Paris

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author in the first volume, 6 maps and plans, and 70 engraved portraits hors-texte, including 65 depicting the Grand Masters of the Order of Malta. (cf. Brunet, V, 1149. Cohen 1011. Saffroy 5420.)

Some restorations to the joints, early marginal annotations at the bottom of pages, library stamp on all three volumes, the third of which is bound slightly differently with regard to the gilt tooling; a loss on the endpaper of the first volume, which has been partially cut out.

A good copy.

The illustrations are distributed as follows:

Volume 1: 1 frontispiece, 3 folding maps, and 26 full-page portraits.

Volume 2: 1 plan and 20 full-page portraits.

Volume 3: 2 folding maps and 5 full-page portraits.

Volume 4: 19 full-page portraits.

Contemporary full speckled tan calf bindings, spines with five raised bands, richly gilt in double-panel compartments, gilt fillets along the board edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

A writer, historian, and member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Abbé de Vertot (1655–1735) authored several notable works, including Révolutions romaines (1719). Dedicated to the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Dom Antoine Manoel de Vilhena, the Histoire des chevaliers hospitaliers offers a chronological account of key events from the Order’s founding in Jerusalem in 1099. The final section includes a Dissertation on the Government of the Order of Malta, the Old and New Statutes of the Order, and an Alphabetical List of the Knight Brothers from the Langues of Provence, Auvergne, and France, as well as the Grand Priories of Aquitaine and Champagne. 

First edition. One of 50 copies on Rives vellum, ours one of 15 hors commerce copies numbered in Roman numerals, a deluxe issue following 7 copies on Japan paper.

A fine copy with full margins, presented in a chemise and slipcase of half brown shagreen, smooth spine, sides in wood-grain paper, the ensemble signed by P. Goy & C. Vilaine.

The volume includes a full-page map of the city and its surroundings.

The author’s first book, it opens with the now famous sentence: "J'avais vingt ans. Je ne laisserai personne dire que c'est le plus bel âge de la vie".

On the half-title, signed autograph inscription in red ink by Paul Nizan to his publisher Frédéric Rieder,

First edition of the French translation, one of 200 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only deluxe issue.

Handsome illustrated cover by Paul Colin, the volume adorned with 16 previously unpublished illustrations.

Slight sunning marks at head and tail of spine.

A rare and appealing copy.

First edition, printed in 1,500 copies on bouffant paper.

Includes numerous contributions by Marcel Béalu, Pierre Béarn, Blaise Cendrars, Jean Follain, Paul Fort, Max Jacob, Pierre Jean Jouve, Pierre Mac Orlan, Michel Manoll, Pierre Reverdy, André Salmon, Jules Supervielle...

A minor tear without consequence at the foot of the spine, which shows light sunning.

A fine and moving signed autograph inscription from Dominique de Roux, founder of the Cahiers de l'Herne, to his brother Xavier: "Pour Xavier qui est à l'origine de [L'Herne] ce premier cahier dont le second verra son nom au comité en témoignage de mon affection reconnaissante son vieux et fidèle Dominique. 8 Mai 1961."

First edition on ordinary paper with the correct colophon dated 22 June 1999.

Pleasant copy despite two light spots on the right margin of the lower cover.

Inscribed and signed by Jean Echenoz to Jean-Pierre Métais.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies on deluxe paper.

Minor, insignificant foxing to some edges, a handsome copy.

First edition, one of the rare press copies. No deluxe limited issue printed.

Full yellow box calf binding, smooth spine lettered in palladium, boards tooled in blind, upper board with inlays of grey box calf, yellow box calf pastedowns, beige suede endpapers, original wrappers and spine preserved, no gilt edges like every binding by Jean-Luc Honegger, half yellow box calf custom slipcase, smooth spine lettered in palladium, yellow lustrine cloth boards, beige suede lining, very fine set signed Jean-Luc Honegger (2023).

4400 copies of this first edition of The Stranger were printed on April 21, 1942: 400 press copies, 500 copies without a statement of edition and 3500 copies with false statements of second through eighth "editions".
The press copies, not intended for sale, do not bear the price indication [25 francs] on the back cover.
Paper was scarce in 1942, and as Albert Camus was an unknown author at the time, Gallimard did not print a limited issue on luxury paper (or large paper) as was often the case. For this reason, press copies or copies without a statement of edition are particularly sought-after.

A precious and rare copy, perfectly bound by the fine bookbinder Jean-Luc Honegger.

The first edition of this review headed by Pierre Guégen, Eugène Jolas, Joseph Csaky and Frédéric Joliot.
Numerous contributions, including from Le Corbusier, Henry Miller, Raymond Queneau, Eugène Jolas, Léonce Rosenberg, Jacques Audiberti, Jean Hélion, Armand Robin, Paul Guth, Roger Caillois, Joë Bousquet, Jean Follain, Jules Monnerot, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Pierre Klosssowski, Michel Leiris, Aimé Césaire, and others.
Number 20 of Volontés contains a first edition, the entire “Cahier d'un retour au pays natal [Notebook on a Return to my Native Land]” by Aimé Césaire, a foundational and fundamental text of the “Négritude” movement.
Two plates worn, otherwise a good and rare set, lacking the extremely rare final number, the 21st, printed in April 1940, which is missing from most collections.

First edition, printed in a small number, of this offprint from the Bulletin hebdomadaire de l'Association scientifique de France of 16 and 23 December 1883.

Slight losses to the corners of the wrappers, a small stain at the head of the upper cover.

Rare offprint providing the report of the scientific mission of the Talisman [1882-1883] directed by Léon Louis Vaillant, whose results were considerable, particularly regarding the ichthyological fauna of the great depths.

Alphonse Milne-Edwards [1835-1900], professor of zoology at the Muséum and member of the Académie des Sciences, was one of the members of the scientific commission of the Talisman expedition. 

Inscribed and signed by A. Milne-Edwards on the upper cover.

First edition.
Publisher’s binding in full old red Russia leather. Smooth spine richly decorated, with two compartments in grotesque style (stars) and two others featuring a central bee within a dotted lozenge. Surrounding the title, four bees. Two successive border friezes on the covers. Gilt edges. Headcaps rubbed with a 1 cm split. One gathering slightly protruding. Wormhole on page 668, then a 2 cm gallery from page 751 to 803, with some letter loss but no impediment to reading. Paper remarkably fresh.

A handsome copy.

First edition, complete with all 12 issues of this luxurious and short-lived review founded and directed by Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, one of the exceedingly rare copies on japon, the only deluxe paper, with four states of the colour engravings.

Bound in half sand-coloured cloth, morocco lettering pieces, marbled paper boards, spines and wrappers preserved for each issue, a fine copy with wide margins.

Our copy indeed contains the four colour states reserved for the deluxe issue, printed on various papers, of each of the 23 photogravures in Arts & Crafts, Symbolist, Renaissance, Art Nouveau, and Classical styles, after Maxwell Armfield, Henri Saulnier Ciolkowski, Léonard Sarluis, Bernardino Luini, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, Gustave Moreau, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Pollaiolo, Correggio, Piero della Francesca, Rubens, Jose de Ribera, Francisco Goya, Mederhausen Rodo, Cardet, and statues and steles from the museums of Naples and Athens.

The elegant cover design is by George Auriol, master of Art Nouveau typography.
Contributions by Laurent Tailhade, Émile Verhaeren, Renée Vivien, Colette Willy, Joséphin Peladan, Jean Moréas, Henri Barbusse, Arthur Symons, Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, J. Antoine-Orliac, Paterne Berrichon, Jules Bois, Jean Bouscatel, Tristan Derème, Léon Deubel, André du Fresnois, Maurice Gaucher, René Ghil, Henri Guilbeaux, J.-C. Holl, Tristan Klingsor, Ernest La Jeunesse, Gabriel de Lautrec, Abel Léger, Legrand-Chabrier, Louis Mandin, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Francis de Miomandre, John-Antoine Nau, Maurice de Noisay, Julien Ochsé, Edmond Pilon, Ernest Raynaud, André Salmon, Valentine de Saint-Point, Robert Scheffer, Tancrède de Visan...

A very handsome and extremely rare copy on japon, of the first French homosexual review.

Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate higher left.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Tiny and very discreet restorations to the verso of the first blank leaf.

Significant and fine signed autograph inscription by Antonin Artaud:
« à M. Fernand Pouey qui a voulu comprendre mon aride effort. Antonin Artaud. 13 décembre 1947. »
Signed autograph inscriptions by Antonin Artaud are exceedingly rare in this text.

Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

First edition on ordinary paper.

A good copy retaining its advertising band.
Handsome autograph inscription from Marguerite Duras to Claude Simon.

First edition, very rare (cf. Lorenz XII, 926).

Half caramel calf with corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, brown shagreen lettering-piece, restored original wrappers and spine bound in, modern binding.

Loss of paper to the upper right corner of the half-title, some passages underlined in pencil, pp. 399-400 detached with loss of text.

An important work: one of the most comprehensive studies on Toussaint Louverture and the revolution in Saint-Domingue.

This was his final work, published on the occasion of the centenary of the French Revolution. It recounts, in particular, the events following the slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue in August 1791, the abolition of slavery in the colony in August–September 1793, the Convention’s decree of emancipation on 16 Pluviôse Year II (4 February 1794), and the protracted war waged by the French troops—dispatched by Napoleon Bonaparte to the colony in December 1801—against the newly freed slaves, ending with the French defeat in November 1803 and the proclamation of independence.

Text “Les chapeaux pliants” over a double-page by Vaudreuil, illustrated with five original colour drawings in the text.

Original print by Mario Simon on the last page of the double sheet. 

La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion magazines of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco movement.

First edition. (cf Sabin, 44114. Duvivier, Haïti, II 92.)

Bound in Havana sheep, spine with five raised bands framed by blind fillets, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns of marbled paper, original plain blue wrappers preserved, later binding.

A rare and appealing copy.

Very rare first edition.
Beige half calf binding, spine decorated and ruled in gilt, some rubbing to the joints, dark yellow paper boards, marbled endpapers, edges speckled. Missing top spine end, rubbed joints and some scratches.
Notes about the author in ink by a former owner on the page facing the half-title page: "condamné à mort le 24 mars 1794” (executed on 24 March 1794)

Extremely rare inscribed copy signed by Anacharsis Cloots to the revolutionary Nicolas Joseph Pâris, "Pour NJ Pâris de la part de l'auteur” (For NJ Pâris from the author) Friend of Danton and Cloots, court clerk of the Paris Revolutionary Tribunal, Pâris was well known under his pseudonym which he borrowed, like his friend Cloots, from the history of the ancient Republics.

First edition of this seminal work by Anacharsis Cloots, of which the “various other writings are only detached parts” (Léonard Gallois, Histoire des Journaux et des journalistes de la Révolution française, 1846), exceedingly rare. We have not been able to find any other inscribed copy.
Our copy is inscribed to another revolutionary, present during the great trials of the Reign of Terror. He became famous for warning Danton of Robespierre and Marat's plot against him, as told by Victor Hugo in Quatre-vingt-treize [Ninety-Three]: “It was at the time when the copying clerk, Fabricius Pâris, watched through the key-hole the proceedings of the Commitee of Public Safety; not an act of supererogation, be it observed, for it was this very Pâris who notified Danton on the night of the 31st of March 1794.”

First edition illustrated with 2 portraits and 318 in-text illustrations (mostly after photographs, some full-page) and a folding map at the end (cf. Rosove, Antarctica, 60 A.1d ["uncommon"]; Spence, 253).

Bound in contemporary half bottle-green shagreen, flat spine faded and decorated with gilt typographic motifs, upper headcap trimmed, cat’s-eye paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt, illustrated wrappers and backstrip preserved, corners slightly rubbed.

Account of the voyage, followed by reports on several scientific studies carried out by members of the expedition: meteorology, atmospheric electricity and terrestrial magnetism by Rey; animal and plant life by Turquet; geology and glaciology by Gourdon; photography by Pléneau; bacteriology by Charcot.

Original colour print heightened in gold, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print, heightened with gold, on laid paper, signed lower right beneath the plate mark.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print heightened with gold, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print heightened in palladium, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

First edition, one of the rare copies printed on laid paper.
This four-page issue includes a comic strip by Godefroy: "L'ours de Berne".
Literary contributions by Rodolphe Salis, Castille Milès with "La mauvaise fleur", Pimpinelli's "Nini" dedicated to Philippe Burty, Saint Jehan, and "La passion de N.S. Zola ou le maître de Nana embêté par Marie Colombier"...
A very good copy.
Le Chat noir was a weekly magazine founded by Rodolphe Salis and Émile Goudeau, published from 1882 to 1897 to promote the renowned cabaret of the same name, of which it served as a chronicle. It featured the texts performed during its stage shows. The publication stands as a significant literary and artistic record of late 19th-century Paris, capturing the spirit of bohemian life and the city's unique creative ferment.

Original colour print heightened in palladium, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower left.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

Original colour print heightened with gold, printed on laid paper and signed in the plate lower right.

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

First edition.

3/4 red morocco, smooth spine elaborately decorated with gilt typographic motifs and green morocco onlays, crossed musketeer swords gilt-stamped at center of spine, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards framed in gilt, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine (slightly toned) preserved, top edge gilt, small restorations to corners and spine color restored.

Rare inscribed copy signed by Edmond Rostand: "A Monsieur Henry Fouquier avec ma reconnaissance la plus cordiale. Edmond Rostand."

First edition and first issue of the illustrations, without the table of plates which was later printed at the bottom of page XLIII and the beginning of page XLIV of the text volume (cf. Louandre et Bourquelot, I, p. 46. Blackmer, 33, mentions a large folding map bound in the atlas which, in fact, does not belong to the work).

The atlas volume contains the complete set of 10 plates, including 4 lithographs engraved by Faure after drawings by Préaux and lithographed by Langlumé.

Text volume bound in contemporary full tree calf, flat spine gilt with double fillets and naval anchors, red morocco label, gilt roll tooling to head- and tailpieces, gilt rolls framing the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red edges, gilt fillets on board edges.

Atlas volume bound in contemporary half marbled calf, flat spine with gilt double fillets, red morocco label, marbled paper-covered boards.

Some minor foxing to the atlas, small restoration to the title-page of the text volume.

A rare and appealing set.

First edition of the French translation prepared by Maurice Solovine (cf. Weil 1116).

One tear with a small restored loss to the right margin of the front cover, spine and covers slightly sunned, foxing to covers, two tears at head and foot of spine.

Copy complete with the publisher's announcement leaflet.

First edition, illustrated with 27 engraved plates (13 in the first volume and 14 in the second – plates 1–7 mistakenly bound after plates 8–14), cf. Ryckebusch 4989. Toussaint et Adolphe D 903. Gay 3239. Robertson 129.

Full mottled fawn calf bindings, flat spines gilt with triple fillets and floral tools (gilding partly faded), gilt roll tooling to headcaps, cherry morocco title and volume labels, plain endpapers with some usual marginal soiling, marbled edges. 19th-century bindings presented in two modern custom slipcases.

Joints restored, internally clean and well-preserved.

The astronomer Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Le Gentil de La Galaisière (1725–1792), a student of Jean-Dominique Cassini, spent nearly ten years in India and travelling through the Indian Ocean region.

"His work contains valuable information on currents, tides, monsoons, etc. He introduced knowledge of the Hindu zodiac and Brahmanic astronomy, and noted its concordance with Chaldean science" (Hoefer).

The second volume is entirely devoted to the Philippines (pp. 1–366, plates 1–5), Madagascar (pp. 367–628, plates 6–10), and the islands of France and Bourbon (pp. 629–844, plates 11–14).

First edition with the identifying feature of the true first printing, namely the absence of the elephant on the copyright page facing the first page of text.

Publisher's original binding, navy blue cloth spine showing slight discoloration, orange-red paper-covered boards, title label mounted on the upper cover and carried by Babar the elephant on his shoulders, a few scuffs, notably to the rear cover; green endpapers and pastedowns decorated with a long frieze of elephants holding each other's tails with their trunks; small abrasions to edges and corners.

One hinge slightly split at the head, with the leaves a little loosened at the top; internally well preserved.

Illustrated with drawings by Jean de Brunhoff.

First edition, and first issue of the fine steel engravings by Sainson.

The illustrations are distributed as follows:

• in the first volume: 145 plates outside the text, including a frontispiece and four maps, two of which are folding; the map of the Hawaiian Islands curiously appears twice: once as a folding map, once across two separate plates;
• in the second volume: 140 plates outside the text, including a frontispiece and three folding maps.
• Contemporary bindings in cherry red half shagreen, spines with four raised bands decorated with gilt garlands and double gilt fillets and floral tools, red cloth-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
• The steel engravings, after drawings by M. de Sainson, official artist on the Voyage of the Astrolabe, depict peoples from around the world, modes of transportation by land and sea, animals and plants, landscapes, and more.
• None of the bibliographies specify the exact number of plates. The index at the end of volume II provides clarity: the plates appear either as double-page spreads (72 and 70 respectively, not including the portrait frontispieces) or as single-page images, in which case there are 144 and 140, as is the case here.
• Moreover, many copies include duplicates, which accounts for the significant variation found in collation descriptions. Copy from the library of the Marquise H.-Dor. de Barthélémy (with ink stamp).
• Some scattered foxing, two corners slightly bumped, and black stains to the boards.

Rare first edition of the French translation, one of 350 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies aside from 50 on pur fil.

A dampstain at the center of the lower cover.
Rare

Partly first edition, one of 31 copies on pur fil paper, following only 5 on Japon and 10 on Hollande.
A well-preserved copy, notwithstanding slightly and partially toned endpapers, of no consequence.

Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author drawn by himself.

First edition, an ordinary paper copy.
The three volumes are housed in a full black morocco case, spine ruled in blind, date at foot, inside lined with khaki sheepskin, by Goy & Vilaine.

Handsome copy inscribed by Marcel Proust to Henri Massis in the first volume: 
“En témoignage de très vive sympathie Marcel Proust [a gesture of very fond affection].”

First edition, with no deluxe paper copies issued.
Handsome copy complete with its promotional wraparound band "L'amour-ogre".

First edition, one of 125 numbered copies on Japan paper, the deluxe issue.

Contemporary binding in red half morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, minor rubbing to spine without affecting its integrity, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns in a different marbled paper, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt on witnesses, binding signed by René Kieffer.

A handsome copy, finely bound.

Autograph letter dated and signed by Gustave Flaubert to Philippe de Chennevières, 16 lines in black ink, Usual folding crease.

A dismayed Flaubert desperately tries to create his play Le sexe faible at the Odéon Theatre: "... je vous assure qu'elle est honorable. Si nous échouons à l'Odéon c'est une affaire flambée..." [ I assure you it is honorable. If we fail at the Odéon this affair is a bust...]

Gustave Flaubert expresses concern over the director of the Odéon Theatre Félix Duquesnel’s apparent lack of interest in staging his play Le sexe faible. This play was the unfinished work of Louis Bouilhet, Flaubert’s close friend. Flaubert revised it in 1872–1873, only to face rejections from several Parisian theatre directors unwilling to stage the work. "Duquesnel, malgré sa promesse de le lire promptement, n'a pu en huit jours que parcourir les deux premiers actes..." [Duquesnel, despite assuring me he would read it quickly, only read two acts in 8 days...] He thus asks his correspondent, Philippe de Chennevières, whether M. Victor Arthur Rousseau de Beauplan might intervene on his behalf: "Ne serait-pas utile pour le bien de la cause que Mr de Beauplan lui recommandât ladite oeuvre ?" [Wouldn't it be useful for the good of the cause to ask for Mr de Beauplan to recommend the aforementioned play?]

First edition, one of the advance review copies.

A handsome copy despite two minor sunned spots to the spine-ends.

Exceptional presentation copy inscribed and signed by Dominique De Roux: "Pour Romain Gary pusiqu'il n'y a pas que le premier pas qui coûte, et le voilà fait. De Roux. Très beau votre article dans LIFE." [For Romain Gary, because it's not just the first step that's hard, and now it's done. De Roux. Your article in LIFE is very beautiful.]

Gary had indeed published a celebrated plea for the protection of nature, mankind and endangered species in Life Magazine entitled “Dear Elephant, Sir”, (22 December 1967). Amidst the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation, the prolific writer chose to reissue one of his masterpieces, 'Les Racines du ciel', and to restore its political resonance, in his Life op-ed:

"In these perilous days of 'balance through terror,' of massacres and elaborate calculations about how many humans would survive a nuclear holocaust, it is only natural that my thoughts should turn to you. To my mind, dear sir and elephant, you perfectly embody all that is now threatened with extinction in the name of progress, efficiency, absolute materialism, ideology, or even reason itself—for a certain abstract and inhuman use of reason and logic is becoming ever more complicit in our murderous madness. It now seems all too clear that we have behaved toward other species—and yours in particular—just as we are about to behave toward ourselves."

First edition, published under the pseudonym Jean La Rue.

Contemporary binding in red half shagreen, spine with four raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with black fillets, double gilt panels with ornamental tooling, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns in cat's-eye pattern paper, a few small bumps to edges and lower corners, sprinkled edges.

Minor, insignificant foxing.

First edition, printed in 250 numbered copies on Esquimat paper, this copy not numbered.

Small stain in the right margin of the upper cover of the first volume, minor soiling to the slipcase, otherwise a handsome copy.

Richly illustrated.

First collected illustrated edition, illustrated by Ferat, with engravings by Pannemaker and Hildibrand. The volume also includes Les Forceurs de blocus.

Publisher's binding known as "à l'obus" in a rare violet cloth, with the back cover in Lenègre type C. Spine faded, as is almost always the case with this particularly light-sensitive color. Strikingly fresh front cover. One corner slightly blunted, the others rubbed and a little turned in. Head- and tailpieces in good condition. Generally fresh paper, with some leaves showing spots of browning. All edges gilt, perfectly preserved.

A very good copy, clean and sound throughout.

Second edition, revised and annotated by J. Belin. Illustrated with 30 steel-engraved plates hors-texte depicting principally châteaux and monuments, and with a folding map (often missing).

Restoration period binding in half glazed hazelnut calf. Spine with flat false raised bands decorated with roulettes on the bands and blind fillets. Black calf title-label and volume label. Generally fresh throughout, with very white paper, some pale scattered foxing and a few plates browned. The spines show some browning, otherwise very fine condition overall, the boards without rubbing and corners sharp.

First edition printed to commemorate the centenary of the House of Hermès, one of the nominative copies on Imperial Japanese paper, this one inscribed for Mr. Saur.

Illustrated with 10 in-text vignettes, 6 full-page three-colour drawings, and photographic reproductions of Hermès products on 6 leaves devoted respectively to saddlery, polo, tobacco, leather goods, golf, and travel accessories.

Only three copies listed in the CCF (BnF, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Rennes).

Publisher’s Bradel binding in full flexible fawn board, flat spine without title, decorative endpapers and pastedowns.

A handsome commemorative booklet published for the 100th anniversary of the House of Hermès.

Text and illustrations by the renowned designer and graphic artist Maximilien Vox (1894–1974).

Strictly speaking, the creation of the company cannot date back much earlier than 1837, when Thierry Hermès (1801–1878) opened his first workshop at 56 rue Basse-du-Rempart (now disappeared), near the church of La Madeleine. He worked as a master harness-maker and saddler, designing, crafting and selling harnesses and horse equipment. It was in the 1920s that the Hermès name expanded into men’s and women’s fashion, watchmaking, jewellery, sports and city accessories, and interior design.

A rare and appealing copy.

First edition on chestnut paper, complete with its wraparound band for booksellers.
Two small tears without loss to the spine. 

First edition of Charcot's account of his second Antarctic expedition (August 1908 – June 1910).

Illustrated throughout with numerous in-text black-and-white figures, three folding maps, and a monochrome (blue) out-of-text view printed on two leaves.

Preface by Paul Doumer.

Bound in publisher's green bottle half shagreen, smooth spine gilt with typographic motifs, gilt date at foot, double gilt fillet borders on cat's-eye paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt; signed binding by Flammarion Vaillant.

Some soiling to the left margin of the upper board; internally clean and attractive overall, though the leaf bearing the autograph inscription shows marginal stains lightly affecting the inscription.

This second expedition led to Charcot's discovery of a new landmass, which he named after his father. The documents brought back proved even more significant than those from the first expedition, and a 2000-kilometre stretch of coastline was charted.

Rare autograph inscription dated 1921 from Jean-Baptiste Charcot to Gaby Lapierre.

First edition illustrated with 12 plates, including a large folding map.

Contemporary full sienna cloth binding, flat spine with gilt double fillets at foot, red morocco title label, blue paper endpapers and pastedowns, corners slightly rubbed.

A light stain to the edges, otherwise a pleasing copy.

One of the many scientific reports published to document the findings of Charcot’s first Antarctic expedition.

Ernest Gourdon (1873–1955) served as the expedition’s geologist.

Very rare first edition of the earliest French–Annamite vocabulary (see Cordier, Indosinica IV, 2287–2288).

Contemporary modest binding in brown half sheepskin, flat spine lacking at foot, partially covered with a handwritten label—partially torn—bearing the author's name and title; marbled paper-covered boards, pink endpapers.

Scuffing; boards and endpapers renewed.

On the origins of printing in Bangkok (1839), see Michael Winship, "L’imprimerie thaïlandaise : des origines à 1851," in: Le livre et l’imprimerie en Extrême-Orient et en Asie du Sud, 1986, pp. 265–280.

A wide-margined copy enriched with numerous early handwritten annotations in black and purple ink, and pencil.

First edition, one of the review copies.

Spine faded with noticeable waterstaining at foot, a few small spots in the margins of the covers.

Illustrated with 53 photographs by Brassaï.

On a card mounted to the front endpaper, a moving presentation inscription, dated and signed in blue ballpoint pen by Brassaï: "Pour Francis Ponge amical hommage de Brassaï Eze-Village le 29 octobre 1964."

First edition, one of 40 numbered copies on Vélin du Marais, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A faint halo to the upper left corner of the front cover, small tears to the foot of the spine where the edges are uncut.

Rare copy with full margins.

Original color lithograph poster for the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, signed in the plate "C. Boignard" and "H. Rapin," printed by Lapina. Minor marginal tears not affecting the image, folds with some very minor lacks of paper at cross folds.

Striking large-format original bonds emission poster for the renowned 1925 Paris International Exhibition, which gave its name to the "Art Deco" movement.

First edition, one of the review copies.
Spine with a small tear at the foot.
Double autograph inscription signed by Raymond Queneau to Madame Bonnet, the first in blue ink: "A madame Bonnet en sincère hommage Queneau", the asterisk referring to the second signed inscription: " complété en II II III, 131789076, ABCDEFG... Queneau" in black ink.

Rare first edition (Not in Lorentz or Sabin.)

Some minor and inconsequential foxing to the margins of a few leaves.

Pleasant copy preserved in its original wrappers.

First edition of the French translation for volumes 2, 3 and 4; second edition of the French translation for volume 1. (Not listed by Gay).

A few occasional spots, not affecting the overall freshness of the copy.

Bound in uniform olive green half percaline, smooth spines with gilt floral device and double gilt rules at foot, boards covered with decorative patterned paper, mauve endpapers and pastedowns, inner hinges discreetly restored with adhesive or partly split, all edges red.

Illustrated with 53 black plates comprising 92 engravings, 4 chromolithographs, a fine folding map of Northern and Central Africa showing the explored areas and the route taken, and a frontispiece portrait of the author.

Illustrations distributed as follows:

Volume 1: a frontispiece portrait of the author and one colour plate.

Volume 2: (pagination jumps from 164 to 167 without loss), one colour plate and 18 black plates.

Volume 3: one colour plate.

Volume 4: one colour plate, 35 black plates, and a large folding colour map.

The four colour plates are titled: Taepe, point of confluence of the Benue and Faro rivers, 13 June 1851. – Herd of elephants near Lake Chad, 25 September 1851. – Arrival in Timbuktu, 7 September 1853. – Ashenoumma, 17 June 1855. Lithographed after the author's drawings and printed by J. Adam in Munich.

Note: the first black plate in volume 2 and the colour map in volume 4 need to be remounted.

Conducted between 1850 and 1855, Henri Barth's explorations "resteront à jamais célèbres dans les annales de la géographie": he provided accurate data on the entire region of Central Africa stretching from Bagirmi in the east to Timbuktu in the west, discovered the Benue River, and more.

A handsome, uniformly bound copy of this much sought-after work.

First edition, one of 100 copies printed on superior vellum paper, the only deluxe issue.

Illustrated.

A pleasing copy.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

Quarter red shagreen with corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, gilt-patterned paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

A handsome and scarce copy, attractively bound.

First edition, one of 40 copies printed on Vélin du Marais, the only deluxe copies.

Lower cover slightly warped, otherwise a handsome copy.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe issue.

A rare and attractive copy.

First edition, one of the review copies.

A pleasant copy, slightly trimmed as usual.

Inscribed and signed by Raymond Queneau: "A madame A. Bonnet en bien sincère et respectueux hommage Queneau."

First edition, one of 15 copies printed on pure Arches wove paper, the deluxe issue.

A fine copy of this work dedicated by Paul Vialar to the President of Côte d'Ivoire, Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

First edition, one of 29 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies.

A fine and rare example.

First edition, one of 40 numbered copies on Vélin du Marais, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A handsome copy, despite two faint stains at the foot of the spine.

Very rare first edition.

Foxing. A faint waterstain at the foot of the second half of the first volume.

Contemporary navy blue half calf bindings, spines with four raised bands decorated with gilt and black fillets, gilt roll tooling at head and foot, spines slightly faded, a small piece of leather missing at the foot of the front board of the first volume; wide gilt fillet framing the marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers, edges sprinkled, one corner rubbed, the others very slightly so; period bindings.

First illustrated edition, partially original, published a few months after the exceedingly rare first edition.

Scattered foxing.

Full navy blue shagreen bindings, smooth spines, covers framed with a gilt fillet and a black fillet, white moiré silk endpapers and pastedowns, occasionally lightly soiled at the margins, all edges gilt. English-style pastiche romantic bindings, late 19th century.

Illustrated with numerous wood-engraved vignettes and 81 full-page plates engraved on wood (47 wood-engravings) and steel (34 steel-engravings) after the leading artists of the period, including Honoré Daumier, Célestin Nanteuil, Anthelme Trimolet, Gustave Staal...