Paul Ollendorff

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

Half havana morocco binding with corners, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt stippling and ornamented with double gilt compartments richly embellished with gilt floral motifs as well as a mosaic navy morocco piece, gilt date at foot, light rubbing to spine without consequence, frame of gilt fillets on marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt retaining its deckled edges, contemporary binding signed by Lancelin.

Work illustrated with a portrait of the author on the cover and title page.
Handsome full-margined copy in fine condition.
Provenance: from the library of Paul Ollendorff.

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Holland paper, this copy bearing No. 1, the only deluxe copies.

Half dark green morocco binding with corners, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt stippling and ornamented with double gilt compartments richly embellished with gilt typographical motifs, gilt date at foot, frame of gilt fillets on marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt retaining its deckled edges, contemporary binding signed by Lancelin.

Handsome full-margined copy in fine condition.
Provenance: from the library of Paul Ollendorff.

First edition, for which there is no mention of large paper copies.
Contemporary Bradel binding in half khaki cloth over marbled paper boards, the spine with gilt floral motif, a double gilt fillet at foot of spine, red shagreen title label (small marginal scratches), one lower corner rubbed.
A rare and precious autograph inscription from Alphonse Allais to his publisher Paul Ollendorff : "... le seul éditeur vraiment digne de ce nom, hommage d'un auteur qui n'est pas non plus dans une potiche [the only publisher really worthy of that name, homage from an author who is also not on a sinecure".
Provenance : library of Paul Ollendorff. 

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on Hollande paper, the only large paper copies along with 5 on Japon.
Elegant brown morocco by G. Levitzsky, spine in six compartments, gilt roulettes to head- and tail-pieces, date at foot of spine, double gilt fillets to edges of covers, pastedowns with a frame of dentelles and quintuple gilt fillets, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.
Cover illustrated by Riou.
A very good copy in a handsome binding. 

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.