Gallimard (1911 - )

First edition, one of 647 numbered copies on deluxe paper, the only deluxe issue after 109 reimposed copies.

Correspondence collected and annotated by Jean-Marie Carré.

A fine copy.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Spine sunned with two small tears at head and foot, boards slightly soiled.
Iconography.
Exceptional full-page autograph inscription signed by Eugène Ionesco to his friends from the Renaud-Barrault company including Madeleine Renaud, Jean-Louis Barrault, Simone Benmussa, Jean Desailly: "Mon cher Jean-Louis, ma chère Madeleine, ma chère Simone, mon cher Jean, mon cher Sabatier, mon cher Cattand, ma chère Marie-Hélène, mon cher Outin, ma chère Benmussa, je vous aime, je suis vôtre pour toujours. Eugène ionesco." (My dear Jean-Louis, my dear Madeleine, my dear Simone, my dear Jean, my dear Sabatier, my dear Cattand, my dear Marie-Hélène, my dear Outin, my dear Benmussa, I love you, I am yours forever. Eugène ionesco.)
Our copy contains manuscript annotations and reading marks by Simone Benmussa in the margins of certain paragraphs.
Literary advisor to the Jean-Louis Barrault - Madeleine Renaud Company, then, in 1957, editor-in-chief of the Cahiers Renaud-Barrault, Simone Benmussa also directed, from the Théâtre de l'Odéon, the cultural service and the Cahiers of the Renaud-Barrault company. She adapted for the theater works by her friend Nathalie Sarraute, Pierre Klossowski, Jean Cocteau, Gertrude Stein... She was the companion of actress Erika Kralik.