scholar of Hebrew studies during the French Renaissance was a member of the 'Cénacle de Meaux' founded by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples and translated for him in 1509 the Hebraicum, one of the five psalters of the Quincuplex Psalterium published by Henri Estienne. After founding the Collège de France in 1530, King Francis I appointed him chair of Hebrew studies. As a Royal lecturer he actively participated ten years later in a Hebrew edition of the Bible with Robert Estienne (1503-1559) – printer to the King in Latin and Hebrew.
This edition is undoubtedly a real typographical feat for a small format text in Hebrew lettering. It was certainly intended for scholarly use by Sorbonne and Collège Royal students, given its pocket size sold in separate individual volumes. The presence of numerous contemporary marginal notes further indicates its educational purpose, as is the numbering of lines of several pages in some of our volumes.
Famed poet Clément Marot had attended Vatable's lessons at the Collège Royal on the Old Testament in Hebrew. Marot's French translation of the Psalms was instrumental in the development of Protestantism in French-speaking countries. “Of all the books of the Bible, the Book of Psalms seems to be the one Marot studied with the most predilection, and it was [Vatable] who [according to Florimond de Rémond] encouraged him to put them in verse. He explained them to him word for word, making him feel the beauty and the energy of the original expressions, and initiating him into this great poetry which, for so many centuries, according to M. Villemain, 'has sublimely captured the imagination of men” (F. Bovet, Histoire du psautier des églises réformées). Etienne Pasquier in his Recherches de la France even attributes to Vatable an important part of this historical translation: “Among his translations, Marot made himself admirable in his fifty Psalms of David, helped by Vatable, Hebrew Professor to the King, and achieved it in such a way that whoever wanted to surpass his Psalter could not equal his genius: it was truly a Venus of Apelles”.
A very beautiful and scarce collaborative work by two of the greatest figures of Parisian humanist scholarship – a fine example of the renewed interest in classical texts and their study in the original language.
Provenance: library of Charles John Dimsdale (1801-1872), fifth baron of the Russian Empire, with his bookplate on each pastedown endpaper.

Prophetia Isaiae [BIBLE IN HEBREW] [ESTIENNE]
Robert Estienne, Paris 1545, 16mo (7x11,5cm), a volume bound in brown morocco.
First 16mo edition in Hebrew by Robert Estienne. This pocket edition was printed in 17 volumes between 1544 and 1546, after the success of the four-volume quarto edition printed from 1539 to 1544. Each individual volume (unnumbered on the title-page) could be acquired separately and considered complete in itself. Elaborate printer's woodcut device on each title page with book titles set within woodcut cartouche head-pieces. Only the title page is in Latin-Hebrew.

"This little edition, said to be very accurate, is a true typographical jewel, and perhaps the most beautiful one ever printed in the Hebrew language.” “Cette petite édition que l'on dit fort exacte, est vraiment un bijou typographique, et peut-être ce qui a jamais été imprimé de plus beau en langue hébraïque" (A. A. Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne)
Brown morocco later binding (1590-1615), smooth spine with gilt fillets, double gilt borders on covers, all edges gilt. Binding slightly rubbed.
This edition is based on the Hebrew Soncino princeps published in 1488, and was established by Humanist François Vatable, early scholar of Hebrew studies during the Renaissance and royal lecturer of Hebrew under Francis I. The text in Hebrew follows the Masoretic tradition and presents diacritics that facilitate its vocalization.
Talented scholar François Vatable (1495-1547) was a member of the ‘Cénacle de Meaux' founded by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples and published with him in 1530 the first complete French translation of the Bible known as the Bible of Antwerp. After founding the Collège de France in 1530, King Francis I appointed him chair of Hebrew studies. As a Royal lecturer he actively participated ten years later in a Hebrew edition the Bible with Robert Estienne (1503-1559) – printer to the King in Latin and Hebrew.
This edition is undoubtedly a real typographical feat for a small format text in Hebrew lettering. It was certainly intended for scholarly use by Sorbonne and Collège Royal students, given its pocket size sold in separate individual volumes. The presence of numerous contemporary marginal notes further indicates its educational purpose, as is the numbering of lines of several pages in some of our volumes.
A very beautiful and scarce collaborative work by two of the greatest figures of Parisian humanist scholarship – a fine example of the renewed interest in classical texts and their study in the original language.
Provenance: library of Charles John Dimsdale (1801-1872), fifth baron of the Russian Empire, with his bookplate on each pastedown endpaper.

Daniel & Esdras [& Nehemiah] [BIBLE IN HEBREW] [ESTIENNE]
Robert Estienne, Paris 1546, 16°(7x11,5cm), a volume in brown morocco.
First 16mo edition in Hebrew by Robert Estienne. This pocket edition was printed in 17 volumes between 1544 and 1546, after the success of the four-volume quarto edition printed from 1539 to 1544. Each individual volume (unnumbered on the title-page) could be acquired separately and considered complete in itself. Elaborate printer's woodcut device on each title page with book titles set within woodcut cartouche head-pieces. Only the title page is in Latin-Hebrew.
A few minute contemporary annotations at the beginning of the volume, certainly by a scholar.
"This little edition, said to be very accurate, is a true typographical jewel, and perhaps the most beautiful one ever printed in the Hebrew language.” “Cette petite édition que l'on dit fort exacte, est vraiment un bijou typographique, et peut-être ce qui a jamais été imprimé de plus beau en langue hébraïque" (A. A. Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne)
Brown morocco later binding (1590-1615), smooth spine with gilt fillets, double gilt borders on covers, all edges gilt. Binding slightly rubbed, wormholes affecting a few letters at the end of the volume.
This edition is based on the Hebrew Soncino princeps published in 1488, and was established by Humanist François Vatable, early scholar of Hebrew studies during the Renaissance and royal lecturer of Hebrew under Francis I. The text in Hebrew follows the Masoretic tradition and presents diacritics that facilitate its vocalization.
Talented scholar François Vatable (1495-1547) was a member of the ‘Cénacle de Meaux' founded by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples and published with him in 1530 the first complete French translation of the Bible known as the Bible of Antwerp. After founding the Collège de France in 1530, King Francis I appointed him chair of Hebrew studies. As a Royal lecturer he actively participated ten years later in a Hebrew edition the Bible with Robert Estienne (1503-1559) – printer to the King in Latin and Hebrew.
This edition is undoubtedly a real typographical feat for a small format text in Hebrew lettering. It was certainly intended for scholarly use by Sorbonne and Collège Royal students, given its pocket size sold in separate individual volumes. The presence of numerous contemporary marginal notes further indicates its educational purpose, as is the numbering of lines of several pages in some of our volumes.
A very beautiful and scarce collaborative work by two of the greatest figures of Parisian humanist scholarship – a fine example of the renewed interest in classical texts and their study in the original language.
Provenance: library of Charles John Dimsdale (1801-1872), fifth baron of the Russian Empire, with his bookplate on each pastedown endpaper.

First U.S. edition, no deluxe copies issued.
Very rare copy of this edition written, prefaced and "translated" by Boris Vian.
Numerous poorly cut leaves, restored tears on some leaves, a restored tear at foot of spine.
This book is meant to be a new provocation by the author to his critics. Both Vendôme press publishing house and this book were only created to make people believe in the existence of Vian's alias Vernon Sullivan. The sale of the book in July 1948 at the Editions du Scorpion was very quickly interrupted and only a few copies put on the market.

First edition of this Almanac with the first French Constitution, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen as a preamble. Complete with the copperplate engraved folding map.
Full red morocco binding, spine with five raised bands elaborately gilt in compartments with fleurs-de-lis, multiple gilt-rolled and tooled borders, gilt bouquets of flowers in the corners, fasces surmounted by a Phrygian cap at center of boards, with a wreath and the motto "Vivre libre ou mourir" ("Live free or die"), watered silk endleaves, all edges gilt. Small restorations to the color and gilt to joints and spine-ends.
The Almanach Royal for 1792 contains the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, as well as the text of the first French Constitution adopted in the autumn of 1791 (pp. 83-117). It is the very last of royal almanacs published with royal privilege.
"Those seen on this almanac are neither farmers, nor merchants, nor artisans, nor artists, and it is nevertheless the part of the nation that entirely governs the other. If you were to remove the idea of all these names, wouldn't the nation still exist? Oh very well, I assure you" (L.-S. Mercier, Tableau de Paris).
The famous motto "Vivre libre ou mourir" was first used by Jacobins before being adopted by Camille Desmoulins. It still appears today at the foot of the statue representing the National Convention in the Pantheon.
A rare and luxurious full morocco binding, combining fleurs-de-lis and revolutionary symbols, characteristic of the years of constitutional monarchy.

Notre-Dame de Paris [The Hunchback of Notre-Dame]
Eugène Renduel, Paris 1836, 13x21,2cm, 631pp., bound.
First illustrated edition known as “Keepsake edition”, first issue, in a single volume.
A steel-engraved frontispiece title and 10 full-page plates printed on papier de chine appliqué by Alfred & Tony Johannot, Louis Boulanger, Camille Rogier. Well printed in a spaced typography with large margins, similar to the first edition published in 1831. Without the plate “De l'utilité des fenêtres” [On the usefulness of windows] like most first issue copies, as it was not finished when printing began.

Publisher's “Rocaille” binding in brown morocco, signed Boutigny at bottom of spine, the signature has been mistakenly stamped upside down, covers with ornaments and foliage motifs stamped in blind, central gilt title on the upper cover and gilt cipher of Eugène Renduel on the lower, all edges gilt, traces of discoloration to the spine, scattered foxing on most leaves.

For this new and perhaps most beautiful of edition of Notre-Dame de Paris, Eugène Renduel commissioned several deluxe copies in cathedral and “rocaille” bindings made by Boutigny. This one in “maroquin du Levant, gros grain, avec plaque en or et en noir” [Levant morocco, large grain, paneled in gilt and blind] is the most luxurious, sold for 30 fr. according to the publisher's catalog.

Our copy also includes a rare particularity: a cipher of Eugène Renduel – famous publisher of the whole generation of Romantic writers and of Victor Hugo in particular – gilt stamped in the center of the lower cover, a particular feature we did not find on the other deluxe copies.

A very nice copy in the most luxurious publisher's binding.