Curiosities

First edition of the republication of this rare and anonymous text by Louis Lacour. By this date, the Académie des bibliophiles had published 18 rare and forgotten texts, bibliophilic curiosities. Limited edition of 200 numbered copies on laid paper, No. 10. Title page in red and black.

Contemporary half red shagreen binding with corners signed Gaetan Ronner at the top of the endpaper. Smooth spine. Gilt title. Uncut throughout. 

Bookplate: Library of Count F. de Rohan Chabot.

The author of this piece wrote this account based on the testimony given to him by Madame de Grammont. He depicts the Duke of Choiseul visiting the Princess of Guéménée while she was...

Complete series of illustrations the tale of Red Riding Hood hand-painted on 12 glass plates intended for a magic lantern, the ancestor of the projector and the cinema.
Publisher's cardboard box, with the titles on the top board: “12 Superior English Made lantern slides”. Handwritten: “Red Riding Hood”. Signs of rubbing on the box. A stop in the split lid at 2cm. On plate 9, paper is missing which circles the plate in a border. On plate 12, the black part has a small scratch, this part encircling the medallion which is projected by the lantern. Otherwise collection in excellent condition.
Millikin & Lawley carried out their trade in magic lanterns and plates between 1860...

New edition, after the original published in 1627 under the title: De proxeneta seu De prudentia civili. One frontispiece title.
Copy with the cipher and arms of the Duke and Duchess of Montausier.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Spine decorated with the crowned cipher of the Duke and Duchess of Montausier (repeated 3 times in each compartment). Brown sheep title label. Boards stamped with arms and ciphers in the corners and triple fillet frame. Red edges. Paper browned. Skilful and fine restorations to headcaps, joints and corners. Gilding faded in places. Good copy.
Major figure of the 17th century, Charles de Sainte-Maure was made Duke of Montausier and...

First edition, one of 50 copies printed anonymously on papier japon.
First edition, one of 50 copies printed anonymously on papier japon.
Illustrated with an erotic frontispiece by Félicien Rops on chine.
Custom chemise and slipcase in half morocco and paper boards signed Boichot, some discreet restorations to the spine and covers, some discreet restorations to the top margin of the frontispiece, not affecting the engraving.
“La Présidente”, honorary nickname given to Apollonie Sabatier (alias Aglaëe Savatier, her real name), was one of the most captivating Salon hostesses of the 19th century. She inspired an ethereal love in Baudelaire who...

First edition. This pamphlet contains no editorial information, an understandable absence in these times of repression.

Modern Bradel cardboard binding. Smooth spine with a long burgundy shagreen title-label. lacks to head. Joints rubbed. The cardboard is covered with a reproduction of a naive engraving in the style of chapbook editions, with a caption: Louis XVIII Le Désiré, King of France and Navarre, praying for his brother.
Bookplate, circa 1920 with the letter R on a floral background. A facsimile of the account of the king's death referenced in the text has been pasted onto the endpapers.
Testimony on the events that preceded Louis XVI's execution, his...

The rare first edition. The letter to the king is preceded by his coat of arms which occupies the facing page. Royal armorial vignette on title.

Contemporary limp vellum binding. Unlettered smooth spine. Good copy.

Curious collection of letters that the author addressed to great figures in order to obtain favors and gratifications from them. Printed without signatures or pagination so as to be able to change the order of the letters and offer the dedication to each of the persons in the letters. 35 letters compose the collection, this one seeming to have been composed for the king, followed by the queen, the prince, and the Dukes.

Collection of documents formed of 33 original contemporary silver halide print photographs, a reproduction of a press clipping from La Voix du Nord and three mimeographed technical plans, united in a black binder with a label with the inscription «Production Report «press» – press-forming of the ½ spheres of Ct Cousteau's diving saucer – February 1964.» Handwritten title page.
Signed, handwritten presentation: «Avec les amitiés du reporter photographe Wallemme Raoul» «With love from the photojournalist Wallemme Raoul.»
Very beautiful and unique collection, testifying to the genius of the making of the Deep Star 4000, a diving saucer invented by...

Original poster by Karen Horowitz numbered 145/200, dated 1974 and signed in pencil, showing a photograph with a superimposed quote from Lawrence Durrell's Justine: “The world is like a cucumber – today it's in your hand, tomorrow up your ass”.
A few tiny wormholes.

Manuscript inscription in felt tip pen by Lawrence Durrell to the left of the quote: “Buttons dear Attention! Larry Durrell. 1978”

This poster was given to a young lover of the author's who, in both Sommières and Paris, livened up his lonely days at the end of the 60s and in the 70s. Janine Brun, also known as “Buttons” in the author's letters and postcards was described thus...

First French edition, translated by Joncourt.

Later binding ca. 1790 in full blonde sheep with raised grain. Smooth spine decorated with 5 fleurons. Black sheep title label. Some rubbing. 2 corners slightly bumped. Good copy.
Manuscript gift inscription: "J'appartiens à Collins d'Anglus au collège à Mazarin à Paris, 1770."
Work presented to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh and published as a response to Hume's essay on population. Based on computational hypotheses about births and deaths, the author establishes approximate population figures from the biblical primitive couple through Antiquity. Drawing from known sources and historians, Wallace seeks to...

Exceptionally rare autograph satirical poem by Louis Aragon, entitled Distiques pour une Carmagnole de la Honte, written between September 1944 and February 1945. 26 lines penned in black ink on a single leaf, with a note from the author in blue ink at the foot of the page.
Our manuscript belongs to a group of thirteen poems composed during the first half of 1945, intended for publication in a poetry anthology (Aragon, published by Pierre Seghers in Paris, Collection “Poètes d’aujourd’hui” no. 2, 20 July 1945). It was sent by Aragon as a working copy to his editor and friend Claude Roy. This autograph poem is the only known...

First edition consisting of 6 decorative plates and 2 plates with pre-cut characters.
Rare and fine copy complete with red glossed slipcase (with two tears at theback cover) and cardboard packaging, affected by some slight foxing on the covers.

First edition, one of 15 numbered copies on Hollande Van Gelder paper and signed with the publisher's initials.
Full green morocco, the spine in five compartments, the first cover inlayed with a large and superb plate by Marguerite Lecreux of a horn sculpted in Cameo, featuring a sailboat with its sails unfurled, on the calm sea appears an engraved silverfish set under the plate of the horn and visible in transparency, pastedown in silk decorated with a submarine pattern (coral, jellyfish, starfishes and algae) framed in morocco embellished with quintuple gilt fillets, endpages of iridescence cloth, the following pages in marbled paper, the headband highlighted with a...

First edition, rare. This is the second book devoted by the author to this subject. Manuscript bibliographical note on the endpaper, in black ink, by F. Annibal Destouches, 1834.
Half glazed camel calf binding. Spine with false raised bands decorated with fleurons. Long-grain morocco boards with gilt roll border.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding, speckled. Decorated spine with raised bands. Gilt title. Small lack at head. Tailcap partly worn. Upper joint cracked at head and foot over 7 cm. Corners bumped.

First edition.
Full vellum binding with flaps, reused circa 1920. Smooth spine. Title calligraphed in red and black. Manuscript writing on covers, probably late 18th century. Bound on uncut wrappers, as issued. Worming to title page.
Autobiographical memoirs of a louse, which passing from head to head, embellishing its confessions with philosophical reflections, finds itself on the queen's head, then on that of Benjamin Franklin. It is essentially a political satire of affairs between France and the United States, featuring fictional dialogues, notably between the Minister of the Navy and Benjamin Franklin. It reveals a grand project consisting of seizing England to share it...