Sans nom d'éditeur

Rare. We have found nothing concerning this work, absent from libraries.
Half calf Romantic binding with corners in red, smooth spine with 4 tools and fillets. Foxing. One corner of the title page border reinforced.
In the form of a tale and dialogue between a father and son, the author examines the nobility of character of a good merchant, how he should be a good father to his son and a good father to his country. Numerous passages on the importance of agriculture. « Ce travail lui donna des vues très étendues sur les rapports du commerce, avec le bonheur particulier & général des hommes? » (This work gave him very extensive views on the relationship of commerce with the particular & general happiness of mankind?).

First edition. Rare.

Contemporary full calf bindings. Smooth spines with gilt fillets. Red and black morocco title and volume labels. Gilt fillet borders on covers. All edges gilt. Some rubbing.

Antoine de La Salle (1754-1829), philosopher and scientist, was certainly one of the most curious thinkers of his time; his ideas, sometimes whimsical and muddled, made him the leader of the physico-moral school. Physiognomy naturally plays an important part in this theory. La Mechanique is both a classical treatise on physiognomy and a new way of considering the relationship between morals and the body from an educational perspective. Beyond this, La Mechanique is also a treatise on understanding and logic; one finds theories on phonetics and linguistics, in short everything that concerns man - moral, intellectual and physical. La Salle led an eventful life, made numerous voyages, visited America and Asia, studied the relationships between Buddhism and Christianity, wrote an unpublished Histoire de la Chine, and learned Arabic. Then, having left the navy, he traversed Europe, living in Spain then in Italy before returning to settle in Paris where he devoted himself to philosophy and the sciences.

Autograph letter dated and signed by Jean-Louis Barrault, addressed to Thierry Maulnier (20 lines in blue ink on a single leaf).
Folding marks from mailing, with a small tear at the foot of the letter.

Autograph note dated and signed by Paul Claudel, one page addressed to Thierry Maulnier (12 lines in blue ink on a single sheet).
Central folds.

Autograph manuscript by the author, two and a half pages in-8, published in the issue of May 11, 1944 of the Journal des Débats. Complete manuscript in very dense handwriting, with numerous erasures, corrections, and additions. Literary column published on the occasion of the release of Gaston Bachelard's L'air et les songes. Accompanied by the complete typescript.

« L'homme est d'abord rêverie, puissance d'imaginer avant d'être sensibilité et raison », Blanchot’s analysis of this new essay by Bachelard provides an opportunity to confront the philosopher with the uncertainties of his theory, which tends to fragment in the plurality of its forms. « Qu'est-ce pour lui que l'image et l'imagination ? On ne le voit pas nettement ».
Yet this sometimes severe critique is above all a device to highlight the true value of Bachelard’s work, which also coincides with one of the central themes of Blanchot’s thought: the creative power of poetic language: "L'image littéraire est un fait premier; elle est la poésie même; (...) se demander s'il y à en nous une poésie d'avant les mots, d'avant les images, un en deçà poétique, une blancheur et un silence que le langage essiaerait de reproduire, c'est méconnaitre l'activité littéraire qui une activité naturelle, originelle, correspondant à une action de l'imagination - faculté de produire l'irréel qui est la conscience même - sur le langage."
Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are of the greatest rarity.

Original and unpublished manuscript by “Jean Cocquebert de Roquelaure de Reims”, dated 1647; 1 title leaf and 216 folios numbered in ink (431 pp. of text), including 2 ff. of a “Table of Towns and Other Places Contained in this Book” at the end. The full list of towns and villages cited in the manuscript is provided at the end of this description.
Full limp vellum binding, smooth spine with a calf lettering piece. Some dampstaining; one quire detached.

During the closing years of the Thirty Years’ War, a traveller from Reims named Jean Cocquebert, set down in this exceptional manuscript the entirety of his seven‑month journey through France and Italy in the year 1647. From Lyon to Marseille, where he embarked for Genoa, Cocquebert carries us on to Rome and Venice, allowing the reader to grasp the intimate, day‑by‑day ordeal of the long journey to the Eternal City and La Serenissima.

In southern France, Cocquebert describes in detail each stage, every hamlet and every inn in the Lyonnais, Dauphiné, Comtat Venaissin, Provence, and Languedoc regions which he explores even more thoroughly on his return route to Lyon. He records in particular a visit in Aix‑en‑Provence to the cabinet of curiosities of “a good old man,” geographically identifiable from his description as that of the celebrated notary Boniface Borrilli (visited by King Louis XIII in 1622) as well as to the famed botanical garden of the Montpellier Faculty of Medicine, where he encounters “a maid in this garden who speaks Latin better than French, which makes those who hear her jargon laugh.” We follow closely his pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Mary Magdalene at Sainte‑Baume (much mutilated during the Revolution) and to the Grande Chartreuse. His adventures abound in depictions of Provençal gastronomy - on the Îles Pomègues near Marseille he eats rock samphire growing between the stones, and throughout his journey consumes quantities of olive oil, together with French and Italian wines with detailed mentions of vineyards, quality, and price.

The daily chronicle of his Italian sojourn brims with accounts of storms, pirates, processions, flagellants, carnivals, jeu de paume, horse races, visits to the masterpieces of the Vatican and to the cabinets of curiosities in the Barberini and Ludovisi palaces, to the Doge’s Palace, and to the glassworks of Murano. Faithful to his hometown of Reims, he ranks the beauties of Reims Cathedral above the marvels of the Italian churches. His connections within the clergy of his native city enabling him to travel untroubled. The manuscript contains precious comments and first‑hand testimonies on life in Italy, on the place of the Jews in the cities he visits, and on the debauchery and violence encountered along the way, particularly in Rome, where capital executions and prostitution were commonplace. In Modena, Cocquebert even turns soldier for several months, offering a rare source on the daily life of French troops posted in the duchy of Francesco I d’Este, then preparing to attack the Milanese with Mazarin’s support.

Black-and-white photograph showing Kirk Douglas smiling, facing the camera.

A handsome example.

Boldly signed by Kirk Douglas in the upper right corner of the photograph.

Provenance: from the collection of renowned autograph collector Claude Armand.

Original black and white photograph of Roger Peyrefitte.

A fine example. Photographer Rodolphe Haussaire's printed stamp to verso.

Inscribed, dated and signed by Roger Peyrefitte to the noted autograph collector Claude Armand.

Printed proof with autograph inscription and autograph correction "Victor Hugo à l'Espagne" instead of "Victor Hugo et l'Espagne" of an article by Hugo written in Guernsey dated in the print "Hauteville House, 22 October 1868". Published in La Liberté (26 October 1868), with a dedication to Emile de Girardin ("à mon cher et grand ami") which does not yet appear in this preparatory broadside. Folds inherent to the elongated format of the sheet, a small tear on one letter without loss.

Proof enhanced with an autograph correction to the title and an exceptional autograph inscription signed to literary critic and later political polemicist Eugène Pelletan:  "A Eugène Pelletan Victor Hugo".  The writer addresses this appeal to republican Spain following the September Revolution, which had ended the despotic reign of Isabella of Aragon. Hugo nurtured immense hope that a Spanish republic could be decisive not only for the prosperity of the Spanish people but also for European peace and democracy.

Pelletan had himself signed a scathing article the previous month on the departure of the Queen of Spain in his newspaper La Tribune. The present broadside provides unprecedented proof that Victor Hugo reacted in the wake of Pelletan and read his republican appeal, which he reiterates here through his lyrical verve, characteristic of his political writings. Both men endured a violent barrage of criticism after the publication of their articles.

Original watercolour signed with Sonia Delaunay’s initials, “S.D.” One leaf under a wooden frame with a mat, a few minor chips and small lacks to the frame. Red stamp on the verso of the leaf: "Ce projet de tissu provient de l'Atelier que dirigeait Sonia Delaunay entre 1925 et 1933. Son fils, Charles Delaunay".

Exceptional sketch of a colourful chevron dress, one of the famous "tissus simultanés" created by Sonia Delaunay. Likely to be a preparatory drawing for a dress featured in Delaunay’s portfolio Ses Peintures, Ses Objets, Ses Tissus Simultanés, Ses Modes, published on the occasion of the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs.

First edition of this exhibition catalogue featuring works by Arman, César, Christo, and Niki de Saint Phalle, presented in 1982 at the Galerie des Ponchettes and the Contemporary Art Gallery of the Museums of Nice.

Minor spotting to the lower right corner of the upper cover and to the lower edge.

Text by Pierre Restany, illustrated throughout.

Other artists featured include Jean Tinguely, Martial Raysse, Gérard Deschamps, François Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Daniel Spoerri, and Mimmo Rotella.

On the title page, an original drawing by Arman in blue ink, composed of repeated renderings of his signature forming one of his sculptural motifs.

Autograph letter, dated and signed, addressed to his friend Pierre Louÿs while at sea, 3 numbered leaves written in violet ink.

Folds from original mailing, manuscript envelope enclosed.

Pierre Louÿs had delivered Claude Farrère’s manuscript of "La bataille"—likely to the painter Charles Fouqueray—and the author had failed to thank him: "Vous ai-je seulement remercié d'avoir vous-même porté chez F un manuscrit du poids de 2.780 grammes, à travers les XVe, VIIe et XIVe arrondissements ? A propos ? J'espère bien que ce n'est pas pour moi que vous êtes obligé d'attendre le retour de F avant de quitter Paris ?"

Claude Farrère misses his friend’s company and, despite his amorous entanglements, expresses a deep sense of boredom: "Je m'ennuie fort, ici, en votre absence. La dame aux rubans roses et sa mère compliquent inutilement son existence. Je suis triste comme un bonnet de nuit abandonné. et à présent que mon bouquin est fini, je ne sais plus que faire, Vide insondable. Écrivez-moi un peu."

Entertaining fragments of handwritten notes and reflections by Sacha Guitry on the French origins of the English language, approximately 75 lines in black ink across 6 leaves.

Sacha Guitry wittily comments on the hospitality of the English language: "Aucune langue n'a été plus accueillante que la langue anglaise..." and its deep-rooted traditions, heavily influenced by French: "J'ai pu constater (on me l'avait dit mais je ne le croyais pas ! ) que, à la chambre des Lords lorsque le Roi prend la parole un huissier s'écrie : Oyez ! oyez ! Or, le mot oyez s'écrie o - y - e - z et c'est le vieux français : oyez ! du verbe ouïr - écouter." [...] "Lorsque le Roi prend une décision, tous les lords disent en choeur : le Roi le veult !"

The playwright identifies another linguistic root of Shakespeare’s tongue—German: "dans la langue anglaise les animaux comestibles ont un nom quand ils sont vivants et un autre nom quand ils sont morts. Le boeuf se nomme beef quand il est vivant et ox quand il est mort, le cochon se nomme pig quand il est vivant et porc quand il est mort..." This allows him to underscore the predominance of the French art de vivre and the cultural ascendancy of France over her German and English cousins: "comment se fait-il que tous les animaux aient des noms français quand ils sont morts et des noms allemands quand ils sont vivants ? Parce qu'en Angleterre depuis le XIIIe siècle les gardiens de troupeau ont toujours été allemands ... et les cuisiniers français."

Sacha Guitry concludes his demonstration with inevitable and near-clichéd phrases, nonetheless awarding England a merit point (though refusing to grant it a capital letter): "mais si le mot humour vient du français humeur, l'humour vient d'angleterre comme le caviar de Russie, comme les valses viennent de Vienne..."

These patriotic and humorous handwritten musings are unfortunately incomplete, covering only the first six leaves of these reflections.

Christmas greeting card illustrated with a printed drawing by Mathurin Méheut, to which he added a few handwritten words on the verso, addressed to a couple of friends:

"Aux vieux et très bons amis Dupouy ceux du tertre et de toujours, à toute leur famille. Les voeux bien sincères de MMéheut."

Marguerite Méheut, the artist’s wife, also added a note to convey her own wishes: "Aux parents, aux enfants, tous nos meilleurs voeux de bonne et heureuse année. Toutes nos amitiés à partager. Marg. Méheut."

Two small stains on the verso of the card.

Autograph letter dated and signed by Romain Rolland, 21 lines in blue ink, written from Villeneuve Schönbrunn.
Folding from postal dispatch, minor foxing.
Romain Rolland requests information necessary to properly draft the requested preface: "J'ai bien reçu les épreuves du volume, et je les ai lues. Il me manque encore les notes, qui me seront le plus nécessaires..."
He provides his Paris address on Boulevard du Montparnasse and informs his correspondent that he will be travelling for a few more days: "Je quitte Schoenbrunn, demain, et je ne saurais donner d'adresse stable, pour une quinzaine de jours." before turning to the Stendhalian task: "Pourriez-vous me communiquer le premier volume paru des oeuvres de Stendhal ? Cela me guidera un peu." [Can you send me the first volume of Stendhal's works? This will guide me a bit].

Original photograph by Lewis Carroll (Charles Ludwidge Dodgson), rectan­gular albumen print. The tondo portrait of the little girl gives way to a partic­ularly visible collodion emulsion, also bearing the number added by Carroll in the negative at top left. Discreet resto­ration at the ends of the plate, a diago­nal fold in the upper left corner.

Extraordinary photograph of Lewis Carroll's favorite sitter Xie Kitchin, one of the first portraits of his young muse, then aged 5. One of the few retaining as much of the collodion emulsion peel­ing away from the edges of the glass negative - a deliberate artistic choice by Carroll. 

The use of the collodion process, dubbed "black art" is in fact insepa­rable from Carroll's creative process. He discovered photography through this new technique and described it as "completely scientific and wonderfully mysterious," requiring long exposures and tedious handling which appealed to his inventor side. In addition to be­ing a practitioner, he also wrote a book on the subject, titled Photography Ex­traordinary. Twenty-three years later as he wrote in his memoirs, Carroll aban­doned photography when collodion disappeared in favor of dry plate. This extremely rare print bears witness to this complex technique, revealing the portrait of little Xie surrounded by a dark, tormented halo induced by the chemical collodion reaction.
Carroll immortalises one of his most fa­mous little girls, who along with Alice Liddell has become the very symbol of his photographic work. The striking portrait embodies Victorian ideals of childhood, reflecting Carroll's belief in the child's innocence rooted in their perceived temporal proximity to God, shielding them from sin and the cor­rupting influences of society. Alexan­dria "Xie" Kitchin, daughter of one of the writer-photographer's colleagues at Christ Church, appeared in no few­er than fifty of his photographs. This portrait dates from their earliest ses­sions, taken in August 1869 at his Badcock's Yard studio.
A marvelous example of Lewis Car­roll's ceaseless pursuit of beauty and a testament to his mastery of the pho­tographic arts.
Edward Wakeling, IN-1710, p. 204. 
Provenance: Sotheby's London, 08/05/1992, lot no. 186. Another print in smaller format was sold in 2023 - cropped without the number added by Dodgson in the negative.
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of M. Alan Tannenbaum in the cataloguing of this photograph.

Complete and mostly unpublished autograph manuscript by Mouloud Feraoun, dated by the author from “December 1956” to “July 1958”, for his work "Les Poèmes de Si Mohand", published in 1960 by Éditions de Minuit. Numerous erasures, corrections, deleted passages, and additions.

178 manuscript pages in blue and black ink, written in a lined Séyès notebook, with the autograph title “Si Mohand” on the upper cover; a manuscript slip tipped onto page 53 and numbered by the author; also preserved in the notebook: 5 typescript pages with autograph corrections, entitled “Voyage de Si Mohand de Maison Carrée à Michelet (Recueilli par la P. Giacobetti des P. B. à Beni-Yenni, en 1906 peu de temps après la mort du poète)” [Si Mohand's travel from Maison Carrée at Michelet (Transcribed by F[ather] Giacobetti of the B[enedictine] F[athers], in 1906 shortly after the poet's death)]. A few scattered spots, a burn mark on the final pages of the notebook. Dampstains and smudging to the covers.

Together with: two autograph letters addressed to Mouloud Feraoun. The first, from J. Simon, dated 4 September 1956; the second, from Emmanuel Roblès, written between 1957 and 1958. An original photograph of Mouloud Feraoun alongside Emmanuel Roblès.

Exceptional manuscript of the last book published by Algerian writer Mouloud Feraoun before his assassination by the OAS: the first collected edition of the great Berber poet Si Mohand also known as Mhand (ca. 1840-1906), whose poems had been transmitted orally for nearly a century.

Despite the considerable difference between this original manuscript and the much-abridged published version, we have found no record of any other manuscript version of "Les Poèmes de Si Mohand". All other known manuscripts of Feraoun’s works and writings are held at the Fondation Mouloud Feraoun in Algiers.

Original black and white photograph depicting Valéry Giscard d'Estaing posing frontally.

A fine copy. Original envelope with the letterhead of the French Presidency included.

Inscribed and signed tribute by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in blue ink.

Provenance: from the collection of the noted autograph collector Claude Armand.

Original black and white photograph, dated and inscribed by Jacques Chirac.

A handsome copy.

Autograph inscription, dated and signed by Jacques Chirac: "Avec mes amitiés J. Chirac 24 4 74."

Provenance: from the collection of the noted autograph collector Claude Armand.