Ecology: Words of the World

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on Lafuma laid paper, the sole deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First edition, taken from the Mémoires de la Société royale et centrale d'agriculture, for the year 1824.

Illustrated with a folding plate inserted out of text.

Our copy is preserved in its original state, sewn and issued in a plain blue provisional wrapper.

Scattered light foxing.

A grandson of the founder and first director of the Académie royale de marine, Pierre-Marie-Sébastien Bigot de Morogues (1776-1840) devoted himself principally to agricultural matters.

Exceptional collection of 49 original watercolours depicting daily life in Tonkin, most illustrating rural scenes.

These unsigned watercolours, each measuring approximately 20 x 15 cm (excluding margins), are finely executed in Indian ink and watercolour, with touches of gouache, on paper sheets—some bearing the watermark "Latune et Cie Blacons."

Contemporary half red cloth binding, smooth spine covered in red shagreen, some rubbing to the spine, boards of marbled paper, blue endpapers and pastedowns.

Minor foxing to the margins of some watercolours.

The scenes depict a variety of subjects: a military post guarded by four soldiers, one standing sentry at the entrance; a guard in white uniform holding a rifle with a long bayonet, his head covered by a salacco (the traditional headgear of Indochinese riflemen); an elderly man seated at a table, smoking a pipe while being fanned by a servant; a peasant ploughing with two oxen; a woman praying at a grave; another peasant tilling the soil; two villagers meeting near a small bridge; four people working in a paddy field; a man in formal dress before a temple; three peasants harvesting rice; a cockfight, and more.

Also depicted are villagers carrying goods or fishing, wrestlers performing before a dignitary, a child guiding a blind man, two labourers transporting stones in a wheelbarrow, a procession led by a mounted dignitary carrying a wild boar in a cage, a prisoner being flogged, another about to be beheaded, a hunting scene, musicians, a woman at a loom, villagers at play, and so on.

Western presence is alluded to only once: an Indochinese sailing vessel flies three tri-colour flags while a steamship, probably French, makes its way in the background…

Accompanied by a piece of light brown calfskin (4 x 32 cm) blind-stamped with the inscription "Souvenir du Tonkin 1885-90".

A rare and precious visual record of Tonkin at the beginning of the French protectorate.

Very rare first edition illustrated with 14 plates, three of which are in colour, issued as a supplement to the "Guide pratique de la fabrication de la bière" and the "Guide raisonné de la fabrication de la bière" published in 1867 and 1868.

Not in Vicaire or Bitting. Oberlé, Fastes, 1125, does not record this supplement.

Spine restored with minor losses, small marginal defects to the boards, and a stain along the right margin of the upper cover.

The author was a hop dealer and purveyor of brewery equipment in Strasbourg and in Gray (Haute-Saône).

This volume reflects the advances achieved by the brewing industry, particularly in northern France and in Belgium.

"Ce livre alsacien est un des meilleurs traités sur la fabrication de la bière"(Oberlé).

The plates depict the malt kiln of the Arlen brewery, the Carpentier germ-removing machine, the boilers of the Brasserie de l'Eléphant in Strasbourg, a mixer, a vat with its wave-breaker, the cooling trough of the Brasserie du Pêcheur, and more.

Rare.

First edition and the inaugural volumes of this significant scientific periodical, whose publication continued until 1954.

Volumes 43, 4, 5, and 6 are illustrated with respectively 332 in-text figures, 392 figures, 138 in-text figures, and 179 in-text figures.

Contemporary half-sheep bindings in brown, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and garlands, spines rubbed, red lettering and volume labels with a few minor losses on some volumes, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, some volumes slightly rubbed at the extremities, the upper corner of the fourth volume lacking, a few snags to the board edges; period bindings.

The first three years include Claude Bernard’s experimental pathology lectures—on toxic and medicinal substances, bodily fluids, the nervous system, and related subjects—as well as contributions by Louis Pasteur, Étienne-Jules Marey, Gustave Flourens, Alfred Vulpian, Marcellin Berthelot, Virchow, and others.

First edition (cf. Not in Quérard or Musset-Pathay. Oberlé 101-02.).

Including, with the appended pieces (cf. infra), the account of the thirteen experiments conducted by Maupin between 1772 and 1777 on the handling of wines.

Bound at the end:

• 1. Suite de la cinquième expérience, contenant la seconde lettre de M. de la Galaisière & celle que M. Bertin m'a fait l'honneur de m'écrire à son occasion. S.l.n.d., 2 ll. unnumbered.
• 2. Suite des expériences de la nouvelle manipulation des vins. Seconde partie. S.l.n.d. [Paris, April 1781], 30 pp., with an unnumbered leaf of receipt.

Bradel-style binding in half bottle-green long-grain morocco, smooth spine tooled with gilt fillets, date gilt at foot, cat's-eye patterned paper boards, bookplate mounted at the head of one pastedown; modern binding.

Spine and lower cover marginally faded and sunning, light upper-marginal dampstaining.

First edition from the Imprimerie Royale, complete in nine quarto volumes with all 262 black-and-white engraved plates.

Contemporary full polished and mottled calf, spines with raised bands decorated with guilloche tooling and gilt ornaments in the compartments, red morocco lettering-pieces and numbering-pieces, triple gilt fillet border on boards, double gilt fillet on board edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges. Minor variations in the tooling on volume 3.

In this set, some headcaps missing, 6 cm joints split at foot of volume 1, 6.5 cm and 6 cm at foot of volume 2, 3.5 cm at head of volume 3, corners bumped, scratches and minor restoration to boards, including a more significant repair on volume 7 measuring 11 cm, browning in left margin of lower board of volume 4.

In this copy: some worming, several instances of dampstaining throughout the set, more pronounced in volumes 1, 3, and 8, some tears, restored on the title page and on pp. ix and xxiii of volume 1, also restored on p. 496 of volume 2, on pp. 259 and 260 of volume 3, on pp. 481 and 482 of volume 4, and on pp. 173 to 176 of volume 5.

Copy with some marginal annotations: in volume 2, a manuscript footnote added in ink on p. 541 ("Voyez les Planches enluminures n°491"), erroneous manuscript dates in ink in volumes 2 and 8, the number "18" annotated in ink in the upper right corner of the rear endpaper of volume 9.

Copy richly illustrated with drawings by Jacques de Sève, engraved by Robert de Launay, Lucas, Michel, Madeleine-Thérèse Rousselet, C. Baron, Hubert, Catherine Haussard, Carl Gottlieb Guttenberg, Jean-Guillaume Blanchon, Menil, Dufour, Louis Claude Legrand, Claude Mathieu Fessard, Elisabeth Haussard, François Hubert, A.-B. Duhamel, Mlle Mansard, C. Baquoy, Heinrich Guttenberg, Laurent Guyot, Benazeth, Schmitz, Marie-Anne Rousselet (M. R. veuve Tardieu), Louis-Gabriel Monnier, Pierre-Étienne Moitte, Jean-Louis de Lignon, Levillain, N. du Four, Thomas Chambars, Nicolas Thomas, Luigi Valperga, and George Louis Biosse.

Accompanied by two additional plates, heightened in color, numbered XX and XXII, from a volume 7 of the Histoire naturelle des oiseaux.

First edition of this pamphlet devoted to the largest marshland in Italy, the Fucecchio wetlands.

Illustrated with a double-page engraved plate.

Disbound copy.

From the library of the economist, agronomist, industrialist, and lithographer Charles-Philibert de Lasteyrie du Saillant (1759–1849), with his ownership stamp on the title-page.

First edition, illustrated with seven folding plates.

Preserved in its original state, sewn and issued in plain blue paper wrappers with an added inner lining.

This volume gathers eight short papers previously published in the annual reports of the Kew Observatory.

Francis Ronalds (1788–1873), a largely self-taught engineer, became in 1843 the director and superintendent of the Kew meteorological observatory.

His work included, among other tasks, the development of a system for recording meteorological data.

On the front flyleaf, autograph presentation from Francis Ronalds to a member of the Becquerel family, most likely Antoine-César (1788–1878) rather than his son.

First edition of this concise treatise on rural economy, attributed to the Duke of Sully, the famed minister of Henri IV, born at Rosny and who bore the name of that estate.

His well-known commitment to the development of agriculture has passed into national lore. However, it cannot be excluded that another author, sharing the same territorial designation, may be responsible for the text.

Contemporary full mottled fawn sheep, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and gilt tools, gilt fillets, Havana morocco lettering-piece, gilt rolls to the headcaps, gilt fillets to board edges, red sprinkled edges.

Some repairs to the binding. Manuscript ex-libris inscriptions “Cousturier, Prieur de Champsanglard [Creuse]” and “Denesmond, prêtre” on the title-page of the first volume.

The booklet is followed, as very often with this title, by two short agronomic treatises, which vary from one copy to another.

In this copy:

• 1. A new edition of the Instruction pour le jardin potager (1678), attributed to an Aristote “jardinier de Puteaux”—obviously not his real name—who authored several small works on fruit trees and flowers (Musset-Pathay, 806).
• 2. A summary of the Nouvelle instruction pour connoistre les bons fruits (1670), attributed sometimes to Jean Merlet, sometimes to Claude Saint-Etienne. At the end is an interesting Catalogue des poires selon les mois de les manger (from July to September). Cf. Musset-Pathay 1390. Manuscript ex-libris inscriptions “Cousturier, Prieur de Champsanglard [Creuse]” and “Denesmond, prêtre”.

New edition, illustrated with 111 drawings by Neuville and Riou. 7 plates some of which in color.
Publisher's gilt Globe binding, upper plate signed Blancheland, Engel relieur, spine with lighthouse, second plate of Engel H type, publisher's catalogue Y at end of volume.
Fine copy despite the last endpaper hinge partly split.
Undoubtedly the most famous of Jules Verne's novels, featuring the mythical figure of Captain Nemo and his legendary submarine, the Nautilus.

First issue of the fifty large hors-texte lithographs drawn from life by Henry John Terry (cf. Vicaire, VII, 1164).

Publisher’s binding in full red cloth, smooth spine decorated with blind-ruled compartments and fillets, light rubbing to the head- and tailcaps, gilt-lettered title on the front board, yellow endpapers, trace of a removed bookplate on one pastedown, one lower corner softened, slight discoloration to the lower left corner of the rear board, occasional marginal foxing, a small loss to the foot of page 119, and minor wormholes at the foot of the last three leaves, not affecting the text.

The fifty striking black lithographs depict the most picturesque views of Haute-Savoie.

Henry John Terry, originally from England, studied in Geneva under Alexandre Calame, the foremost Swiss landscape painter of the nineteenth century, and later settled in the country.

A well-preserved copy in the publisher’s original cloth.

First edition of this paper on cassava and the cultivation of peanuts, read before the General Assembly of the Royal Aragonese Society on 22 August 1800.

Our copy is preserved in modern plain beige wrappers, with a few insignificant spots of foxing.

From the library of the comte de Lasteyrie du Saillant, the renowned agronomist, with his red printed stamp on the title-page.

First edition of the inaugural instalment printed in Pondicherry at the Rattinamodeliar Press.

Losses to the spine and, more lightly, to the board corners; internally a clean and appealing copy.

Recorded in the CCF with copies only at the BnF (the sole institution holding a complete set), the Collège de France, and Sainte-Geneviève.

The first of five parts of this exceedingly scarce botanical publication, devoted entirely to Lawsonia alba [or inermis = henna].

Very rare first edition, illustrated in each volume with a copper-engraved frontispiece by Tardieu after Monnet.

Half black grained cloth bindings, smooth spines decorated with blind fillets, marbled paper boards with light rubbing, sprinkled edges, modest late 19th-century bindings.

Some foxing and a few pale waterstains at the end of the second volume.

This work is an essay whose concerns are strikingly close to our own, though expressed in a very different context.

A founder of French ecological thought, the civil engineer François-Antoine Rauch (1762–1837) demonstrated the direct relationship between deforestation and the increase in extreme weather, calling for the preservation of nature in the interest of humankind. He denounced the large-scale clearing of forests undertaken across continents and advocated the restoration and protection of woodland areas.

In the same spirit, he defended wetlands and marshes, to be made healthy without being drained. The first volume is almost entirely devoted to the dangers and imbalances caused by deforestation; the second focuses on the regeneration of rivers and streams, as well as the drainage of marshes, the whole promoting a return to the “primordial harmony.”

First trade edition, one of only 50 numbered copies printed on alfa paper, the only deluxe issue.
Rare and very attractive copy in original condition.

First edition illustrated with two etched plates under tissue guards.

Claude Bernard’s (1813–1878) laboratory notes on alcoholic fermentation (see pp. 3–33) record his experiments on the search for yeast germs on grape clusters, the formation of alcohol in grape juice without ferment, on sound and rotten grapes, on the search for a soluble alcoholic ferment and the influence of decay, and on the production of alcohol. All these experiments were conducted on his estate at Saint-Julien in October 1877, during the grape harvest.

This conception of a soluble ferment as the origin of yeast, a living organism, marked the starting point of the famous controversy between Pasteur and Berthelot.

Rare and appealing copy, largely uncut.

Fourth edition, partly original, revised and considerably enlarged from these lectures given at the Paris School of Pharmacy. The work is illustrated with 600 figures within the text. 

Slight losses or small corner tears to the spines and boards, minor scattered foxing.

A pleasant copy.

First edition, illustrated with four plates, including a folding world map (cf. Sinkankas 3466; Agassiz III, 370).

Full fawn calf, spine with five slender raised bands, gilt-tooled compartments with occasionally softened floral tools, rubbed gilt headcaps, brown morocco lettering-piece, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle framing the pastedowns, gilt fillets to board edges, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

Repairs to the spine, one joint split at head and foot, browning along the board margins with surface scratches, scattered foxing, a waterstain at the head of all leaves.

A noteworthy treatise devoted to yellow amber and above all to ambergris, the fragrant substance derived from the intestinal concretions of sperm whales which, once expelled, float on the surface of the sea and yield a highly prized perfume.

The plates depict a frog and a lizard embedded in amber, a world map (Africa, Europe, Asia and part of the Southern Lands), figures collecting bird droppings, and various animals.

"This book commonly appears in bibliographies on amber when in fact it is about ambergris, but Klobius examines both substances and notes their differences on p. 26-9. One of the plates shows a frog and a lizard imbedded in amber, both of which are fakes" [Sinkankas].

On the title-page, a distinguished manuscript ex-libris in black ink

First edition of this important work on cryptogams, illustrated with 36 hand-coloured plates (cf. Pritzel 3345).

Contemporary half calf with vellum corners, flat spine decorated with gilt floral rolls, partly rubbed, joints worn, lower cap trimmed with a small loss, black morocco title label, blue paper-covered boards.

Endpapers soiled, a few small spots of foxing.

Justin Girod-Chantrans, writer and naturalist [Besançon, 1750–1841], was one of the founders of the Société d’Agriculture du Doubs.

He was elected a member of the legislative body in 1802 (cf. Hoefer).

Second edition.

Full forest-green morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed with gilt dotted lines and decorated with double gilt panels, gilt rolls at head and tail, triple gilt fillets bordering the covers, marbled paper endpapers and doublures, gilt dentelle frame on the inside covers, all edges gilt, double gilt fillets along the edges, an elegant binding signed by Krafft.

Bound following it are:

- Nicolas Papin’s “De pulvere sympathico dissertatio”, printed in Paris by Siméon Piget in 1650 (8 unnumbered leaves, the last blank, and 40 pp.).

- By the same author, “La poudre de sympathie, deffendue contre les objections de Mr. Cattier, médecin du Roy”, printed in Paris by Siméon Piget in 1651 (4 unnumbered leaves and 56 pp.).

- Isaac Cattier’s “Response à Monsieur Papin Docteur en Medecine, touchant la poudre de sympathie”, printed in Paris by Edme Martin in 1651 (87 pp.).

A fine copy, beautifully preserved in a splendid binding signed by Krafft.

First bilingual edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Arches wove paper, the deluxe issue.

The French translation, printed opposite the English text, was prepared by Patrick Guyon and Marie-Claude White.

A rare and attractive copy.

First edition of this first part illustrated with three copperplate engravings.

Contemporary flexible boards covered with marbled paper, smooth brown percaline spine with a small snag at foot, red morocco title label on the front cover, rubbed corners.

Rare.

Rare first edition of three scientific reports from the zoological exploration mission of Guy-René Babault (1883-1963), corresponding member of the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, carried out in present-day Kenya and Uganda in 1913. 

The set comprises: Volume 1: Insectes coléoptères. Cicindelidae, by Guy Babault. – Volume 2: Insectes coléoptères. Fam. Carabidae. Subf. Anthiinae, by G. Bénard. – Volume 3: Étude d'une collection d'oiseaux de l'Afrique orientale anglaise et de l'Ouganda, by A. Menegaux, with field notes by Guy Babault. 

The first volume includes illustrations in the text and one hand-colored entomological plate with tissue guard and facing leaf of legends; the second volume contains one hand-colored entomological plate with tissue guard and facing legends; the third and final volume features six hand-colored ornithological plates with tissue guards, together with a large folding colored map bound at the end. 

Spine and boards marginally faded or sunned, internally well preserved. 

First edition, one of 42 numbered copies on Japan Barjon paper, one of the deluxe issue, with 8 additional copies on Japan reserved for the author.

Introduction by Francis Scarfe and preface by Jean-Jacques Mayoux.

Rare and attractive copy of Kenneth White’s first book, complete with two photographs by Marie-Claude White.

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 double gilt fillets, gilt roulette on the spine head, all edges gilt, typical Art Deco binding (circa 1910-1920) by Noulhac together with Marguerite Lecreux.

First edition, one of 10 numbered copies on Holland paper, deluxe issue.

Some minor foxing mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.

Inscribed and signed by Maurice Genevoix to Jacques Gommy: "... en pensant aux forêts qu'il aime, avec les hommages et les amitiés de Maurice Genevoix."

First edition.
Elegant half navy blue morocco over marbled paper boards by Pierre-Lucien Martin, spine in six compartments with gilt fillets to bands and geometric decoration of red morocco onlays, date gilt at foot of spine, gilt fillet to boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle frame to pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

A very good copy in a handsome binding. 
Exceptional autograph inscription from Claude Farrère : "A Pierre Louÿs son très petit disciple [To Pierre Louÿs, his very humble disciple]", along with Chinese ideograms.

A substantially cropped print bearing the same penciled number on the back of our photograph (11214), is in the Reutlinger archives at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Album Reutlinger de portraits divers vol. 53, p.3). We have been unable to find any other examples of this photograph in other public collections. A similar photograph belatedly dedicated to Maurice Chevalier went on sale in 2008.

A beautiful, sultry shot of Colette probably taken the year of her banned dance show "Rêve d'Egypte" at the Moulin Rouge where she shared the bill – and a scandalous kiss – with her cross-dressing aristocrat lover Missy.

"Colette was a nude dancer, which at the time meant that she [...] draped herself in vaporous veils, concealing part of her anatomy under animal skins" (Paula Dumont). Colette had already used animal skins, hugging her figure in this picture, as a sensual costume in Charles Van Lerberghe's Pan, accompanied on stage by Lugné-Poe and Georges Wague. This was the first time anyone had dared to go without a flesh-colored body suit. Justifying her choice, she went on to say: "I want to dance naked if the body suit bothers me and humiliates my plasticity".

At the time of this photograph, in 1907, Colette was performing in countless shows, following her debut two years earlier in Nathalie Clifford Barney's Sapphic Salon where Mata Hari also danced. For Colette, dance was synonymous with emancipation in more ways than one - as a means of sustenance and liberation of her body which finally belonged to her after her separation from her abusive husband Willy in 1906. Her undulating, almost gestureless dance was linked by contemporary critics to that of Loïe Fuller and Isadora Duncan; her greatest success remained "La Chair", a risqué mime show she performed two hundred times in Paris and was subsequently produced with a new cast in New York's Manhattan Opera House. It was also in the halls of Parisian dance venues that Colette flaunted herself freely on the arm of her lovers. Her scandalous union with Missy, the virile Marquise de Morny who accompanied her on stage in male costumes, contributed to the fame of her performances.

This is probably the rarest photograph of Colette taken by Reutlinger who also photographed her draped in Grecian style or wearing her costume from "Le Rêve d'Egypte".

A rare visual testimony to a revolution in dance costume brought about by Colette, a key figure in twentieth-century artistic and literary Paris.

First edition, no grands papiers (deluxe) copies printed.
Half brown sheepskin, spine with four raised bands framed in blind and dec­orated with gilt floral motifs, some rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled paper endpapers and flyleaves, modest contemporary bind­ing.

Rare signed and inscribed copy by Guy de Maupassant to the Baron de Vaux who inspired the character of Bel-Ami: “To Baron de Vaux / his friend / Guy de Maupassant”.

To our knowledge unpublished autograph letter signed by Ernest Hemingway to Roberto Herrera Sotolongo, 2 pages in blue ink on both sides of a sheet, and envelope postmarked September 19, 1953 with his autograph return address ("E. Hemingway...") on the back.

The letter begins in Spanish and continues in English, before ending with a few Spanish words signed "Mister Papa".

A magnificent letter from Hemingway to his Cuban friend and secretary, recounting his 1953 safari in Kenya. Hemingway reveals the true outcome of the hunt for the black-maned lion, a central theme of his posthumous novel True at first light (1999) later published as Under Killimanjaro (2005).

The writer shares his encounters with a giraffe and an impala, as well as unpublished spear hunts with the Masai, reconnecting with the emotions of his first African adventure twenty years earlier which had inspired classic parts of the Hemingway canon – The Green Hills of Africa, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Short happy life of Francis Macomber.

He also recalls a family tragedy: a rare attempt at reconciliation from his third child Gigi, who was suffering from gender dysphoria.

Rare first edition of this essential supplement to the Flore forestière (1881–1897) by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Pierre (1833–1905), director of the Saigon Botanical Garden.

OCLC locates copies only at the BnF and the Natural History Museum.

Publisher's binding in brown cloth-backed boards, plain flat spine, paper-covered boards slightly sunned and soiled, title printed on upper board, bumped corners, minor wear to edges.

Text in two columns.

Clean and fresh interior.

New edition of the Fables, more complete than previous ones, illustrated with a hand-coloured vignette on the title page and 110 hand-coloured half-page illustrations in the text, for a total of 111 engraved and coloured plates (cf. Rochambeau 305. Després, p. 142, no. 63).

Full olive calf binding, spine with gilt fillets, numerously tooled in gilt, gilt tooling to spine-ends, boards framed in gilt, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, inner gilt dentelle on pastedowns, all edges gilt, 20th-century binding.

Spine and covers faded, some foxing, a snag at head of rear cover. Lower right corners of pp. ix-xi restored.

An exceptional and finely watercoloured copy of this abundantly illustrated edition of the "Fables." The famous illustrations by Jean-Baptiste Oudry were recut and modified for this publication and are accompanied by explanatory notes intended for young readers.

The title vignette was also created from a fragment of the frontispiece of the first edition illustrated by Oudry.

Rare first edition of this highly practical manual intended for sanitary inspection, each of the 90 plates featuring detailed explanatory text alongside corresponding illustrations.

The foreword is missing from our copy.

Publisher's binding in grey cloth-backed boards, plain spine showing some rubbing, illustrated upper cover, light dampstain to lower right corner of the upper board, minor rubbing to the lower cover.

Eugène Aureggio (1844–1924), a military veterinarian trained at Alfort, was then in charge of inspecting butcher’s meat.

First edition, one of 125 numbered deluxe copies, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Handsome copy, preserved as issued, loose in gatherings and housed in a double chemise and full cream cloth slipcase.

First edition, published by order of the Imperial Government of Brazil and illustrated with a folding color map at the end of the volume (cf. Garraux 169. Borba de Moraes I, 478).

Some light foxing, minor rubbing to the spine, a pleasing and scarce copy.

Contemporary binding in red half morocco-grained shagreen, smooth spine ruled in gilt with quadruple fillets, gilt coat of arms at foot of spine, small losses to head and tailcaps, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, period binding.

Emmanuel Liais, then Director of the Imperial Observatory of Rio de Janeiro, had been entrusted by Emperor Pedro II with various expeditions throughout the Brazilian territory.

First edition, one of 330 numbered copies on alfa paper.
Pleasant copy.

First edition, with no copies printed on deluxe paper.

A pleasing copy.

Signed autograph inscription from Yves Coppens to Emile Noël.

Autograph letter signed by Jacques Mesrine, dated Wednesday 29 December 1976,  addressed to Jeanne Schneider, his love interest of the time. She smuggled out of prison the manuscript of his famous autobiography L'Instinct de mort. 66 lines in blue ink on two pages of a leaf. In the top left-hand corner of the letter, Jacques Mesrine has drawn a bouquet of flowers in multicoloured felt-tip pens. Usual horizontal fold, small tear to the fold in the right-hand margin.
Jacques Mesrine, who was in Fleury-Mérogis prison at the time, was delighted to receive so much proof of love and friendship in the many letters he received from his friends and family.
He, in turn, replied to all his correspondents, and in particular to Madame Panco, who had shown great kindness towards Jeanne Schneider: "I'm going to send my best wishes to Madame Panco, as I do every year... because I haven't forgotten what this woman has done for you... she is a “woman of respect” and a very human person... There are some in the administration (it's rare)'.
The indomitable Mesrine is full of tenderness and delicacy for Jeanne Schneider: ‘I've made you a little bouquet of flowers... to make up for being so unpleasant with you at the moment', but he has no wish in the world to change and submit to anyone's wishes: "What do you want, I'm becoming an old fart with a bloody temper... but I am as I am and have no intention of changing... or else I wouldn't be me any more. I'll tell you one thing, my angel... whether my book works or not... I don't give a damn... there's no way I'm going to start from scratch to make it sweeter."
Public Enemy No. 1 was outraged by the way he was treated by the prison administration after the publication of his polemical book ‘L'instinct de mort' (The Death Instinct ): "In France, the truth is frightening. At the moment I don't go out for a walk. ... I'm in my cell 24 hours a day. The reform! What do you expect me to do in this stupid courtyard in such cold weather? But I'm in great shape! "
He doesn't despair of being released or regaining his freedom soon, much to the dismay of all those who prefer to see him locked up: "I'm going to have to apply for a leave of... 10 years. but if that day comes... how many people are going to shit their pants... a lot of loudmouths who take advantage of the fact that I'm caged up to play the ‘pimp' but I'm free... there are no more ‘pimps'. it's nice to dream...'.
But he also talks about how happy he'll be to see his sweetheart again very soon, even if his condition as a prisoner is weighing on him and enraging him all the more: "I hope we'll finally be able to smile again, I'm going to be the real adorable little guy... well, almost! I love you, sweetheart... but this imprisonment is driving me crazy, I feel so powerless in the face of bullshit! "

A rare and beautiful letter from Jacques Mesrine in which he shows his intense affection for his girlfriend and his strong resentment of the prison system.

The second édition originale on ordinary paper. Fifteen hundred copies had been printed, plus 4 on chine paper, a few copies on hollande and on vélin.
Complete with the portrait of the author by Félix Bracquemond (often missing), here in first state on papier chine pasted on the page (before letters, i.e. “L'Artiste” on top of the portrait).
Orange half cloth Bradel binding, smooth spine double ruled in gilt, gilt date at foot, slightly scratched brown shagreen title-label, marbled paper boards, slightly later 19th-century binding.

Mistakenly considered as “partly original”, this edition was entirely revised by the author, with 35 newly composed poems and 55 “deeply rewritten” poems [profondément remaniés] among the 129 poems. This true new first edition of Les Fleurs du Mal is the culmination of Baudelaire's grand œuvre and the only text of reference for foreign language translations.