Paris (France)

First edition on ordinary paper, stated as fourth edition.
Numerous black and white photographic reproductions.
Handsome copy.

New edition.
Signed autograph inscription from the author: "Pour Yvette et André ce souvenir de leur vieux mafioso René" ["For Yvette and André this memory from their old mafioso René"].
Copy slightly warped.

Rare first edition of this physiology by Edmond Tixier published under the pseudonym Sylvius.
Numerous wood engravings in text by Honoré Daumier, not mentioned in the catalogue raisonné.
Spine entirely restored.

First edition.
Spine and boards slightly and marginally sunned, handsome copy.
Foreword by Christian Caujolle.
Work illustrated with photographs by Gisèle Freund.
Fine autograph inscription dated and signed by Gisèle Freund: "Für Enrike [sic], mit einem grossen Dank für ihre Hilfe bei des Überarbeitung (Übersetzung meiner "Erinnerungen") und ihre neue Übersetzung, die nun lesereich geworben ist. In Freundschaft, Gisèle F..." ["For Enrike [sic], with great thanks for her help with the revision (translation of my "Memories") and her new translation, which has now become widely read. In friendship, Gisèle F..."] adorned with three stylized seagulls.
Provenance: library of Ulrike Bergweiler.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Handsome copy complete with publisher's slip, press cutting included.
Autograph inscription signed by Claude Lévi-Strauss to Nadine Nimier: "Pour Nadine, en lui souhaitant que cette nouvelle année soit tout miel et rien cendres, amicalement Claude Lévi-Strauss." ["For Nadine, wishing her that this new year be all honey and no ashes, with friendship Claude Lévi-Strauss."]

First edition of the French translation, one of 68 numbered copies on pur fil paper, after only 13 Japan and 20 Holland.
Spine with two sun-faded areas at head and foot, endpapers lightly and partially shaded, a manuscript gift inscription at the head of the first endpaper.

New edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Handsome copy
Iconography.
Autograph inscription dated 1977 and signed by David Noakes to Nadine Nimier: "Pour la très chère Nadine en souvenir d'une journée ensoleillée par sa gentillesse. Très tendrement David. 4 Août 77." ["For very dear Nadine in memory of a day brightened by her kindness. Very tenderly David. August 4th 77."]
We include an affectionate autograph letter signed, one page, from David Noakes to his friend Nadine Nimier sent from Bayreuth and dated July 13th in which he attempts to comfort her after the burglary she recently suffered: "... figure-toi que de telles choses arrivent aussi à New-York : il paraît qu'on est entré par effraction à la Maison française le week-end après mon départ - serrures cassées, tout fouillé, mais rien de volé. Très mystérieux, inquiétant. Quel monde que le nôtre." ["... imagine that such things also happen in New York: it seems that someone broke into the Maison française the weekend after I left - locks broken, everything searched through, but nothing stolen. Very mysterious, worrying. What a world we live in."] while also narrating what the Wagner festival in Bayreuth has in store this year: "... je passe quelques jours ici, assiste à des répétitions du Ring avec Boulez et Chéreau..."
Envelope included addressed to: Madame Roger Nimier.
Provenance: from the library of Nadine Nimier, wife and widow of Roger Nimier. ["... I'm spending a few days here, attending Ring rehearsals with Boulez and Chéreau..."]

The rare first edition. 16 out-of-text engravings by Adrien Marie. Un hivernage dans les glaces is one of the first titles in Hetzel's famous white collection; the collection was launched with 9 titles including Un hivernage dans les glaces.
A primitive first version had previously appeared in the Musée des familles in 1855 spread over several issues of the magazine. This official version was rewritten by Verne, revised and modified, and is the same as found in the collective editions. The primitive version was naturally forgotten, until the Bulletin de la société Jules Verne republished the version in 2003, in a limited edition of 50 copies.
Publisher's binding type 1, "with oval vignette". This title features 5 different types of binding, but the first type is the only one corresponding to the typography of Hetzel bindings. Spine with stylized black and gold vegetal motif, a gilt cartouche for the title. Rich decoration on the upper board with angular red fleur-de-lis on black ground. Large oval vignette, illustrated scene printed on percaline. Second board with fleur-de-lis decoration. Plate signed Souze, binding by Lenègre.
Fine first plate. Corners good, barely turned for some. Spine good, headcaps rubbed. Second board good with slight shadowed areas. Some light brown stains on certain pages, but overall fresh, with paper remaining white.


A handsome copy.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Handsome copy.

Autograph letter signed "Paul" and addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney, written in black ink on both sides. Silver monogram of the poetess in the upper left corner of the recto.
"Je ne vais pas à la campagne après tout, mon Tout-Petit. Ils sont partis de si bonne heure que j'ai pu trouver un prétexte pour ne pas les accompagner dans ma fatigue et l'heure trop matinale. Quand veux-tu que je vienne te chercher ? et où irons-nous ? Je serai prête à l'heure où tu voudras. J'aime tes jolies fleurs, elles sont charmantes, - j'ai porté une de tes roses hier au soir. A tout à l'heure, mignon Tout-Petit - Paul" ["I'm not going to the countryside after all, my Little One. They left so early that I was able to find an excuse not to accompany them in my fatigue and the too early hour. When do you want me to come get you? and where shall we go? I'll be ready whenever you want. I love your pretty flowers, they are charming, - I wore one of your roses last evening. See you soon, sweet Little One - Paul"]
It was at the end of 1899 and through Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, implacable teeth" (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just experienced a summer idyll with the sulfurous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, however, was completely captivated by the young American and would recount this coup de foudre in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." ["I recalled the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her deadly steel eyes, her sharp and blue eyes like a blade. I had the dark prescience that this woman was commanding me to destiny, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigo that rises from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee from her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] "Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to the studio of Mrs. Barney [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. An answer quite worthy of the Amazon." (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) There followed two years of unequal happiness, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's morbid jealousy, whose letters oscillated between impassioned declarations and painful mea culpas. "Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousness." (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important break that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's solicitations and the intermediaries she sent to win her back, resisted. "The two friends met again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without sequel. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends stopped seeing each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having met again." (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

Autograph letter by Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in violet ink on a double sheet bordered with violets. Transverse folds inherent to mailing.
Interesting letter of warning against the opportunist "Lottie": "Tout-Petit très cher, je t'envoie, te sachant insouciante autant qu'adorable (c'est tout dire) ce conseil amical : Méfie-toi de Lottie. Je crois t'avoir dit que la « scène de séduction » chez moi était très savamment préparée et combinée. Lottie a besoin d'argent. Elle en cherche avec âpreté. Elle me demande maintenant une « lettre d'introduction » pour Lugné-Poë... (et moi qui ne le connais pas !) Elle « t'embêtera » ... c'est le mot cru — le seul qui convient — Elle est exaspérée contre moi parce que je n'ai pas succombé et surtout parce que je ne lui donnerai pas d'argent. Si elle m'en avait demandé loyalement, franchement, au nom des jours d'autrefois, j'aurais cédé, mais cette comédie amoureuse me répugne — Je te le répète : Méfie-toi — Ne la vois point si cela t'est possible." ["Very dear Little One, I send you, knowing you to be as carefree as you are adorable (which says everything) this friendly advice: Beware of Lottie. I believe I told you that the 'seduction scene' at my place was very cleverly prepared and planned. Lottie needs money. She seeks it eagerly. She now asks me for a 'letter of introduction' to Lugné-Poë... (and I who don't know him!) She will 'bother you'... that's the crude word — the only one that fits — She is exasperated with me because I did not succumb and especially because I will not give her money. If she had asked me loyally, frankly, in the name of days gone by, I would have given in, but this amorous comedy disgusts me — I repeat: Beware — Do not see her if it is possible for you."]
Charlotte "Lottie" Stern, Countess Venturini was an actress also known by the name of Yorska and a close friend of Sarah Bernhardt. Alice Pike Barney, Natalie's mother, painted a very beautiful profile of her in pastel, entitled "Vamp of 1900" and today preserved at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. The Jacques Doucet library holds eighteen autograph letters that she addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney.
It was at the end of 1899 and through the intermediary of Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just lived through a summer idyll with the scandalous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, on the other hand, was completely captivated by the young American and would relate this love at first sight in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." "Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's studio [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon." (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) Two years of unequal happiness would follow, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's morbid jealousy, whose letters oscillated between inflamed declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes." (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 an important break occurred that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's solicitations and the intermediaries she sends to reconquer her, resists. "Les deux amies se revirent, et se fut, en août 1905, le pèlerinage à Lesbos, qui constitua une déception pour Natalie Barney et demeura sans lendemain. [...] Le ressort était définitivement brisé. Les deux anciennes amies cessèrent de se voir dès 1907, et Vivien mourut sans qu'elles se soient revues." (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Spine and covers marginally yellowed, a shadow on the last endpaper left by a press clipping placed at the end of the volume.
Signed and inscribed by Michel Tournier to Ulrike Bergweiler who was Antoine Gallimard's secretary: "... en toute complicité de germanistes..." ["... in complete complicity as Germanists..."]

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Spine lightly yellowed.
Signed and inscribed by Michel Tournier to Ulrike Bergweiler who was Antoine Gallimard's secretary: "Pour Ulrike. Michel." ["For Ulrike. Michel."]

Autograph letter signed "Paul" from Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in black ink on a double sheet bordered with violets. Baroness Hélène de Zuylen has added a small manuscript message signed at the end of the letter: "Paule a raison vous êtes un être charmant et féerique !" ["Paule is right, you are a charming and fairy-like being!"] Transverse folds inherent to mailing.
"Cher Tout-Petit, Ton domestique est venu dire que tu nous rejoindrais au théâtre. Mais il n'y a pas de théâtre ! Peux-tu dîner avec nous jeudi ou vendredi ? — Si, dans la soirée de jeudi, tu n'es libre qu'après le dîner, viens nous rejoindre à n'importe quelle heure. Donne-moi un petit coup de téléphone pour me dire ce que tu feras — et si je dois te faire chercher et à quelle heure ? — Dis à tes cheveux que je les aime." ["Dear Little One, Your servant came to say that you would join us at the theater. But there is no theater! Can you dine with us Thursday or Friday? — If, on Thursday evening, you are only free after dinner, come join us at any hour. Give me a little telephone call to tell me what you will do — and if I should have you collected and at what time? — Tell your hair that I love it."]

It was at the end of 1899 and through Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just experienced a summer idyll with the scandalous Liane de Pougy who initiated her into sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée on the other hand was totally captivated by the young American and would relate this coup de foudre in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: « J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort. » ["I evoked that already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her deadly steel eyes, her sharp blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure prescience that this woman was giving me destiny's order, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigo that rises from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] « Hiver 1899-1900. Débuts de l'idylle. Un soir, Vivien est invitée par sa nouvelle amie dans l'atelier de Mme Barney [mère de Natalie], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, à l'angle de la rue de Longchamp. Natalie s'enhardit à lire des vers de sa composition. Comme Vivien lui dit aimer ces vers, elle lui répond qu'il vaut mieux aimer le poète. Réponse bien digne de l'Amazone. » ["Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to the studio of Mme Barney [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie grows bold enough to read verses of her own composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon."] (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) There followed two years of unequal happiness, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy whose letters oscillated between inflamed declarations and painful mea culpa. « Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes. » ["Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousnesses."] (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important rupture that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's entreaties and the intermediaries she sent to win her back, resisted. « Les deux amies se revirent, et se fut, en août 1905, le pèlerinage à Lesbos, qui constitua une déception pour Natalie Barney et demeura sans lendemain. [...] Le ressort était définitivement brisé. Les deux anciennes amies cessèrent de se voir dès 1907, et Vivien mourut sans qu'elles se soient revues. » ["The two friends saw each other again, and there was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without a tomorrow. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased seeing each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having met again."] (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

New edition, strictly not for sale, for which no deluxe copies were printed.
Spine and covers marginally and lightly sunned.
Autograph inscription dated and signed by François Weyergans to his friend Ulrike Bergweiler, then secretary to Antoine Gallimard: "Exemplaire d'Ulrike B. offert par l'auteur. François. 27.2.98." ["Copy for Ulrike B. offered by the author. François. 27.2.98."]

Autograph letter signed "Paule" from Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in purple ink on a double sheet with violet letterhead and address of 23 avenue du Bois de Boulogne. Transverse folds inherent to posting.
Charming letter allowing hope for an appeasement in Renée Vivien's amorous ubiquity who seems to have finally chosen Hélène de Zuylen: "Je t'envoie des vers... Les aimes-tu ? — Ils ne me plaisent qu'à moitié — c'est déjà beaucoup ! — Tu as oublié que tu voulais te tuer pour moi... A part ce léger détail, tu as été parfaite — Mon amie t'aime — je t'adore — tout est parfaitement ordonné — [...] N'est-ce pas que mon amie est parfaitement bonne et charmante ? — Je l'aime tant, d'une façon si poignante, si simple et si bête... ce qui est, après tout, la meilleure façon d'aimer !" ["I am sending you verses... Do you love them? — They only half please me — that's already a lot! — You have forgotten that you wanted to kill yourself for me... Apart from this slight detail, you have been perfect — My friend loves you — I adore you — everything is perfectly ordered — [...] Is it not true that my friend is perfectly good and charming? — I love her so much, in such a poignant, simple and silly way... which is, after all, the best way to love!"] One senses here, however, a still very deep attachment of the Muse of violets to the Amazon: "Je baise tes mains d'autrefois — et tes mains d'aujourd'hui — Et je t'aime plus que je ne sais le dire." ["I kiss your hands of yesteryear — and your hands of today — And I love you more than I know how to say."]

It was at the end of 1899 and through the intermediary of Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue pupils, implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just lived a summer idyll with the scandalous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discrete attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, however, was totally captivated by the young American and would relate this thunderbolt in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." ["I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her eyes of mortal steel, her sharp blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure presentiment that this woman was giving me destiny's order, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigos that rise from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee from her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] "Hiver 1899-1900. Débuts de l'idylle. Un soir, Vivien est invitée par sa nouvelle amie dans l'atelier de Mme Barney [mère de Natalie], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, à l'angle de la rue de Longchamp. Natalie s'enhardit à lire des vers de sa composition. Comme Vivien lui dit aimer ces vers, elle lui répond qu'il vaut mieux aimer le poète. Réponse bien digne de l'Amazone." ["Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's [Natalie's mother] studio, 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. As Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon."] (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) Two years of unequal happiness would follow, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy, whose letters oscillate between inflamed declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes." ["Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousnesses."] (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important breakup that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's entreaties and the intermediaries she sends to win her back, resists. "Les deux amies se revirent, et se fut, en août 1905, le pèlerinage à Lesbos, qui constitua une déception pour Natalie Barney et demeura sans lendemain. [...] Le ressort était définitivement brisé. Les deux anciennes amies cessèrent de se voir dès 1907, et Vivien mourut sans qu'elles se soient revues." ["The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without a tomorrow. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased to see each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having seen each other again."] (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

Autograph letter signed "Pauline" from Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in purple ink on two double sheets with violet letterhead and address of 23 avenue du Bois de Boulogne. Transverse folds inherent to posting.
A very beautiful and lengthy breakup letter addressed to the Amazon after her impromptu summer 1904 visit to Bayreuth to attempt to win Renée back: "... Les heures passées à Bayreuth étaient de la douceur : et c'est pourquoi je suis revenue." ["The hours spent in Bayreuth were sweet: and that is why I returned."] The lexical field of death is omnipresent in this missive, as if to better emphasize the definitive character of her decision: "Pourquoi t'acharner à vouloir ranimer vainement les choses mortes, Natalie ? Tu ne l'as point compris : ce que je cherchais auprès de toi c'était le souvenir et rien d'autre. On ne revit point l'autrefois. Tu dois le sentir comme moi-même. [...] Je souriais à mon passé. Il est doux parce qu'il est mort. Et toi, tu veux galvaniser ce cadavre et le rendre odieux." ["Why persist in trying to vainly revive dead things, Natalie? You have not understood: what I sought with you was memory and nothing else. One cannot relive the past. You must feel it as I do myself. [...] I smiled at my past. It is sweet because it is dead. And you, you want to galvanize this corpse and make it odious."] The Muse of violets here reveals her suffering and disappointment, pleading with Natalie twice: "Laisse-moi ne plus revenir." ["Let me not return again."]
A veritable funeral oration for extinguished love, this letter is very illuminating as to each one's way of loving: "Nous nous sommes mal comprises. Je voulais un peu de rêve : tu m'offres la réalité." ["We have misunderstood each other. I wanted a little dream: you offer me reality."] For this is what separates Renée - the dreamy and quasi-platonic poetess - and Natalie - the carnal and fickle lover: "Ne sens-tu donc pas, ne comprends-tu donc pas que je n'ai plus aucun désir d'amour ? Je suis lasse infiniment ; je ne voulais qu'un peu de douceur. Et tu m'offres la vie et les frissons, que sais-je ? tout dont je ne me soucie point. Les joies charnelles ? Mais je les possède, mon amie me les donne, ma chair est satisfaite et au-delà. Je ne cherche point cela : je ne désire point cela. Ces choses m'excèdent, venant de toi. J'espérais que, assouvie de ton côté, tu ne me demanderais que ce que je te demande : un peu de rêve lassé ; un peu de compréhension, un peu de regret. Mais nous nous sommes trompées mutuellement. [...] Cherche un amour de chair chez une autre [...]" ["Do you not feel, do you not understand that I no longer have any desire for love? I am infinitely weary; I wanted only a little sweetness. And you offer me life and thrills, what do I know? everything I care nothing about. Carnal joys? But I possess them, my friend gives them to me, my flesh is satisfied and beyond. I do not seek that: I do not desire that. These things excess me, coming from you. I hoped that, satiated on your side, you would ask of me only what I ask of you: a little weary dream; a little understanding, a little regret. But we have deceived each other mutually. [...] Seek carnal love with another [...]"]

It was at the end of 1899 and through the intermediary of Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue pupils, implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just lived a summer idyll with the scandalous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discrete attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, however, was totally captivated by the young American and would relate this thunderbolt in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." ["I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her eyes of mortal steel, her sharp blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure presentiment that this woman was giving me destiny's order, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigos that rise from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee from her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] "Hiver 1899-1900. Débuts de l'idylle. Un soir, Vivien est invitée par sa nouvelle amie dans l'atelier de Mme Barney [mère de Natalie], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, à l'angle de la rue de Longchamp. Natalie s'enhardit à lire des vers de sa composition. Comme Vivien lui dit aimer ces vers, elle lui répond qu'il vaut mieux aimer le poète. Réponse bien digne de l'Amazone." ["Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's [Natalie's mother] studio, 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. As Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon."] (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) Two years of unequal happiness would follow, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy, whose letters oscillate between inflamed declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes." ["Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousnesses."] (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important breakup that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's entreaties and the intermediaries she sends to win her back, resists. "Les deux amies se revirent, et se fut, en août 1905, le pèlerinage à Lesbos, qui constitua une déception pour Natalie Barney et demeura sans lendemain. [...] Le ressort était définitivement brisé. Les deux anciennes amies cessèrent de se voir dès 1907, et Vivien mourut sans qu'elles se soient revues." ["The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without a tomorrow. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased to see each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having seen each other again."] (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

First edition of this catalogue presenting paintings and gouaches by Georges de Miré at the Percier gallery from May 17 to 29, 1926.
Catalogue illustrated with 4 reproductions of works by Georges de Miré.
Spine and covers marginally sunned, handsome interior condition.

First printing of this important Romantic publication issued in 10 parts in 8 volumes.
Literary contributions by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann "Le conseiller Krespel", Charles Dickens "Le baron de Grogzwig", Matthias Emmich "Geneviève de Brabant", Sâvitrî "Episode du Mahabharata", Homer "Le combat des rats et des grenouilles", Gottfried August Bürger "Lénore", Paul Gavarni "Madame Acker", Marie de France "Lai des deux amants" and "Lai du Bisclaveret", Ludwig Tieck "La réconciliation", Henri Blaze "Rosemonde" correctly containing 34 pages, which identifies the first printing as opposed to the second which contains only 24.
This collection is illustrated with 10 frontispieces drawn and etched by Penguilly, Jacque, Trimolet, Jeanron, Féart and Daubigny as well as 62 in-text engravings including 57 woodcuts and 5 etchings by Louis, Soyer, Lavieille, Guilbaut...
Our copy is complete with the plate, not listed in the table, for Sâvitrî and the vignettes for "Rosemonde" and "Madame Acker" which are sometimes lacking.
Handsome copy in green part wrappers, to which we add the general cover.
The whole is presented in a half blue long-grain morocco chemise, spine with four raised bands set with gilt garlands enriched with red mosaic morocco pieces, spine also decorated with gilt quadruple compartments embellished with red mosaic morocco pieces, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, pebbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, slipcase with blue morocco borders, marbled paper boards, pebbled paper interior, signed G. Mercier and dated 1923.
Three bookplates pasted on the pastedown including that of Maurice Robert.
One joint of the chemise and slipcase slightly rubbed at foot, small marginal tears on some green covers.
Rare and handsome copy of this work, one of the most important of the 19th century according to Carteret.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies
Handsome copy despite a small discoloration stain on the first cover.
Autograph inscription signed by Pascal Quignard to Ulrike Bergweiler, then secretary to Antoine Gallimard: "Pour Ulrike, avec toute mon amitié. Pascal." ["For Ulrike, with all my friendship. Pascal."]

Handwritten signed letter addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney: “I told you by the raw voice of the telegraph, Natalie, the time has not come for us to see each other again.” Handwritten letter signed “Pauline” from Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in black ink on two double leaves edged with violettes. Transverse folds from having been sent.
Interesting letter mentioning Brumes de fjords and Freddy Manners-Sutton.

“Tu te trompes en croyant retrouver dans Brumes de fjords un reflet de femme ou l'influence d'une pensée de poète norvégien. Je les ai faites d'un souvenir très lointain de ce pays mystique et de quelques rêves lourds de nostalgies.” “You are mistaken when you think that you find a reflection of a woman or the influence of a Norwegian poet's thinking in Brumes de fjords. I wrote them as a very distant memory of this mystical country and of some dreams heavy with nostalgia.” Brumes de fjords is the first collection of prose poetry by Renée Vivien to be published in June 1902. Natalie and Renée were then separated but this letter shows that the Muse aux violettes continued to send her texts to the Amazone despite the physical and sentimental distance that separated them. “Car j'ai dans ma vie une tendresse que je crois sincère – quoi qu'il me soit difficile aujourd'hui de croire à la sincérité, même lorsqu'elle me montre ses larmes.” “Since I have a tenderness in my life which I believe to be sincere - though it is difficult for me today to believe in sincerity, even when it shows me its tears.”

This letter was indeed sent to Natalie Clifford Barney while she was in the United States: “Je serais venue si tu avais eu besoin de moi. Toi-même tu m'as télégraphiée que ma présence était inutile. (lorsque ton temps était pris par un flirt) Freddy Manners-Sutton ? qui sait ? et qu'importe ? Il est trop tard maintenant. Je ne viens pas t'amuser ni remplacer une distraction absente. Si tu viens à Paris cet hiver je te verrai une ou deux fois – comme on revoit le visage lointain de son passé – sans colère, sans haine, mais aussi sans amour.” “I would have come if you needed me. You yourself telegraphed me that my presence was useless. (when your time was taken by a flirt) Freddy Manners-Sutton? Who knows? And what does it matter? It's too late now. I don't come to amuse you or replace an absent distraction. If you come to Paris this winter I will see you once or twice - as you see the distant face of your past - without anger, without hatred but also without love.” Here Renée gives free reign to her jealousy, mentioning Freddy Manners-Sutton, Natalie's friend: “En réalité, Vivien ne pouvait supporter Manners-Sutton. Dans Une femme m'apparut, elle l'appellera tout simplement Le Prostitué et dira de lui : Il est banal comme l'adultère. Cette antipathie se transformera en une haine féroce lorsqu'un peu plus tard Vivien apprendra que cet homme se faisait passer pour le fiancé de Natalie Barney. Sacrilège suprême... ! Mais Vivien ne savait pas – ou bien voulait ignorer – que cette rumeur était en fait propagée par Natalie Barney elle-même, afin de donner le change à ses parents. Non, pensait-elle, ce personnage au-dessous de toute insulte veut tout simplement capter la fortune de Natalie !” “In reality, Vivien could not bear Manners-Sutton. In Une femme m'apparut, she will very simply call him Le Prostitué and will say of him: He is common like adultery. This antipathy will turn into a fierce hatred when a little later Vivien learns that this man pretends to be Natalie Barney's fiancé. Supreme sacrilege...! But Vivien did not know - or even wanted to ignore - that this rumour was actually spread by Natalie Barney herself, in order to pull the wool over her parent's eyes. No, she thought, this below any insult character simply wants to capture Natalie's fortune!” (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses)

Precious and very rare letters from Sapho 1900 to the Amazone.

First edition on ordinary paper, statement of one thousand copies.
Small tears at head and foot of spine.
Work illustrated with 24 photographic plates hors-texte as well as drawings and tailpieces by Serge Ivanoff.
Autograph inscription signed by Serge Lifar to Maryelle Krempff who completed her brilliant career as a dancer as principal dancer of the Opéra Comique before teaching dance at the National Regional Conservatory of Saint-Maur des Fossés from 1969 to 1989: "Pour la charmante mademoiselle Maryelle Krempff en souvenir amical de Serge Lifar" ["For the charming Miss Maryelle Krempff in friendly remembrance from Serge Lifar"].

First edition printed in 100 numbered copies on pur fil paper.
Handsome copy.
Work illustrated with a frontispiece photographic portrait of "Père Delanier," the very famous book restorer.
Autograph inscription signed by Léon Lascoutx to Monsieur Picaut, enhanced with an autograph inscription signed by Delanier to the same beneath his photographic portrait.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Spine and boards marginally and lightly sunned.
Fine dated autograph inscription signed by François Weyergans to his friend Ulrike Bergweiler, then secretary to Antoine Gallimard: "Chère Ulrike, merci d'écouter la musique de "Rire et Pleurer" (qui est la traduction de "lachen und weinen" poème de Rückert, musique de Schubert...) avec toute mon affection, pour toujours, ton François. 1990." ["Dear Ulrike, thank you for listening to the music of 'Rire et Pleurer' (which is the translation of 'lachen und weinen' poem by Rückert, music by Schubert...) with all my affection, forever, your François. 1990."]

First edition on ordinary paper.
Minor tears of no consequence at head and foot of the slightly ridged spine, one tear to the upper right corner of the back board.
Work illustrated with 8 photographic plates.
Fine autograph inscription signed by Léandre Vaillat to Maryelle Krempff who completed her brilliant dancing career as principal dancer at the Opéra Comique before teaching dance at the Conservatoire National de région de Saint-Maur des Fossés from 1969 to 1989: "A mademoiselle Maryelle Krempff qui a le grand privilège de savoir danser, cette vie d'une étoile de la danse et du ballet romantique, en sympathique souvenir de sa précieuse présence aux 'Samedis de la danse'" Léandre Vaillat." ["To Miss Maryelle Krempff who has the great privilege of knowing how to dance, this life of a star of dance and romantic ballet, in fond memory of her precious presence at the 'Dance Saturdays'" Léandre Vaillat.]

First edition.
Occasional light foxing.
Half black shagreen binding, smooth spine decorated with double blind compartments and gilt fillets, gilt initials at foot, black paper boards, pebbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, one lower corner slightly bumped, contemporary binding.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Spine yellowed, otherwise a handsome copy.
Dated autograph inscription signed by Philippe Sollers to Ulrike Bergweiler who was Antoine Gallimard's secretary.

New edition.
Spine slightly yellowed, otherwise a handsome copy.
Dated autograph inscription signed by Philippe Sollers to Ulrike Bergweiler who was Antoine Gallimard's secretary.

Handwritten signed letter addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney: “I am in the grips of one of my bouts of black and wild melancholy, - I can no longer see anyone.” Handwritten letter from Renée Vivien signed “Paule” and written in pencil on a double leaf with a silver-coloured heart with the poet's monogram at the top of the first sheet. Transverse fold from having been sent.
Beautiful letter of apology after a dispute with the Amazone: “Suis en proie à un de mes accès de mélancolie noire et sauvage, – je ne peux plus voir personne. Je m'en vais demain à Fontainebleau pour y rester jusqu'à ce que je sois guérie, – je dis : guérie avec intention car c'est une espèce de maladie morale dont je souffre en ce moment. C'est pour cela que j'étais si mauvaise hier, – j'aurais dû m'enfermer, comme je le fais toujours en pareil cas. Une autre fois je m'en irai à temps pour ne pas te faire du mal, – si toutefois tu me permets de dire : une autre fois, et si tu ne me renvoies pas à jamais de ta présence. Je n'ai qu'une excuse, c'est que je souffre. Je n'ai pas été digne de l'amour que tu m'as si généreusement et si largement donné, – je n'ose plus te demander pardon, – je t'ai tant de fois offensée !” “I am in the grips of one of my bouts of black and wild melancholy, - I can no longer see anyone. Tomorrow, I am going to go to Fontainebleau to stay there until I am healed, - I say: healed with intent because it is a kind of moral illness from which I suffer at the moment. That's why I was so bad yesterday, - I should have locked myself up, as I always do in such a case. Another time I will go sooner so as not to cause you harm, - if, nevertheless, you allow me to say: another time, and if you do not dismiss me forever from your presence. I only have one excuse, that is that I suffer. I have not been worthy of the love that you have so generously and so widely given me, - I dare not ask you anymore for forgiveness, - I have offended you so many times!”

Autograph letter signed "Pauline" by Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in violet ink on a double sheet bordered with violets. Transverse creases inherent to the mailing.
Icy and a fresh attempt at rupture or at the very least a rebuff, this letter is completely devoid of courtesy and tenderness: "Je ne suis pas pareille à toi, - j'ai de l'orgueil et de la fierté, - cet orgueil, tu l'as blessé, cette fierté tu l'as froissée, - je ne m'exposerai plus à des dégoûts de ce genre. Tes lettres te seront renvoyées sans être lues, - ne m'envoie pas de fleurs, elles seront refusées. Je vois peu de gens, dans l'horreur où je vis des êtres, j'en verrai moins encore, - cela me procurera peut-être la paix. Je me demande seulement pourquoi tu m'as importunée pour me revoir, si ce n'était pour m'humilier et me dégoûter de toi encore davantage. Adieu puisque je ne te reverrai plus de ma vie. Pauline" ["I am not like you, - I have pride and dignity, - you have wounded that pride, you have bruised that dignity, - I will no longer expose myself to such disgust. Your letters will be returned unread, - do not send me flowers, they will be refused. I see few people, in the horror I feel for human beings, I will see even fewer, - that will perhaps bring me peace. I only wonder why you bothered me to see me again, if it was not to humiliate me and disgust me with you even more. Farewell since I will never see you again in my life. Pauline"]
Moving letter revealing the suffering and isolation of the Muse of violets, sliding inexorably toward her tragic end.
It was at the end of 1899 and through the intermediary of Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just experienced a summer idyll with the scandalous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into Sapphism, paid only discrete attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, however, was completely subjugated by the young American and would relate this coup de foudre in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." ["I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her mortal steel eyes, her sharp blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure prescience that this woman was giving me destiny's orders, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigo that rises from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] "Hiver 1899-1900. Débuts de l'idylle. Un soir, Vivien est invitée par sa nouvelle amie dans l'atelier de Mme Barney [mère de Natalie], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, à l'angle de la rue de Longchamp. Natalie s'enhardit à lire des vers de sa composition. Comme Vivien lui dit aimer ces vers, elle lui répond qu'il vaut mieux aimer le poète. Réponse bien digne de l'Amazone." ["Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's studio [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon."] (J.-P. Goujon, op. cit.) There followed two years of unequal happiness, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy, whose letters oscillated between impassioned declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes." ["Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad pleasures."] (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important rupture that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's entreaties and the intermediaries she sent to win her back, resisted. "Les deux amies se revirent, et se fut, en août 1905, le pèlerinage à Lesbos, qui constitua une déception pour Natalie Barney et demeura sans lendemain. [...] Le ressort était définitivement brisé. Les deux anciennes amies cessèrent de se voir dès 1907, et Vivien mourut sans qu'elles se soient revues." ["The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which was a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without consequence. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends stopped seeing each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having seen each other again."] (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Handsome copy.
Foreword by Jean Giono.
Signed autograph inscription from Romée de Villeneuve to Monsieur Le Duc de Levis-Mirepoix.

First edition, one of 40 numbered copies on pure Lana rag paper, the only deluxe copies.
Very fine copy.

Autograph letter signed "Pauline" by Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in violet ink on two double sheets edged with violets. Transverse folds inherent to posting.
Very fine love letter evoking the only novel by the Violet Muse, Une femme m'apparut.
"Comment aurais-je pu ne point songer à toi Natalie, moi qui écrivais « Une femme m'apparut » - qui l'écrivais pour la seconde fois avec mes yeux nouveaux, et devenus plus clairs - avec mon cœur plus calme et plus profond ?" ["How could I not have thought of you Natalie, I who was writing 'Une femme m'apparut' - who was writing it for the second time with my new eyes, which had become clearer - with my heart calmer and deeper?"]
Published in 1904, this novel - the only one of Renée's literary career - tells the love story of the narrator and "Vally," Natalie Clifford Barney, from their beginning to their tragic end and the "apparition" of the savior Hélène de Zuylen. Reconciled with the Amazon, Renée undertakes to rewrite the book which will appear at the beginning of 1906: "Literary and stylistic improvement? No. The concern to justify herself anew, but this time in the face of Natalie Barney, is beyond doubt. Remorse too: now, the apparition that gives the book its title is no longer Eva-Hélène de Zuylen, but Lorely-Natalie Barney, and this from page 2. When we know that, during the summer of 1904, unexpected reunions in Bayreuth came to unite Natalie Barney and Vivien, we better understand the meaning of this new version of the novel, [Renée] only returns to her amorous past, to deliver us a second version, revised and corrected. She thus erases the final choice she had suggested in the first version. Complete palinode, confirmed by the very text of the letters that Vivien will write to Natalie Barney in 1904 and especially in 1905." (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) This confusion of feelings shows through this letter filled with oxymorons: "je goûte une tristesse charmante à t'évoquer [...] quand je songe à toi, j'évoque ma plus belle douleur" ["I taste a charming sadness in evoking you [...] when I think of you, I evoke my most beautiful pain"] The sadness - mixed with unconditional love - is here pushed to its paroxysm: "Ne te laisse pas attrister par ma lettre grise de ce soir. Il y a des heures ternes - ce sont peut-être les meilleures - Dans tous les cas, ce sont les plus vraies [...] Et ceux qui sont, comme tu le dis « ingrats et joyeux » sont fort à plaindre." ["Do not let yourself be saddened by my grey letter this evening. There are dull hours - these are perhaps the best - In any case, these are the truest [...] And those who are, as you say 'ungrateful and joyful' are much to be pitied."] Vivien effaces herself completely in favor of her beloved, even proposing to live in her place: "Va - si tu le peux - là où je voudrais être - à Mytilène. Je verrais l'île merveilleuse à travers tes prunelles - tu me ferais respirer tous ses parfums - A dire vrai, le courage m'a manqué pour y aller. Je n'avais plus la force ni le désir de partir ainsi." ["Go - if you can - where I would like to be - to Mytilene. I would see the marvelous island through your eyes - you would make me breathe all its perfumes - To tell the truth, I lacked the courage to go there. I no longer had the strength nor the desire to leave thus."] "Ne peux-tu, toi, aller à Mytilène et me rapporter des roses de là-bas ?" ["Cannot you go to Mytilene and bring me roses from there?"] Yet, it is together that the two lovers will soon undertake the journey to Lesbos; it will be the last of their story.

It was at the end of 1899 and through Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just lived a summer idyll with the sulfurous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her to sapphism, paid only discrete attention to this new acquaintance. Renée on the other hand was totally subjugated by the young American and will relate this love at first sight in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." ["I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her eyes of mortal steel, her sharp blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure presentiment that this woman was giving me the order of destiny, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigos that rise from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] "Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to the studio of Mme Barney [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie grows bold enough to read verses of her composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon." (J.-P. Goujon, op. cit.) Two years of unequal happiness followed, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's morbid jealousy whose letters oscillate between inflamed declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes." ["Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousness."] (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important break that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's solicitations and the intermediaries she sends to reconquer her, resists. "The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without tomorrow. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased to see each other from 1907, and Vivien died without them having seen each other again." (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

First edition, one of 75 numbered copies on Montval, deluxe copies with 20 on vélin de Rives reserved for Jean Loize bookshop.
Full tawny morocco binding, smooth spine, gilt date at foot, boards decorated with curved black morocco plaques representing horseshoes within which pieces of skin evoking the coat of a pinto bay tobiano horse (mixture of brown and cream white) have been applied, brown paper endpapers and pastedowns, all edges gilt, covers and spine preserved, half chocolate brown morocco chemise with bands, brown-grey paper boards, tawny morocco title label, slipcase edged with chocolate brown morocco, brown-grey paper boards, elegant and spectacular binding signed D. H. Mercher.
Very rare and handsome copy perfectly executed.

Rare first edition of this masterpiece of erotic literature, one of 120 numbered copies on pure laid paper, the only deluxe copies.
This issue, complete with its cardboard box, bears the cover of "Fata Morgana" editions, while the ordinary issue bears the name of Jérôme Martineau editions.
The covers of the "Fata Morgana" edition are slightly and uniformly sunned without gravity.
Our copy, N°22, indeed contains, like the first 50 pure laid paper copies, the original engraving by François Lunven which he signed in pencil.

First edition printed on laid paper.
Handsome copy illustrated with a frontispiece and 4 out-of-text portraits etched.
Bradel binding in half safron percale, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, black shagreen title label, speckled paper boards, original wrappers preserved, corners slightly bumped, bookplate of the famous bibliophile Paul Lacombe pasted on a pastedown, contemporary binding signed in blind by Lemardeley.

New edition of the French translation, one of 50 numbered copies on Japan paper, deluxe printing.
Handsome copy.
Work illustrated with wood engravings in headpieces and tailpieces by Louis-William Graux.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Front endpaper marginally creased, otherwise a handsome copy.
Autograph inscription signed by Michel Ragon to Marcel Arland.

First separate edition, one of 50 numbered copies on pure laid Marais paper, the only deluxe copies.
A fold at the foot of the spine, otherwise a handsome copy.

Edition published one year after the first, one of 50 numbered copies on Holland paper, deluxe issue.
Occasional minor worming affecting some deckled edges without consequence, front endpaper lightly shaded.
Handsome full-margined copy.

First edition, on ordinary paper, of the theatrical adaptation of the author's masterpiece.
Bradel binding in full moiré-patterned paper, smooth spine, mustard morocco title-label, covers with marginal restorations preserved, binding signed by Thomas Boichot.
Handsome copy attractively bound.
Signed autograph inscription from Jules Renard to Xanrof.

First edition in French, one of 110 numbered copies on laid paper, the only deluxe copies.
Fine copy despite the spine very slightly faded.

First edition in French, one of 66 numbered copies on laid paper, the only deluxe copies.
Handsome copy.

First edition in French, of which there were no deluxe copies, with fifth edition statement.
A handsome copy.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
A handsome copy.
Signed autograph inscription by Marcel Mouloudji to Jean Claval enhanced with a small drawn sun.

First edition of the French translation established by Monique Lévi-Strauss, of which there were no deluxe copies, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Work illustrated with 39 illustrations in and out of text.
Handsome copy complete with its photographic dust jacket which shows slight rubbing and marginal tears.

Autograph letter signed ("Pauline" and "P.M.T.") by Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in black ink on a double folio with silver-violet letterhead and the address 3 rue Jean-Baptiste Dumas. Transverse fold inherent to mailing.
Very fine love and reproach letter written after the long two-year separation and probably upon return from Mytilene (Lesbos): "Est-ce vraiment pour moi que tu restes demain, Tout-Petit ? ... Qui le saura jamais ? ... Ce doute, que le passé justifie un peu, entrave mes plus hautains élans, et fait de moi la créature misérable et triste que je suis." ["Is it really for me that you stay tomorrow, Little One? ... Who will ever know? ... This doubt, which the past somewhat justifies, hampers my most haughty impulses, and makes me the miserable and sad creature that I am."] Renée, weakened by Natalie's infidelities, struggles to trust her again ("Je ne puis croire en toi" ["I cannot believe in you"]) but continues, despite her suffering, to be entirely devoted to her: "Tu m'as dédaignée alors que tu aurais été pour moi la révélation miraculeuse - Tu m'as dédaignée... Et aujourd'hui, tu t'étonnes de ne point me trouver telle que tu m'aurais rêvée, toi qui n'as pas pris le soin de me façonner à ta guise ! Ecoute. Tu es comme un potier qui, voyant à ses pieds un argile informe, le repousserait, et qui, plus tard, voyant un de ses élèves en fait une statue imparfaite, exhalerait en termes amers sa colère et son dédain." ["You scorned me when you would have been for me the miraculous revelation - You scorned me... And today, you are surprised not to find me as you would have dreamed me, you who did not take the care to shape me to your liking! Listen. You are like a potter who, seeing at his feet an unformed clay, would push it away, and who, later, seeing one of his students make an imperfect statue from it, would exhale in bitter terms his anger and disdain."] Torn between pain and desire, Renée nevertheless calls for her lover: "Viens demain à minuit...si tu peux... si tu veux... si Ilse n'en décide pas autrement et si ton caprice te le permet..." ["Come tomorrow at midnight...if you can... if you want... if Ilse doesn't decide otherwise and if your whim allows it..."]
These reunions would not last however: torn between Baroness Hélène de Zuylen and Natalie, Renée would chain together travels; in turn to Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Venice, she would confide her hesitations to Kérimé Turkhan-Pacha her epistolary companion from the Bosphorus.
It was at the end of 1899 and through Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just lived a summer idyll with the sulfurous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée on the other hand was totally captivated by the young American and would relate this love at first sight in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." ["I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her eyes of mortal steel, her eyes sharp and blue like a blade. I had the obscure prescience that this woman was intimating to me the order of destiny, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigos that rise from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] "Hiver 1899-1900. Débuts de l'idylle. Un soir, Vivien est invitée par sa nouvelle amie dans l'atelier de Mme Barney [mère de Natalie], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, à l'angle de la rue de Longchamp. Natalie s'enhardit à lire des vers de sa composition. Comme Vivien lui dit aimer ces vers, elle lui répond qu'il vaut mieux aimer le poète. Réponse bien digne de l'Amazone." ["Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's [Natalie's mother] studio, 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. As Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon."] (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) Two years of unequal happiness would follow, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy whose letters oscillate between inflamed declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes." ["Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousness."] (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 occurred an important rupture that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's entreaties and the intermediaries she sends to reconquer her, resists. "Les deux amies se revirent, et se fut, en août 1905, le pèlerinage à Lesbos, qui constitua une déception pour Natalie Barney et demeura sans lendemain. [...] Le ressort était définitivement brisé. Les deux anciennes amies cessèrent de se voir dès 1907, et Vivien mourut sans qu'elles se soient revues." ["The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without a future. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased to see each other from 1907, and Vivien died without them having seen each other again."] (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Spine sunned and foxed with two small tears, foxing to boards.
Fine autograph inscription signed by André Fraigneau to a writer friend named Henri: "A vous cher Henri, que j'admire et que j'aime dans l'impatience de cette gageure et l'espoir de Sylvie. Son vieil André." ["To you dear Henri, whom I admire and love in the impatience of this wager and the hope of Sylvie. Your old André."]

First edition on ordinary paper.
Handsome copy.
Autograph inscription dated and signed by Andreï Schaikevitch to Maryelle Krempff who completed her brilliant career as a dancer as principal dancer at the Opéra Comique before teaching dance at the Conservatoire National de région de Saint-Maur des Fossés from 1969 to 1989: "A mademoiselle Maryelle Krempff avec toute mon admiration pour son talent." ["To Miss Maryelle Krempff with all my admiration for her talent."]

Handwritten signed letter addressed to a friend: “There will also be three poems that I wrote in memory of Renée Vivien”
Handwritten letter signed by Natalie Clifford Barney addressed to a friend and written in black ink on a stationery from 20 rue Jacob (Paris VI^e). Central fold from having been sent.

Interesting letter mentioning a future reading of Natalie Clifford Barney:
”A literary hour must be devoted to me this Wednesday at 5pm 41 rue des Petits champs. This session of my poems and thoughts will be accompanied by 4 melodies by Florent Schmidt.” The so-called “literary hour” will also be a tribute to one of Natalie's greatest loves who died several decades earlier: “There will also be 3 poems that I wrote in memory of Renée Vivien.”

The two women experienced an intense and tumultuous relationship in their youth. After the tragic and early death of her lover, Natalie Clifford Barney continued to honor her memory, notably by becoming a patron of the Prix Renée-Vivien, created by the baroness Hélène de Zuylen, another of Renée's lovers.

Illustrated edition in first issue with 41 etchings by Adolphe Lalauze, 9 plates including a frontispiece portrait and 32 in-text.
Unnumbered copy on Holland paper.
Contemporary half brown morocco binding. Spine with raised bands ornately decorated in compartments. Author, title, volume number and date in gilt. Peacock-eye paper boards. Top edge gilt. Spine slightly faded. Some rubbing. Original wrappers preserved. Paper perfectly fresh. Handsome copy.

Autograph manuscript card signed "Pauline" and addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney, written in black ink on both sides.
Two small pinholes at the top of this card which accompanied a bouquet: "Méchante d'être partie si vite ! - voici des orchidées blanches, - elles te défendront contre les doutes et les pensées tristes. Elles te protègeront et t'assureront de ma profonde et éternelle tendresse. Ne sois pas en retard ce soir. Je compterai les secondes aux battements de mon coeur. Ces fleurs, ce sont mes lèvres, mon âme et mon coeur qui vont vers toi - Toujours." ["Naughty to have left so quickly! - here are white orchids, - they will defend you against doubts and sad thoughts. They will protect you and assure you of my deep and eternal tenderness. Don't be late tonight. I will count the seconds to the beating of my heart. These flowers are my lips, my soul and my heart going towards you - Always."]
It was at the end of 1899 and through the intermediary of Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, and implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just experienced a summer idyll with the scandalous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, however, was completely captivated by the young American and would relate this love at first sight in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." ["I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her eyes of mortal steel, her eyes sharp and blue like a blade. I had the obscure presentiment that this woman was giving me destiny's order, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigo that rises from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] "Hiver 1899-1900. Débuts de l'idylle. Un soir, Vivien est invitée par sa nouvelle amie dans l'atelier de Mme Barney [mère de Natalie], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, à l'angle de la rue de Longchamp. Natalie s'enhardit à lire des vers de sa composition. Comme Vivien lui dit aimer ces vers, elle lui répond qu'il vaut mieux aimer le poète. Réponse bien digne de l'Amazone." ["Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's studio [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon."] (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) Two years of unequal happiness followed, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy, whose letters oscillated between impassioned declarations and painful mea culpas. "Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes." ["Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousness."] (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came a major rupture which lasted almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's solicitations and the intermediaries she sent to reconquer her, resisted. "Les deux amies se revirent, et se fut, en août 1905, le pèlerinage à Lesbos, qui constitua une déception pour Natalie Barney et demeura sans lendemain. [...] Le ressort était définitivement brisé. Les deux anciennes amies cessèrent de se voir dès 1907, et Vivien mourut sans qu'elles se soient revues." ["The two friends saw each other again, and there was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which was a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without sequel. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased to see each other from 1907, and Vivien died without them having met again."] (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare card from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

Autograph manuscript card signed "Pauline" and addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney, written in black ink on both sides.
"Repose-toi aujourd'hui, chérie. Je suis inquiète de toi et cela me rend affreusement triste. Repose-toi bien n'est-ce pas ? Mon si fragile bonheur, sois très prudente et ménage ta jolie santé frêle qui m'est si précieuse. A ce soir, mais si tu es fatiguée, envoie-moi un mot, je viendrai chez toi." ["Rest today, darling. I am worried about you and it makes me terribly sad. Rest well, won't you? My so fragile happiness, be very careful and take care of your pretty frail health which is so precious to me. Until tonight, but if you are tired, send me a word, I will come to you."]
It was at the end of 1899 and through Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, and implacable teeth" (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just lived a summer idyll with the sulfurous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, however, was totally captivated by the young American and would relate this love at first sight in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her eyes of mortal steel, her sharp blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure presentiment that this woman was giving me destiny's order, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigo that rises from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily." "Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's studio [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her own composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon." (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) Two years of unequal happiness followed, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy, whose letters oscillated between passionate declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousness." (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important rupture that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's solicitations and the intermediaries she sends to win her back, resists. "The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without consequence. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased to see each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having met again." (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare card from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

Autograph manuscript letter by Renée Vivien signed "Pauline," addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in black ink on a double sheet with the poetess's silver monogram letterhead.
A very charming letter evoking the flowers so dear to Renée ("Tout-Petit que j'aime, je t'envoie des pensées, toutes blanches. Garde-les dans ta chambre, auprès de toi, où sont mes vraies pensées, tu le sais." ["Little one I love, I send you pansies, all white. Keep them in your room, near you, where my true thoughts are, you know."]) as well as a gift from her "tout petit chéri" ["dear little one"]: "J'adore mes tablettes, tu te rappelles les tablettes des deux petites joueuses de flûte ? - seulement, elles les ont perdues, et moi, je ne veux pas perdre les miennes. J'ai écrit dessus [en grec] J'aime Natalie ! Cela m'a fait tant de plaisir ! - quelle bonne et jolie pensée tu as eue là ! -" ["I adore my tablets, do you remember the tablets of the two little flute players? - only, they lost them, and I don't want to lose mine. I wrote on them [in Greek] I love Natalie! It gave me such pleasure! - what a good and lovely thought you had there! -"] Renée Vivien's Hellenist passion was born from her encounter with Eva Palmer during their stay in the United States where she accompanied Natalie Clifford Barney. This beautiful twenty-six-year-old redhead who, it is said, had translated all of Plato's Symposium with the Amazon, gave Renée her first lessons in ancient Greek and awakened in her the passion for the poetess Sappho that never left her thereafter.
It was at the end of 1899 and through Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, and implacable teeth" (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just lived a summer idyll with the sulfurous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, however, was totally captivated by the young American and would relate this love at first sight in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her eyes of mortal steel, her sharp blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure presentiment that this woman was giving me destiny's order, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigo that rises from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily." "Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's studio [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her own composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon." (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) Two years of unequal happiness followed, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy, whose letters oscillated between passionate declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousness." (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important rupture that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's solicitations and the intermediaries she sends to win her back, resists. "The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without consequence. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased to see each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having met again." (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

First edition of this work printed for the fiftieth anniversary of the famous Kléber-Colombes tire company.
Photographic illustrations by Roger Catherineau and Michel Desmarteau, work produced after the model by Jean Garcia.
Fine copy complete with its chemise and full grey cloth slipcase, the slipcase with some minor scratches and splits.
Text by Jean Giono.

Autograph letter from Renée Vivien addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in black ink on a double sheet bordered with a violet trim. Transverse fold inherent to mailing.
A beautiful love letter marking the reconciliation of the Muse of Violets and the Amazon after a two-year separation: "Your letter was cruelly sweet to me, I wept reading it and something within me rejoiced despite everything to think that between us the bond was so powerful and subtle that only death could entirely untie it, if death is definitive."
Weary and very jealous of Natalie's infidelities, Renée had made the radical decision to leave her. The Amazon had then, by every means, attempted to win her back, sending emissaries as well as numerous letters: "My tears have flowed over all the letters you have sent me since the silence that had settled between us." Renée seems this time to have broken her promise never to see Natalie again and addresses this beautiful declaration to her, full of hope for the future: "Forget you! But my lips, which are the soul of my soul, have kept your reflection and your imprint. [...] Something in [me] has been broken since then, from having loved too blindly. But if it is true that there remain within us unknown tenderness and ignored sweetness that we can still lavish upon each other in a better future, let us not hesitate to discover them in the depths of our souls. I would like to take you in my arms, my Little One, like a sick child, and rock you, and console you, and heal you, and see the smiles of yesteryear bloom again on your lips. You must no longer suffer for me, my Blonde Sweetness, I love you, I will heal you." These reunions would not last however: torn between Baroness Hélène de Zuylen and Natalie, Renée would embark on a series of travels; in turn to Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Venice, she would confide her hesitations to Kérimé Turkhan-Pacha, her epistolary companion from the Bosphorus whom she would meet in the summer of 1905 during her last journey with Natalie Clifford Barney to Mytilene.
A moving letter from Renée Vivien, addressed to the great love of her life.
It was at the end of 1899 and through Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just experienced a summer idyll with the scandalous Liane de Pougy who had initiated her into sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée on the other hand was completely captivated by the young American and would relate this love at first sight in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: « J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort. » ["I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her mortal steel eyes, her sharp blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure prescience that this woman was giving me fate's order, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigo that rises from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] « Hiver 1899-1900. Débuts de l'idylle. Un soir, Vivien est invitée par sa nouvelle amie dans l'atelier de Mme Barney [mère de Natalie], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, à l'angle de la rue de Longchamp. Natalie s'enhardit à lire des vers de sa composition. Comme Vivien lui dit aimer ces vers, elle lui répond qu'il vaut mieux aimer le poète. Réponse bien digne de l'Amazone. » ["Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to Mme Barney's studio [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. A response quite worthy of the Amazon."] (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) Two years of unequal happiness would follow, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's pathological jealousy, whose letters oscillated between passionate declarations and painful mea culpa. « Renée Vivien, c'est la fille de Sappho et de Baudelaire, c'est la fleur du mal 1900 avec des fièvres, des envols brisés, des voluptés tristes. » ["Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousness."] (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important break that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's solicitations and the intermediaries she sent to win her back, resisted. « Les deux amies se revirent, et se fut, en août 1905, le pèlerinage à Lesbos, qui constitua une déception pour Natalie Barney et demeura sans lendemain. [...] Le ressort était définitivement brisé. Les deux anciennes amies cessèrent de se voir dès 1907, et Vivien mourut sans qu'elles se soient revues. » ["The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without a tomorrow. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends ceased to see each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having seen each other again."] (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

First edition, one of the few numbered copies on Arches laid paper, ours bearing No. 1, the only deluxe copies.
Spine with small tears and corner lacks, endpapers entirely browned, slight marginal lacks to boards.
A full-margined copy, complete with its folding map at rear.

First edition of the French translation established by Jacques Potin, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Light rubbing to board margins, small foxing to endpapers and top edge.
Autograph inscription signed by Jacques Potin.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Two small and light dampstains on the spine.
Work illustrated with a frontispiece by Cassandre.
Precious autograph inscription signed by Paul Mousset to Robert Brasillach.

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Uru paper, deluxe copy.
Publisher's full red cardboard binding, smooth spine, a shadow having marginally and vertically lightened the front cover
Like all copies from the deluxe edition, our copy includes the original engraving by Rolf Szymanski which he signed and justified in pencil.

Autograph letter signed "Pauline" by Renée Vivien, addressed to Natalie Clifford Barney and written in black ink on a double sheet with the poetess's silver monogram letterhead.
Very beautiful and poetic love letter from the Muse of violets, languishing for her "dear white Lily": "Je n'ai pas pu te demander cet après-midi si je te verrais demain, mon doux Avril, mais tu as bien compris n'est-ce pas ? qu'il me serait aussi impossible de vivre un jour sans toi, que de me priver des lumières, du soleil ou des fleurs. [...] Avril, mon doux petit Avril, chaque fois que tu t'en vas, tu emportes un peu de mon cœur, qui ne peut se détacher de toi, et te suit tristement. Tu es pour moi la poésie, la consolation et le rêve. Tu mets de la beauté dans ma vie et dans mon âme - quand je me réveille chaque jour et je pense à toi, c'est la perpétuelle éclosion de quelque miraculeuse amour. Je vis dans un conte de fées, un pays où tout est bleu et d'où la tristesse a disparu. Pense à moi ce soir, avant d'aller rêver dans l'au-delà et le lointain du sommeil." ["I could not ask you this afternoon if I would see you tomorrow, my sweet April, but you understood, didn't you? that it would be as impossible for me to live a day without you as to deprive myself of light, sun or flowers. [...] April, my sweet little April, each time you leave, you take with you a piece of my heart, which cannot detach itself from you, and follows you sadly. You are for me poetry, consolation and dream. You bring beauty into my life and into my soul - when I wake each day and think of you, it is the perpetual blossoming of some miraculous love. I live in a fairy tale, a country where everything is blue and from which sadness has disappeared. Think of me tonight, before going to dream in the beyond and the distance of sleep."]
The letter then takes on a more sensual tone: "J'aime tes cheveux blonds. Je leur envoie un long baiser. Les lys que j'ai dans ma chambre sont tristes parce que tu n'es plus là. Ils t'envoient leur âme dans un parfum. Ils t'aiment, comme moi ; mais moins que moi." ["I love your blonde hair. I send them a long kiss. The lilies I have in my room are sad because you are no longer there. They send you their soul in a fragrance. They love you, like me; but less than me."] During their first night of love, Renée had filled her room with lilies, transforming it into a "chapelle ardente" (N.Clifford Barney, Je me souviens...). Jean-Paul Goujon notes: "The choice of lilies was very much in the taste of the period: let us remember Mucha's posters, Schwabe's paintings, Lorrain's poems. But Vivien, who certainly remembered certain pages, filled with flowers and perfumes, from Zola's La Faute de l'abbé Mouret, seems to have wanted to celebrate mystical nuptials coupled with a sort of perfumed death."
It was at the end of 1899 and through Violette Shillito that Renée Vivien - then Pauline Tarn - made the acquaintance of Natalie Clifford Barney "cette Américaine plus souple qu'une écharpe, dont l'étincelant visage brille de cheveux d'or, de prunelles bleu de mer, de dents implacables" ["this American more supple than a scarf, whose sparkling face shines with golden hair, sea-blue eyes, implacable teeth"] (Colette, Claudine à Paris). Natalie, who had just lived through a summer idyll with the scandalous Liane de Pougy who initiated her into Sapphism, paid only discreet attention to this new acquaintance. Renée, however, was totally captivated by the young American and would relate this coup de foudre in her autobiographical novel Une Femme m'apparut: "J'évoquai l'heure déjà lointaine où je la vis pour la première fois, et le frisson qui me parcourut lorsque mes yeux rencontrèrent ses yeux d'acier mortel, ses yeux aigus et bleus comme une lame. J'eus l'obscur prescience que cette femme m'intimait l'ordre du destin, que son visage était le visage redouté de mon avenir. Je sentis près d'elle les vertiges lumineux qui montent de l'abîme, et l'appel de l'eau très profonde. Le charme du péril émanait d'elle et m'attirait inexorablement. Je n'essayai point de la fuir, car j'aurais échappé plus aisément à la mort." ["I evoked the already distant hour when I saw her for the first time, and the shiver that ran through me when my eyes met her mortal steel eyes, her sharp and blue eyes like a blade. I had the obscure prescience that this woman was giving me the order of destiny, that her face was the dreaded face of my future. I felt near her the luminous vertigo that rises from the abyss, and the call of very deep water. The charm of peril emanated from her and attracted me inexorably. I did not try to flee her, for I would have escaped death more easily."] "Winter 1899-1900. Beginning of the idyll. One evening, Vivien is invited by her new friend to the studio of Mme Barney [Natalie's mother], 153 avenue Victor-Hugo, at the corner of rue de Longchamp. Natalie ventures to read verses of her composition. When Vivien tells her she loves these verses, she replies that it is better to love the poet. An answer quite worthy of the Amazon." (J.-P. Goujon, Tes blessures sont plus douces que leurs caresses) There followed two years of unequal happiness, punctuated by Natalie's recurring infidelities and Renée's morbid jealousy, whose letters oscillate between passionate declarations and painful mea culpa. "Renée Vivien is the daughter of Sappho and Baudelaire, she is the flower of evil 1900 with fevers, broken flights, sad voluptuousness." (Jean Chalon, Portrait d'une séductrice)
In 1901 came an important break that would last almost two years; Renée, despite Natalie's solicitations and the intermediaries she sent to win her back, resisted. "The two friends saw each other again, and it was, in August 1905, the pilgrimage to Lesbos, which constituted a disappointment for Natalie Barney and remained without tomorrow. [...] The spring was definitively broken. The two former friends stopped seeing each other from 1907, and Vivien died without their having seen each other again." (J.-P. Goujon, Ibid.)
Precious and very rare letter from Sappho 1900 to the Amazon.

First edition on ordinary paper.
A tiny insignificant scratch at the foot of the back cover, very fine copy.
Beautiful illustrated cover.
Signed autograph inscription from Pierre Courtade to Jean Claval.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Handsome copy retaining publisher's wraparound band.
Autograph inscription signed by Pascal Quignard to Ulrike Bergweiler, then secretary to Antoine Gallimard: "Pour toi chère Ulrike, avec toute mon amitié." ["For you dear Ulrike, with all my friendship."]

First issue illustrated edition with twelve original etchings by Edouard Chimot. Edition of 576 copies. This copy, one of 100 on Van Gelder Holland laid paper containing the color and black and white states of each figure. Chimot's illustration celebrates the sapphic loves of Bilitis.
Unique copy, expanded with an original signed drawing by Edouard Chimot and a quadruple suite on Japan paper of 8 different etchings from the edition's illustration: 1. Linear state, unreduced plate; 2. Linear state, unreduced plate with remarques; 3. In black, reduced plate; 4. Final state in colors. This quadruple suite is perhaps the one announced in the justification for the 40 hors-commerce copies. Being larger in dimensions than the book, it gives the copy its grand format. To fill the void at the foot, paper tabs have been mounted on hinges. Dimensions of the original book, 20x25, of the drawing 21.5x31.5cm, the Japan suite in the same format as the drawing.
Doublure binding in full caramel morocco with an important continuous gilt and mosaic Art Deco decoration on the covers and spine, signed at the bottom of the pastedown Marie-Madeleine Lorthiois. Teal blue morocco pastedowns with gilt and mosaic decoration, black and gold silk endpapers, double endpapers of silvered marbled paper, gilt fillet on the leading edges, gilt engine-turned headcaps, edges gilt on deckled edges, covers and spine preserved.
Half-caramel morocco chemise with flaps bearing gilt title on spine, and a matching bordered slipcase. Rubbing marks on the slipcase, one rubbing mark at the head of the chemise.
Personal copy of the binder and bibliophile Marie-Madeleine Lorthiois, with her ex-libris label.
Magnificent binding, "One of the finest by Marie-Madeleine Lorthiois" (Christian Galantaris).

First edition, one of 35 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies.
Spine and front cover slightly and marginally yellowed, otherwise a handsome and rare copy.

First edition of the French translation, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Publisher's binding in full bicolored yellow and black boards, smooth spine, complete with its dust jacket illustrated by Jean Bernard.
Minor marginal tears to the dust jacket, not affecting the illustration.
Very handsome copy

First edition on ordinary paper, fifth edition statement.
Spine and covers lightly and marginally sunned, handsome copy.
Booklet illustrated with an unpublished portrait of the artist engraved on wood by Georges Aubert as well as reproductions of works by Juan Gris.

First edition on ordinary paper, fifth edition statement.
Spine and covers lightly and marginally sunned, handsome copy.
Booklet illustrated with an unpublished portrait of the artist engraved on wood by Georges Aubert as well as reproductions of works by Man Ray.

First edition printed on ordinary paper.
Spine and covers slightly and marginally sunned, handsome copy.
Fascicle illustrated with an unpublished portrait of the artist engraved on wood by Georges Aubert as well as 29 reproductions of works by Marc Chagall.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Handsome copy despite small stains at foot of second cover.
Signed autograph inscription from Jacqueline Rousseau-Dujardin to Nadine Nimier, wife and widow of Roger Nimier.

First edition on ordinary paper.
First endpaper marginally creased without significance.
Autograph inscription signed by Vladimir Volkoff to Bertrand Poirot-Delpech: "Pour monsieur Poirot-Delpech, souvenir fidèle de l'auteur." ["For Mr. Poirot-Delpech, faithful regards from the author."]

First edition on ordinary paper.
Spine creased, foxing on endpapers.
Iconography.
Autograph inscription signed by Eric Tabarly.

First edition, one of 165 numbered copies on pur fil, the only deluxe copies.
A fine copy.

First edition, one of the numbered copies, the only printing after 50 on pur fil.
Complete with its handsome illustrated dust jacket by E.M. Pérot.
Title page and facing page partially shadowed, light foxing on the first endpaper.
Preface by Louis Jouvet.

New edition of the French translation, one of 200 numbered copies on Rives laid paper, deluxe copies.
Minor sunning to head and foot of spines, handsome full-margined copies.
Works illustrated with wood engravings by Henry Chapront.

New edition of the French translation, one of 200 numbered copies on Rives laid paper, deluxe copy.
Minor sunning to head and foot of spine, handsome full-margined copy.
Work illustrated with wood engravings by Georges Scharf.

New edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Spine somewhat wrinkled and yellowed.
Signed and inscribed copy from Bernard Frank to Jacques Ourévitch.

First edition, one of 13 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe copies.
Rare and handsome copy.
Louis Roché was a diplomat and resistance fighter close to Radio-Londres.

First edition on ordinary paper of this masterpiece of erotic literature.
A small dampstain at head of first endpaper, copy complete with its grey suede dust jacket whose spine is lightly yellowed.
We include a court summons in the name of Nadine Nimier, issued by bailiff Gustave Karsenti and dated 19 June 1973, as a witness for Bernard Noël's lawyer, prosecuted by the court in criminal proceedings at the 17th chamber on 25 June 1973 for offence against public morals through his work "Le Château de Cène".
Despite the defence and testimony of Nadine Nimier, Bernard Noël, the author of the work, was condemned on 9 July 1973 to a 3000 franc fine and his publisher, Jérome Martineau, to 4000 francs.
Two press clippings also included.
Provenance: from the library of Nadine Nimier, wife and widow of Roger Nimier and cited by Bernard Noël's lawyer as witness at the trial of the work.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Handsome copy despite a small tear at the upper left corner of the first cover.
Signed autograph inscription from Jeanne Bourin to a friend named Colette.

New edition, illustrated with 40 magnificent watercolors by Maurice Leloir, 34 full-page and 2 double-page, printed in chromotypography. Title page in blue and gold with the arms of Louis XIV and his cipher. All leaves are mounted.
Publisher's binding in full royal blue cloth. Smooth spine with gilt title. Large polychrome and gilt plate on the upper cover depicting Louis XIV on horseback. The title in a red leather cartouche. Rubbing under the cartouche. Headcaps slightly depressed. Foxing on the endpapers but otherwise fresh paper, free from foxing.
Very handsome copy.

First edition of the French translation, of which there were no deluxe copies.
A very handsome copy.

First edition of the French translation, of which there were no deluxe copies.
A very handsome copy.

New edition, illustrated with 40 color illustrations after watercolors by Maurice Leloir, including 29 in-text and 11 full-page, printed in chromotypography. Leaves entirely mounted on guards.
Publisher's green and gold boards. Smooth spine with gilt title running lengthwise. Large special polychrome and gilt plate on the upper cover depicting Richelieu in armor under his cardinal's habit. Plate signed J. Fau. Binding signed Poensin. Headcap and joints rubbed, edges and corners as well. Corners turned. Paper very fresh, free of foxing. 2 micro tears along the lower joint, caused by rubbing, the fabric is composed of threads. A dark comma mark on the lower cover. Binding slightly loose, with some play.
Handsome copy.

Definitive edition on ordinary paper of this work published under the pseudonym Abdallah Chaamba, with "Service de Presse" printed at foot of back cover.
Some foxing spots to margin of front cover.
Very rare signed autograph inscription from François Augiéras to Luc Estang.

Handwritten signed letter addressed to Docteur Francis Mars: "j'ai du mal à vous pardonner le mal que vous vous êtes fait à vous-même !” “I find it difficult to forgive you for the harm you have done to yourself!”
Paris 17 November 1966, 20.7 x 13.5 cm, one page on a leaf, envelope attached

Handwritten letter signed by Natalie Clifford Barney addressed to Doctor Francis Mars, a few lines written in black in on a leaf of headed paper from 20 rue Jacob (Paris VI^e), envelope attached. Central fold from having been sent.
"Cher ami Francis, j'ai du mal à vous pardonner le mal que vous vous êtes fait à vous-même ! Natalie (PS: Je ne serai à Nice que vers le 5 déc.)” “My dear friend Francis, I find it difficult to forgive you for the harm you have done to yourself! Natalie (PS: I will not be in Nice until around 5 Dec.) ”
Francis Mars, from Nice, was a mutual friend of Natalie Clifford Barney and her companion, the artist-painter Romaine Brooks. The two women, who had been in a relationship for almost fifty years, did not live together: Natalie lived in Paris and only joined Romaine in Nice for the winter.

New edition of the French translation, one of 300 numbered copies on Rives laid paper, deluxe copy.
Light sunning to head and foot of spine, handsome copy with full margins.
Work illustrated with wood engravings by François-Martin Salvat.

First edition.
Spine slightly sunned without consequence.
Work illustrated with photographs by Gisèle Freund.
Dated and signed autograph inscription from Gisèle Freund to Ulrike Bergweiler who was Antoine Gallimard's secretary.