Sans nom d'éditeur

Original unsigned burin engraving, presumably by Harman Jansz van Muller.
Printed on watermarked laid paper in early 17th-century.
This is an illustration of the Gospel according to Matthew 25.20-23,

 "And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 

Latin caption in the lower part of the engraving. Numbered references "5" at the bottom of the...

Original unsigned burin engraving probably by Claes Jansz Visscher, known as Piscator.
Printed on watermarked laid paper, in the early 17th century.
This is an illustration of the Gospel according to Matthew 2-12,

"Then, being divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way."

Latin caption in the lower part of the engraving. Numbered mention "12" in the lower right corner within the engraving, and manuscript mention "17" in margin in the upper right corner. An old manuscript annotation in Greek characters under the right corner of the plate mark. Crown watermark. Minor foxing and...

New and improved enlarged edition (partly original), illustrated with a frontispiece, 12 unsigned figures, and 6 title vignettes (the title pages are entirely engraved). A fine printing. The original 1770 edition comprised only 3 volumes in-12.
Contemporary full mottled calf bindings. Smooth spines decorated with floral tools and multiple gilt rolls. Triple gilt fillet framing on covers. Blue sprinkled edges. Slight surface wear to the covers. A few wormholes to the joints, and some worming in the margin of volume I. Despite these minor flaws, a handsome, well-bound and fresh copy.

Rare first edition of this literary hoax, spuriously attributed by the translator to Cadmus of Miletus in a lengthy explanatory preface. Illustrated with a frontispiece after Cochin.
Contemporary full blond calf binding. Spine gilt-tooled between raised bands. Red morocco title label. Headcap partly worn and upper joint split at the head. Surface abrasions to the boards.

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...

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...

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.

Reprint in 12mo published the same year as the first edition in 4to. Both issued from the Elzevier press.

Pastiche binding in half light brown sheep, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and six compartments decorated with gilt rolls, one containing the title in gilt, marbled paper boards, sprinkled edges, shell-pattern marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

Hinges rubbed, one with a slight split at the upper right extending 2...

First edition printed in a small number of copies.

A rare and pleasing copy.

Autograph postcard dated 23 July 1924 and signed by Panait Istrati, addressed to Raoul Simonson from Massevaux, where he was spending his summer holidays.

Seven lines in blue ink; the recto of the postcard features a photographic view of Massevaux.

"Salutations d'un ami qui se souvient avec plaisir de votre sincère enthousiasme pour tout ce qui est beau. Panait Istrati. Massevaux 23/7/1924." ["Greetings from a friend who fondly remembers your sincere enthusiasm for all that is beautiful. Panaït Istrati. Massevaux, 23 July...

Final set of corrected proofs of Henri Calet's most important work: Le Tout sur le tout, 136 leaves in 17 unbound quires, with the "ready for press" manuscript inscription dated June 1, 1948. The pages are numbered from 10 to 271 (and, in pencil, from 9 to 274).

"In 1947, Henri Calet began writing "Aux vingt arrondissements", commissioned by Éditions de Minuit, ultimately published by Gallimard in 1948 under the title "Le Tout sur le tout". On 6 December 1948, Calet received for this book – considered by many to be his best – the first Prix de la Cote d'amour, awarded by an exclusively female jury. It honored a sad and...

Touching autograph note, dated and signed, addressed to his friend, the writer Christiane Baroche, eleven lines in black ink on a Post-it, concerning his wife’s illness and the treatment she is undergoing.

With the accompanying handwritten envelope on which the addressee added the name of her correspondent, Cortázar, in the upper left corner.

"31 (sic)/9/82 Chère Christiane,

un mot pour te remercier de ta carte et tes souhaits concernant Carol. Elle commence un traitement à la cortisone, et j’espère que bientôt il y aura de bons résultats. Merci de nous offrir ta maison, cela fait du bien de savoir qu’il y...

Touching autograph card, dated and signed by Julio Cortázar, addressed to his friend, the writer Christiane Baroche: eight lines in black ink, thanking her for the comfort she had given to his wife Carol, then suffering from an incurable illness.

"29/11/82

je n'oublierai jamais, Christiane, ta présence près de Carol, ta bonté que - je le sais - l'encourageait tant dans sa souffrance. Je ne peux pas écrire davantage, je t'embrasse très fort, Julio. Ton poème sera toujours près de mon coeur."

Black and white photographic postcard depicting a smiling Henri Salvador, his chin resting in his right hand.

A fine copy.

Signed autograph inscription by Henri Salvador in the upper left corner of the image.

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

Bronze cast of the Marquis de Sade's skull by the master founder Avangini. One of a unique numbered edition of 99 bearing a reproduction of Sade's signature, this one no.31.
Also included is a certificate of authenticity signed by the Comtesse de Sade, with the family's wax seal.
Provenance: family archives.

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...

Later print of a black and white photograph of Joan Crawford, taken in the 1950s.

A fine copy.

Inscribed and signed by Joan Crawford to the renowned autograph collector Claude Armand: "Dear Claude thnak you for your warming letter. Bless you Joan Crawford."

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...

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.

Later print of an iconic 1950s photograph capturing "The look" in profile, with her right hand resting on her hip.

Signed in black felt-tip pen by Lauren Bacall.

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

Rare and fragile original French satirical leaflet dated August 1944.
Vertical and horizontal folds.
This rare document begins by stating sarcastic titles and last wishes of Adolf Hitler:
“Hitler, known as Adolphe to the Nazis and Dodofe to the Gretchens of my former Reich of Krauts, declares the following:On the verge of vomiting my soul to the devil, afflicted with dysentery accentuating the brown color of the flaps of my shirt, having my buttocks in disarray (the result of the kicks up my arse picked up on all the fronts of Europe)...”
This mock testament, written in August 1944, delivers a sarcastic commentary on the Axis powers' imminent downfall...

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...

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...

Edition regarded as the masterpiece of the painter and engraver Charles Eisen, and a counterfeit of the famed Fermiers généraux edition.

This edition is illustrated with 2 engraved frontispieces by Vidal, 2 title vignettes, 1 portrait after Hyacinthe Rigaud, along with 80 plates and 43 tailpieces. One engraving is unfortunately missing from our copy, which contains 79 engravings instead of 80.

A few minor spots, not affecting the text.

Bound in contemporary full green morocco, flat spines slightly sunned, decorated with double gilt fillets and gilt floral and typographic motifs, red morocco lettering-pieces and volume labels, gilt roll tooling at head and tail...

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...

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...

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.

Rare example of this propaganda leaflet published by the Nazi Occupier, which became the most iconic image of the Resistance. This smaller version of the famous Affiche Rouge features the poster on the recto and a paragraph on the verso castigating « l'Armée du crime contre la France » ("the Army of Crime against France"). It opens with accusations against the « rêve mondial du complot juif » ("the global dream of the Jewish conspiracy") and claims that « si des Français sabotent, pillent et tuent (...) ce sont toujours des juifs qui les inspirent » ("if Frenchmen sabotage, loot, and kill (...) it is always Jews who inspire them").
A...

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...