Paris

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A handsome copy, uncut.

First separate edition of this excerpt from the Nouvelles annales des voyages, September and October 1862 (cf. Gay 340).

Illustrated with a folding map.

Scattered foxing.

Contemporary navy half shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands and black ruling, spine restored, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges.

Originally from Goin in Moselle and son-in-law of Linant de Bellefonds, Dr. Charles Cuny (1811–1858) spent nearly his entire career in Egypt as a military surgeon, after being dismissed from Algeria.

Gustave Flaubert and Maxime Du Camp, who met him during their celebrated journey, mention him in their respective travel accounts. He died of dysentery during the expedition to Darfur that he had sponsored in 1857. Cf. Roy (Hippolyte): La Vie héroïque et romantique du Docteur Charles Cuny (Nancy, 1930).

Our copy is extra-illustrated with an autograph note signed by Jean-Baptiste Jomard (1780–1868), brother of Edme, addressed to Malte-Brun and dated 13 August 1867: "... c'est un vrai et grand service que vous avez rendu à l'histoire de la Recherche. Les Annales sont maintenant enrichies de ce morceau important... Il faut fairer une bonne mention de ce courageux, de cet intelligent voyageur..."

First edition, one of 90 numbered copies on pur fil d'Arches, the deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 54 numbered copies on nacreous Japan paper, the deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 175 numbered copies on Arches wove paper, the deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

Signed autograph inscription from Roger Peyrefitte to Maurice Gorrée.

First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on Holland paper, the deluxe issue.

Spine and covers very slightly and marginally faded, not affecting the overall appearance. A handsome copy.

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on Johannot paper, the deluxe issue.
Fine copy.

First edition of the French translation, one of 240 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies after 7 on Japan paper, 10 on Arches, and 21 on pure rag vellum.
Restored tear at head of spine, which is also cracked, slight tears along the right margin of the front cover, internally clean and appealing.

Second edition of the French translation, published one year after the original, one of 300 numbered copies on vélin de Renage, the only deluxe paper copies.

A handsome and rare copy.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on pur fil, the only deluxe copies printed.
Fine copy.

Partly first edition, revised and corrected, of which no deluxe copies were issued; one of the review copies.

Spine and covers slightly and marginally sunned, as usual.
Rare and valuable signed presentation inscription from Robert Antelme to Geneviève Hirsch.

"Il n'y a pas d'espèces humaines, il y a une espèce humaine. C'est parce que nous sommes des hommes comme eux que les SS seront en définitive impuissants devant nous."
["There are no human races; there is only one human race. It is precisely because we are men like them that the SS will ultimately be powerless against us."]

This seminal work on the Nazi concentration camp experience was first published in 1947. It was the third and final publication of the short-lived publishing house founded by Marguerite Duras and Robert Antelme, her husband from 1940 to 1946.
Initially unnoticed upon its discreet release — only a handful of copies were sold — the book was reissued the following year with new covers by Robert Marin. It faced the competition of numerous postwar accounts and initially struggled to find a readership. Yet, as recounted by F. Lebelley, "at a time when narratives abounded, the unique power of this work, marked by a stark sobriety, moved readers as a founding text. A writer’s book as well, which, as Duras acknowledged, ‘stepped away from literature.’ Robert Antelme would never write another. Despite the praise and accolades, L'Espèce humaine remained the singular work of a lifetime." (in Duras, ou le poids d'une plume).
Thanks to Albert Camus’s intervention, the book was reissued a decade later, in 1957, by Gallimard and finally reached a broader audience.
Since then, it has taken its place in literary history as one of the most significant works confronting the painful but essential reflection on concentration camps and the human condition. In its wake, writers such as his friend Jorge Semprun would embark on new approaches to the unspeakable task of writing about the camps.
As early as 1947, Antelme wrote in his foreword: "We had just returned, bringing with us our memory, our vivid experience, and felt a frantic desire to recount it exactly as it was. And yet, from the first days, we became aware of the gap between the language at our disposal and that experience [...] How could we resign ourselves to not trying to explain how we had come to that point? We were still there. And yet it was impossible. As soon as we began to tell it, we suffocated. To ourselves, what we had to say already seemed unimaginable."

Shortly after Gallimard’s reprint, this testimony received its most profound tribute from Maurice Blanchot:
"When man is reduced to the extreme deprivation of need, when he becomes ‘he who eats peelings,’ we see him reduced to nothing but himself, and man is revealed as he who requires nothing more than need itself to, by denying what denies him, preserve the primacy of human relation. One must add that need then changes, becomes radical in the literal sense, becomes a barren need, devoid of pleasure or content — a bare relation to bare life — and the bread one eats responds directly to the demand of need, just as need is immediately the need to live." (Maurice Blanchot, L'indestructible, in La Nrf n°112, 1962, reprinted in L'Entretien infini)

Presentation copies signed by Robert Antelme are of exceptional rarity.

First edition.

Contemporary Bradel binding in grey cloth-backed marbled boards, smooth spine decorated with a gilt floral motif, gilt date and double fillet at foot, brown shagreen label, original wrappers preserved; a contemporary binding executed for Léon Vanier with the binder's ticket pasted ton front pastedown "Reliures Léon Vanier 19 quai Saint-Michel Paris" .

Our copy exceptionally contains a faded original photograph by Otto Wegener depicting Paul Verlaine standing with a cane and wearing a top hat; exceptional signed autograph inscription by Paul Verlaine in the lower right margin of the print: "A Léon Vanier son édité et ami. P. Verlaine." (To Léon Vanier, his published [author] and friend. P. Verlaine)

First edition illustrated with 39 aquatint engravings, 37 of which are hand-colored (cf Atabey, 624. Hage-Chahine, 2388.)

Finely engraved and colored, the illustrations evoke the design of Persian miniatures: portraits (Fath Ali Shah, Abbas I, Nadir Shah), figures in costumes (Persian women, slave and eunuch from the harem, Persian rider…), views and ancient monuments (Tehran, ruins of Persepolis), scenes of daily life (Persian meal, village entertainments, writing master and his pupil, Persians in prayer…), musical instruments, etc.

Half dark green shagreen bindings, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, gilt friezes on the head and tail, cat’s-eye paper boards with some marginal wear, endpapers and pastedowns made of handmade paper, speckled edges, slightly later bindings.

Some foxing, frontispiece of volume 4 restored, detached ex-libris mark on the pastedown of the first volume.

The orientalist Amable Louis Marie Michel Bréchillet-Jourdain, known as Jourdain (1788-1818), was a student of Sylvestre de Sacy before becoming assistant secretary at the School of Oriental Languages. He studied Persian and Arabic and was a secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rare copy.

First edition, one of 110 numbered copies on Marais vellum, ours unnumbered but duly justified at the foot of each spine "Marais" and watermarked, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A tear to the upper right corner of the rear cover of the last volume.
Handsome complete set in 6 volumes; the author deliberately halted the writing of this work, which deals as much with history as with military history and was originally intended to comprise ten volumes.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece portrait, six engraved plates by Ambroise Tardieu, and a large folding map, all outside the text (cf. Schwab, p.48, no. 360).

Some foxing, mainly affecting the beginnings and ends of the volumes, otherwise a handsome and attractively bound copy.

Contemporary binding in half aubergine shagreen, spines slightly faded, with five raised bands, decorated with black fillets and gilt floral tools, gilt dates at foot, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, a few surface abrasions.

The original edition, A History of Persia, was first published in 1815.

A major work on Persia, in which the author "carefully consulted all European authors of note who had written on the history and literature of Eastern peoples", and gathered information from various specialists and diplomats.

A Scotsman in the service of the East India Company, John Malcolm (1769–1833) personally led two missions to Persia, assisted by capable officers such as Captains Grant and Christie, Lieutenant Pottinger, Major Pasley, Captains Frédéric and Josias Stewart, John Briggs, John M'Donald Kinnier, Messrs. Henry Ellis, Andrew Jukes, and others.

First edition, one of 135 copies printed on pure rag Arches paper, the deluxe issue.

A handsome copy.

First edition, one of 165 numbered copies on pur fil d'Arches, deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 55 numbered copies on pur fil d'Arches, the deluxe issue.

A handsome copy.

Inscribed and signed by Roger Peyrefitte to Monsieur Gorrée, with a dated autograph dedication.

First edition of the French translation, one of 30 copies numbered on pure white Lana wove paper, the deluxe issue.

Handsome illustrated cover.

A pleasing copy, untrimmed.

Sinclair Lewis was the first American novelist to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

First edition, one of 315 numbered copies on Arches wove paper, the deluxe issue.

A fine copy with full margins.

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe issue.

A rare and handsome copy.

Inscribed and signed by Jean de La Varende to Monsieur Gorrée.

First edition, one of 45 copies on Vergé de Voiron, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Very handsome copy.

First edition, one of 130 numbered copies on Arches wove paper, the deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

Inscribed, dated and signed by Roger Peyrefitte to Monsieur Gorrée.

First edition, one of 55 numbered copies on pure Arches wove paper, the deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First edition of the French translation, of which no deluxe copies were issued.

A horizontal crease to the front cover, otherwise a well-preserved copy.

Rare signed presentation inscription from Tom Wolfe to the journalist and literary critic Bernard Pivot: "To Bernard Pivot with a deep bow and profound thanks for such a marvelous evening. Tom Wolfe September, 9, 1988."

Tom Wolfe's masterpiece was splendidly adapted for the screen by Brian De Palma, starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, and Morgan Freeman.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a portrait of the author and 29 engraved plates depicting objects, ornaments, coins, plants, and animals (cf. Cordier, Bibl. Japonica, 447. Gay, 3151. Brunet, V, 850).

Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, flat spines richly decorated with gilt typographic tools, gilt roll tooling at head and tail, brown morocco title-pieces, dark green morocco volume labels, gilt roll-tooled borders on boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, yellow edges.

A Swedish botanist and naturalist, Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828) studied medicine and natural history at Uppsala and became one of Linnaeus’s most brilliant pupils.

In 1771, he sailed as a surgeon aboard a ship of the Dutch East India Company. Upon arrival at the Cape, he remained in the colony for three years, exploring regions inhabited by the Hottentots and the Kaffirs while collecting specimens of plants and animals. In 1775, he traveled to Java, stayed in Batavia, and eventually reached Japan. He settled on the island of Deshima, in Nagasaki Bay, where the Dutch trading post of the Company was located. There he worked as a physician and obtained permission to botanize in the nearby mountains, where he collected a large number of rare and previously unknown plants, along with many natural history specimens. In 1776, he accompanied the Dutch Company’s director on a visit to the shogun in Edo (Tokyo), allowing him to explore further and gather more botanical samples. He returned to Sweden in 1779. The first volume recounts the voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, his stays at the Cape, and his first journey inland; the second volume describes his second trip along the Kaffir coast, return to the Cape, journey to Java, and arrival in Nagasaki; the third is entirely devoted to Japan: trade with the Dutch and Chinese, government, administration, religion, language, character and portrait of the Japanese, zoological observations, minerals, etc. The final volume continues with Japan: food, festivals, weaponry, agriculture, calendar, etc., followed by the account of the return voyage via Ceylon. It also includes Lamarck’s explanations of the eight natural history plates.

A rare copy of this important travel account.

Provenance: From the library of the Château de Menneval, with armorial bookplates on the pastedowns of each volume.

Rare first edition (cf. Gay 367; Leclerc 638).

The work is illustrated with a map of the port and harbor of Brest and five plates: How the beds of the Negroes are made [and] The house of the Negroes – How the Moors ride their Camels, Horses and Oxen with their merchandise – How the Negroes collect palm wine [sic] [and] How they climb the palm trees [and] How the Negroes make incisions to extract the palm wine [and] how they are dressed – Dress of lords and notable persons – How the women are dressed and how they carry their children on their backs [and] How the Negroes dance in a circle.

This account is considered a valuable narrative, offering noteworthy details on the trade of these regions.

Contemporary full mottled tan calf, spine with five raised bands framed with black fillets, bands renewed, hinges restored, corners worn, minor wear to edges, yellow edges sprinkled with red.

A surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris, Le Maire was brought along by Dancourt, director general of the Company.

He left Paris in January 1682 and arrived in Gorée on May 20. It remains unclear why this contemporary of Louis XIV is regularly confused in bibliographies and public catalogues with the Dutch navigator Jacob Le Maire (1585–1616), with whom he shares no connection.

First edition of the French translation, one of 60 numbered copies on Arches laid paper, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Very fine copy.

Rare first edition (cf. Borba de Moraes II, 753: "famous book of navigational bearings". Rodrigues 2144.)

Minor marginal foxing on the endpapers, otherwise a clean and appealing copy.

Contemporary-style binding in quarter tree calf with corners, smooth spine, blind-ruled panels on marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns. Modern binding.

Baron Roussin (1781–1854) explored the coasts of Brazil in 1819–1820, during which he charted and described the Abrolhos archipelago—later made famous by Darwin’s observations aboard HMS Beagle (1832).

Manuscript ownership inscription: Guillotin.

Very rare first edition of the French translation by J. Castéra, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author (cf. Sabin 43417. Leclerc 756).

Stamp marks scratched out on the half-title and at the end of the volume, dated 22 August 1878, occasional foxing.

Contemporary half havana sheep binding, flat spine decorated with gilt fillets, fleurons and rose tools, red morocco title label, spine restored, marbled paper boards with marginal fading, one upper corner slightly bumped.

Pages 261 to 274 contain a Vocabulary of the Algonquin Language and that of the Knisteneaux, and pages 304 to 310 a Vocabulary of the Chipiouyane Language [Chippeway].

First edition, one of 50 copies printed on pur fil du Marais, the only deluxe copies along with a few not-for-sale copies.
A handsome copy.

First edition, with no deluxe copies printed.
Pleasant copy, which is uncommon given the fragility of this book, often handled without care.
Inscribed and signed by Serge Gainsbourg to a recipient named Georges.
 

First edition of the French translation by Marie Bonaparte, one of 70 numbered copies on pur fil, the only deluxe paper copies.

Covers slightly and marginally toned, otherwise a handsome and rare copy.

The text is preceded by a translation of the short story Gradiva by Wilhelm Jensen, rendered by E. Zak and G. Sadoul.

It is followed by a psychoanalytic study of the dream and the fascination experienced by the young archaeologist Norbert Hanold for the image of a young woman sculpted in a bas-relief from the collections of the Museum of Rome.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 12 folding plates and maps outside the text, and 11 folding tables included in the pagination (cf. Sabin 62574).

Contemporary full mottled calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with double gilt panels, floral tools and gilt medallions, red morocco title label with some loss and partially lifting, gilt garland frame on covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges yellow.

Some minor foxing, one joint fragile.

Famous account of this "unfortunate expedition which served to demonstrate the impossibility of crossing the Polar ice" [Hoefer]. Pages 187 to 208 are devoted to natural history, with 2 plates [XI and XII] depicting crustaceans and mollusks.

First edition, one of 125 numbered deluxe copies, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Handsome copy, preserved as issued, loose in gatherings and housed in a double chemise and full cream cloth slipcase.

First edition, one of 25 copies printed on pure wove paper, the only copies on deluxe paper.

A rare and handsome copy.

Illustrated edition featuring 6 charming lithographs, including 5 costume plates, executed by Madame Veuve Jobard in Dijon.

No copy listed in the CCF; not recorded by Vicaire or Colas.

Contemporary half brown sheepskin binding, spine slightly faded, gilt double fillets and decorative gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled paper boards, sprinkled edges.

Scattered foxing, small paper flaw on half-title.

A rare, wide-margined copy in period binding.

First edition, one of 135 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only deluxe copies.
A handsome copy.
Signed autograph note by José Cabanis on the half-title.

First edition, one of 35 numbered copies on Neige vellum, the only deluxe copies.
Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies after 28 on pur fil.

A handsome copy.

First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on Johannot pure rag paper, the deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

Inscribed and signed by Roger Vailland to the publisher Jean Chastel.

First edition, published by order of the Imperial Government of Brazil and illustrated with a folding color map at the end of the volume (cf. Garraux 169. Borba de Moraes I, 478).

Some light foxing, minor rubbing to the spine, a pleasing and scarce copy.

Contemporary binding in red half morocco-grained shagreen, smooth spine ruled in gilt with quadruple fillets, gilt coat of arms at foot of spine, small losses to head and tailcaps, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, period binding.

Emmanuel Liais, then Director of the Imperial Observatory of Rio de Janeiro, had been entrusted by Emperor Pedro II with various expeditions throughout the Brazilian territory.

First edition of the French translation of this remarkable study originally published in Vienna in the *Mines de l'Orient*.

The work, translated and enriched with observations and explanatory notes, followed by a dissertation on the location of the Pallacopas by J. Raimond, is illustrated with six folding plates at the end (rather than four, as stated on the title page).

Contemporary binding in green half sheep, spine slightly faded, gilt-stamped with a sphinx, gilt title, cat's-eye marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern binding.

Some foxing, mainly affecting the opening leaves.

Rich provides "une description très détaillée de toutes les ruines et de tous les tertres [...] qui s'étendent à une grande distance sur les deux rives de l'Euphrate" (Michaud).

His work on Babylon is regarded as the starting point of Mesopotamian archaeology (Chahine, 4032).

First edition, one of 40 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe copies.

A fine copy.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece, a portrait of the author, and 14 copper-engraved vignettes within the text, mostly depicting inhabitants of the North (cf Sabin, 38711.)

Restored binding in full grained morocco, spine with five false raised bands adorned with gilt fillets and double compartments, gilded roulettes on the partially faded caps, small repairs to the joints, gilt fillets on the edges, slightly worn corners, binding of the period.

Ink annotations on the white endpaper and at the top of the false-title page.

Born in Rouen in 1634, La Martinière embarked around 1670 as a surgeon on a ship of the Northern Company bound for Norway, and visited Lapland, New Zemble, the Siberian coasts, and Iceland.

His account contains numerous details on the lifestyle, customs, and superstitions of the peoples of these regions, as well as natural history (reindeer, bears, penguins, etc.). There are also passages on hunting and fishing. Author of several medical works, notably on blood transfusion, La Martinière also published 'The Happy Slave', Paris, 1674, in which he recounts his captivity by the Barbary corsairs a few years before his voyage to Norway. A fine copy of this rare book.

Provenance: from the library of the Menneval château with its engraved bookplate pasted on the inside cover.

First edition, very difficult to find complete, as the third volume was published eight years after the first two.

Bound in full mottled bronze-green calf, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt floral compartments, red morocco labels for title and volume number, gilt rolls on the caps, joints slightly rubbed, gilt roll-tooled borders on the covers entirely adorned with oblong geometric patterns in blind, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt Greek-key borders framing the pastedowns, bookplate mounted on the pastedown of the first volume, gilt fillets on the edges, all edges gilt, contemporary bindings.

Contains anecdotes about Rousseau, Poivre, Turgot, Helvétius, Benjamin Franklin, Holbach, Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld, the Marquise de Pompadour, Calonne, Necker, Beaujon…

A handsome copy attractively bound in a period decorative binding.

First edition of the French translation, one of 210 numbered copies on pur fil, the only deluxe copies issued.

A handsome copy, despite the boards being very slightly and marginally faded, as often.

First edition, one of 26 numbered copies on Vélin du Marais, the only deluxe copies.

Rare and appealing copy.

Complete set of the first quarter published (11 April-12-19 July 1886) of the symbolist journal La Vogue, the most important literary review of the late nineteenth century, containing the first printing of Rimbaud’s Illuminations. Issues 1 - 12, published weekly, were gathered under a quarterly wrapper and offered for sale in September 1886. No deluxe copies were issued for this first quarter of the journal, which had a very limited print run. Copy as published, spine restored, upper corner of the second cover lacking.

First appearance of Rimbaud’s Illuminations in the journal that served as a refuge for the poètes maudits and introduced Walt Whitman to the French readership.

Numerous contributions, including Paul Verlaine, Stéphane Mallarmé, Auguste Villiers de L’Isle-Adam, Charles Morice, Paul Adam, René Ghil, Jules Laforgue, Léo d’Orfer, Stendhal, Charles Henry, Stuart Merrill (translated by Mallarmé), Édouard Dujardin, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Félix Fénéon, Paul Bourget, Walt Whitman, Teodor de Wyzewa, Fedor Dostoevsky, Charles Vignier, Jacques Casanova de Seingalt.

Presented in a grey half-morocco clamshell case, smooth spine, marble-covered paper boards, marbled endpapers; case with grey morocco border, signed by Boichot.

First edition, one of 249 numbered copies on B.F.K. de Rives, the only printing alongside 1 on Hollande and 24 on cream Renage vellum.

Illustrated with 4 original color lithographs by Rufino Tamayo.

This copy is further enriched with an additional suite of the 4 lithographs by Rufino Tamayo, usually reserved for the deluxe copies.
Printed stamps to the versos of each engraving: "Annulation d'estampille pour annulation de vente".

A rare and desirable copy.

Exceptional and Surrealist autograph inscription signed by Benjamin Péret to Toyen, inspired by the Aztec pantheon: "A Toyen la fille de Pilzintacutli, son ami Huitzilopochtli. Rectifions : son père est Xochipilli, l'autre n'esu qu'un intrus. Benjamin Péret 2 juin 1953."

Rare and highly sought-after first edition.
Contemporary binding in black half shagreen, flat spines richly decorated with gilt ornamental rolls, discreet and skilful restoration to the foot of one joint, black paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges. Discreet restoration to the lower hinge of the first volume.
Exceptionally clean copy, virtually free of foxing (a rarity according to Clouzot, who notes that most copies are usually heavily spotted).
Provenance: from the libraries of Saint-Germain (with printed crowned bookplate beneath the titles on the half-titles); Count de Bonvouloir (with his printed bookplate, Château de Magny in Calvados, above the title on the half-title of the second volume and above the next bookplate on an endpaper of the first volume); Charles-Albert Gigault de Crisonoy de Lyonne, with his bookplate mounted on a pastedown and endpaper; and more recently Max Brun, with his bookplate mounted on the front pastedown of the first volume.
Shelving labels mounted at the top of the rear pastedowns, minor losses to white paper and some corner stains on the endpapers.
A rare copy preserved in a strictly contemporary binding.

Rare first edition of this "relation (...) much sought after for its accuracy", illustrated with 19 folding plates, including 2 maps (cf. Sabin 3604, Leclerc 119).

Full marbled tan calf binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt compartments decorated with gilt floral motifs, small chip at foot of spine, scuffing to covers, red edges, bumped corners, gilt fillets along the board edges, contemporary binding.

The author, a physician and botanist born in Perpignan in 1690—where he held a post at the military hospital—was introduced by Antoine de Jussieu to the Conseil de la Marine in August 1721 and appointed royal physician and botanist in French Guiana. He landed in Cayenne at the end of 1721 and left the colony in May 1724. During his stay, he explored the banks of the Kourou and Orapu rivers, studying the local flora, fauna, and indigenous customs.

His account, one of the earliest on French Guiana, is of great importance and was widely used by eighteenth-century geographers.

First edition, illustrated with 3 hors-texte plates (cf. Rodrigues 1357. Borba de Moraes I, 381. See INED 2496 for the 1774 edition).

The plates depict: Brama, god of the Indians – View of a pagoda tower – Snake charmer.

Contemporary-style binding in marbled tawny calf over vellum-tipped corners, spine with five raised bands, ruled in gilt, brown calf lettering-piece, marbled paper-covered boards, red sprinkled edges, modern binding.

Coromandel Coast, European trading posts, military strongholds, Indian religion, medicine, anatomy, caste system, Indian manners, dress, dwellings, gardens, food (and temperance), wedding rituals, funerals, Indian morals, fauna, flora, etc.

Pages 3 to 21 are devoted to Brazil. The author made a stop at Bourbon Island (pp. 25 to 27).

Provenance: from the Breitenbauch library, with its armorial bookplate pasted on the endpaper.

A pleasing copy.

Deluxe issue, enhanced by a remarkable original drawing presented to Léon Werth.

First edition under this title with illustrations by Saint-Exupéry, one of 20 numbered copies on Madagascar paper, a deluxe issue. Published just days after the original edition without illustrations, issued by Gallimard (Lettres de jeunesse 1923–1931).

The work features 10 colour illustrations by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, as well as a cover vignette after a drawing by the author.

This copy is further enhanced by an exceptional blue and red pencil drawing by Saint-Exupéry on watermarked paper, inscribed in pencil on the verso: “Given to Léon Werth [dedicatee of The Little Prince].” A horizontal fold and a minor rust mark at the lower section, neither impairing the artwork.

First edition, comprising the original narrative of the discovery of the Kerguelen Islands, together with a memoir on Madagascar (pp. 154-169), and the portion headed “Observations sur la guerre de l’Amérique” (pp. 121-133, Sabin 3718).

Work illustrated with a folding map bound out of text (“Terres Australes ou partie septentrionale de l’Isle de Kerguelen”), bordered by eight smaller coastal charts or views.

Contemporary full marbled fawn calf, spine tooled in gilt with sawtooth motifs and floral devices; red calf title label with a minor loss at the foot; joints showing rubbing; boards framed in black along the leather edges; gilt fillets on the leading edges, partly faded; red edges.

Spine restored; a scattering of insignificant foxing; faint waterstaining at the top edge towards the close of the volume; a corner loss at the head of leaves 241-42, with the text entirely unaffected.

Seized under the ruling of 28 May 1783 for its dedication “à la Patrie”, the work saw many of its copies eliminated in the aftermath.

Born in Trémarec on 13 February 1734, Kerguelen died in Paris on 4 March 1797. “En mai 1771, il partait pour l'Océan Indien sur le Berryer et arriva en août à l'île de France. Avec la Fortune et le Gros Ventre, il vérifia la nouvelle route des Indes découverte par Grenier puis descendit vers le sud, découvrit en février 1772 les îles de la Fortune, prit possession des terres qui portent depuis son nom et rentra à Brest en juillet 1772. Promu capitaine de vaisseau, il repartit en mars 1773 avec le Roland et l'Oiseau. Arrivé en vue des terres australes en décembre, gêné par le mauvais temps, il dut remonter vers le nord, fit escale à Antongil (Madagascar) et rentra à Brest en septembre 1774 pour être accusé de commerce frauduleux et d'embarquement clandestin d'une jeune fille à son bord. Condamné en mai 1775 à être rayé du corps et emprisonné à Saumur, il fut libéré en août 1778 et arma aussitôt la Comtesse de Brionne à Rochefort avec laquelle il fit la course en mer du Nord” [Taillemite]. 

["In May 1771, he departed for the Indian Ocean on the Berryer and reached the Isle of France in August. With the Fortune and the Gros Ventre, he confirmed the new route to the Indies discovered by Grenier, then sailed south, discovering the Isles of Fortune in February 1772, taking possession of the lands that now bear his name, and returning to Brest in July 1772. Promoted to ship’s captain, he departed again in March 1773 with the Roland and the Oiseau. Upon sighting the southern lands in December, hampered by bad weather, he was compelled to return north, stopping at Antongil (Madagascar), and returned to Brest in September 1774, only to be accused of fraudulent trading and of clandestinely taking a young girl aboard. Condemned in May 1775 to be struck from the service and imprisoned at Saumur, he was released in August 1778 and immediately outfitted the Comtesse de Brionne at Rochefort, with which he cruised in the North Sea."] 

First edition, one of 74 numbered copies on Rives vellum, deluxe edition.

Beautiful copy.

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on chiffon vélin paper, the only deluxe copies aside from a few out-of-commerce copies also printed on chiffon vélin.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 5 numbered copies printed on Japan paper, the deluxe issue.

Bound in chocolate-brown half morocco, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, date gilt-stamped at foot; sides covered in cat's-eye paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers bound in, top edge gilt. A finely executed unsigned binding, slightly later.

A handsome copy in an appealing presentation.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on Lana wove paper, a deluxe issue.
Handsome copy, untrimmed, despite some occasional foxing to the deckle edges.

First edition, illustrated with four plates including a map of the Sudan.

The plates depict human types and a map of Sudan, drawn "according to the Negro slaves in Bahia".

Modern Bradel binding in black half shagreen, smooth spine decorated with two gilt floral tools, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, original wrappers preserved (small hole on rear board).

A naturalist and explorer, Francis de Castelnau undertook, between 1843 and 1847, a major expedition across South America, notably visiting Peru and Brazil.

In 1848, he was appointed French consul in Bahia. Upon his arrival, he observed that several African-born slaves could read and write Arabic and Libyco-Berber. Through interviews, some of them spoke to him about the Niams-Niams, or tailed men, said to live in a region referred to here as "Sudan", corresponding to present-day Nigeria. In this work, Castelnau presents the information he gathered on the subject. He describes several tribes from the Sudan region represented among the Bahia slaves: Nagos, Gèges or Dahomeys, Gallinhas, Minas, Borgos or Bargous, Tapas, Angols or Congos, Hausas, Fulanis or Foullatahs. He then recounts the interrogations of Bahia slaves who claimed to have seen or heard of the Niams-Niams, thereby collecting a wealth of ethnographic and geographic information on that part of Africa. The volume ends with a vocabulary section in several Sudanese languages (Hausa, Fulani, Courami, Java).

A handsome and scarce copy.

Second edition, the first having been published in 1824 (cf. Gay 3389).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, in blue paper with a plain temporary cover, and a title label affixed at the head of the spine.

Some minor foxing, a faint water stain in the right margin of a few leaves at the end of the volume.

At the age of twenty, Armand-Pierre Caussin de Perceval (1795–1871) departed for Constantinople as an interpreter. He travelled through Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon, and served as a dragoman in Aleppo in 1820.

Upon returning to France, he was appointed to the chair of colloquial Arabic at the École des Langues Orientales, and succeeded his father in 1833 as professor of Arabic at the Collège de France, before being elected to the Académie des Inscriptions in 1849.

Original edition printed in a limited number of copies of this excerpt from Bulletin of the Société de géographie (1882-1883).

This text was re-edited in 1885 by Hachette.

Work illustrated with figures in the text and a large folding map at the end (Route from Médine to Nango by the Gallieni mission).

Binding in black half-shagreen, spine with five raised bands decorated with cold fillets, boards of handmade paper, preserved original covers, modern binding signed by Boichot.

Covers restored with some stains, pleasant interior condition.

Work illustrated with figures in the text and a large folding map at the end (Route from Médine to Nango by the Gallieni mission).

Joseph Gallieni (1849-1916) was sent on a mission to the banks of the Niger in 1879. It was there that he negotiated a commercial agreement between the Sultanate of Ségou and France, granting our country trade rights on the Upper Niger.

Autograph letter signed by Joseph Gallieni to his cousin Henri Périssé, dated from Fort-de-France, November 23, 1884 (after this African mission, Gallieni had been assigned to Martinique).

First edition, illustrated with numerous in-text tables.

Spine split with small losses, a restored tear at the foot of the upper cover, minor losses to the lower cover, internally well preserved.

Antoine-Paulin Pihan (1810–1879), who was proficient in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian, held the modest post of compositor in the Oriental Typography department at the Imprimerie Impériale. Yet the volume of his linguistic work reveals an orientalist of far greater depth than his official title suggests. This work documents a remarkable variety of numeral systems (see the alphabetical index at the end of the volume), ranging from Albania to Japan, and from Ethiopia to Mongolia.

First edition of this collection of observations and reports on French Algeria, whose pacification had just been completed (cf. Quérard VI 70, Playfair 1264. See also Gay 953 and Tailliart 812).

Contemporary bindings in half bottle-green sheep, flat spines decorated with gilt fillets and triple gilt panels, a gilt fillet framing a large plaque decorated with blind-stamped motifs on the percaline-covered boards, school stamp [Pensionnat de M. Ballé], marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, gilt fillets at head- and tailcaps, period bindings.

Some restorations to spine ends and joints; school prize labels affixed opposite the half-titles.

The work is sometimes attributed to Jean-Joseph, elder brother of Baptistin (1809–1864), who was more prolific and better known (success attracts credit): "Un des livres importants pour la description de l'Algérie ; il contient une foule de renseignements de toute nature et des vues personnelles sur un certain nombre de questions algériennes".

New edition, partly original as it has been revised and expanded, one of the advance review copies.
Handsome copy complete with the wrap-around band bearing the quote: "L'adolescence le bonheur et le suicide."
Signed autograph inscription by Gabriel Matzneff to his friend, the Belgian literary critic Pol Vandromme: "Pour Pol Vandromme, ce livre stoïcien et chrétien, en amical hommage. Gabriel Matzneff."
 

First edition of the French translation, one of 40 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on Arches wove paper, the only deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 100 copies numbered on pur fil du Marais, the deluxe issue.
A handsome copy, despite a few insignificant foxing spots at the head of the upper cover.

In 1955, the book was splendidly adapted for the screen by Jean Delannoy, starring Jean Gabin, Robert Dalban, Serge Lecointe, Anne Doat and Jimmy Urbain.

First edition, one of 105 numbered copies on vélin neige, the only deluxe copies issued after 12 on pur fil.
Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies along with a few hors commerce also printed on alfa.
Fine copy.

First edition, one of 100 copies numbered on Renage wove paper, the only deluxe issue.

Bound in burgundy half shagreen with corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, date gilt-stamped at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, gilt top edge.

A handsome copy in an attractive binding.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on Pur Fil du Marais, the only deluxe copies, alongside a few hors commerce also printed on Pur Fil du Marais.

A handsome and scarce copy of this anti-Gaullist pamphlet.

First edition, one of 137 numbered copies on pure vellum paper, a deluxe issue following 80 copies on Montval paper.

A handsome copy.

First edition, one of the numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 50 copies printed on Madagascar paper, ours being one of 20 hors commerce copies, from the deluxe issue.

A handsome copy.

First edition of the French translation, one of 50 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe issue.
Attractive copy, with minor foxing to the spine.

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

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 275 numbered copies on Lana wove paper, the deluxe issue.

Illustrated with 31 hors-texte plates.

A fine, uncut copy, complete with its illustrated dust jacket.

First edition of this rare and sought-after work compiling, in a single volume, the main legislative and regulatory provisions from Year XIV to 1857, forming the specific legal code of the island (cf. Ryckebusch 6126).

Some light foxing, mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.

Contemporary full aubergine calf, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt double fillets, slight rubbing to spine and boards, gilt roll-tooled head- and tailbands, boards framed with gilt triple and double fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dotted edges, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

First edition, one of 230 numbered copies on Vélin du Marais, the deluxe issue.

A handsome copy.

First edition of this uncommon study of the major international diplomatic crisis provoked by Mehmed Ali's expansionist policy (cf. Carré I, 294; Blackmer 261; Atabey 179; Walch, 398; Hage Chahine, 748).

Some foxing, occasional reading marks in pencil and red pencil in the margins of certain paragraphs.

Late 19th-century Bradel bindings in half khaki percaline, flat spines decorated with a gilt fleuron, gilt double rules at foot of spines, black shagreen title-pieces, marbled paper boards, original wrappers preserved, corners rubbed.

At the end of the first volume, the work is complete with the folding plate representing the Battle of Nezib.

Edmond de Cadalvène (1799–1852) served as embassy attaché, then as director of the French postal service in Alexandria, Smyrna, and later Constantinople; his knowledge of the Orient, and particularly Egypt, was vast and multifaceted. As for the Saint-Simonian Émile Barrault (1799–1869), he followed a more conventional political path: he travelled to Egypt to accompany Father Enfantin in his quest for the Woman and universal regeneration...

New edition, intended as a supplement to the various collections of *Lettres édifiantes* (see Backer & Sommervogel II, 1075; Cordier, Japonica, 424).

Some foxing, minor scuffs, and small paper flaws on the boards.

Contemporary half grey calf bindings, flat spines decorated with blind-stamped romantic arabesques and gilt fillets, gilt decorative rolls at foot, small green vellum tips, boards covered with geometric-patterned paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; romantic period bindings.

First reissue of the *Histoire de l'établissement, des progrès et de la décadence du christianisme dans l'Empire du Japon*, originally published in 1715 in three 12mo volumes. The Louvain edition (1828–1829) is a later Belgian counterfeit, published after our edition.

This was the first work by the Jesuit Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix (1682–1761), compiled from existing sources (notably Crasset and Daniele Bartoli) before his own travels in North America. It should not be confused with his *Histoire et description générale du Japon* (1736, 2 vols. 4to).

A handsome copy in contemporary romantic binding.