Gift Ideas – Rare Editions

First edition, printed in a small run, of this offprint from the Mémoires présentés par divers savants à l’Académie des sciences, vol. XXII, no. 6.

This publication constitutes botanist Maxime Cornu’s (1843–1901) first work on phylloxera and stands among the earliest scientific studies in French devoted to the subject.

Our copy is preserved in its original plain blue waiting wrapper, showing two losses along the spine and some foxing to the panels.

Very scarce work illustrated with three plates.

First edition.

Publisher's full cloth-backed pictorial boards, front board with color illustration, pictorial endpapers, a newspaper clipping photograph of the Disney couple pasted on the front pastedown. Minor lacks to the upper cover, corners slightly creased.

Exceptional incribed copy by Walt Disney on the front pastedown: "Best wishes / Walt Disney," below a portrait of him with his wife and their dog.

First edition illustrated with 3 folding tables printed on separate leaves in the second text volume and 45 engraved plates, single or folding (3 maps, 42 plans and picturesque views), most with tissue guards, in the atlas volume.

Cf. Gay 266. Toussaint & Adolphe D1100. Ryckebusch II, 5713.

Some foxing throughout the text volumes and atlas.

Bindings in half black glazed calf with corners, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets, circles and large gilt fleurons, burgundy calf lettering and volume-numbering labels, boards covered in paste paper with a cold-stamped garland border, light rubbing to spines and boards, bindings slightly later for the text volumes; the...

First edition, with no deluxe copies printed.
Pleasant copy, which is uncommon given the fragility of this book, often handled without care.
Inscribed and signed by Serge Gainsbourg to a recipient named Georges.
 

First edition, one of 275 numbered copies on Lana wove paper, the deluxe issue.

Illustrated with 31 hors-texte plates.

A fine, uncut copy, complete with its illustrated dust jacket.

Celebrated edition entirely engraved both images and text, richly illustrated with 6 engraved titles, a frontispiece and an engraved half-title for volume I, together with 243 figures, 473 vignettes and tail-pieces engraved by Fessard.

The illustration of the first three volumes is the work of Monnet, and in the last three by Fessard after Bardin, Bidauld, Caresme, Desrais, Houel, Kobell, Le Clerc, Leprince, Loutherbourg, and Meyer. The text is entirely engraved by Montulay and Drouet within decorative borders.

First edition, no copies on deluxe paper issued.

Half light brown morocco binding, flat spine with author stamped in gilt and title stamped in gilt lengthwise, gilt date at foot, brown stingray boards framed in morocco, brown suede endpapers and pastedowns, original covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, elegant binding signed Thomas Boichot.

Manuscript ex-libris in black ink and a slight restoration to the upper right corner of the first...

Rare first edition, as referenced by Clouzot (see Guide du bibliophile français XIX^e siècle, p. 256).

A few insignificant spots of foxing, a small black ink stain at the bottom of pages 354–355. Complete with the errata leaf at the end of the volume.

Caramel half calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled with gilt dotted lines and decorated with gilt and black tools, gilt fillets at head and foot of spine. Minor rubbing to the spine. Brown morocco title label. Marbled paper-covered boards framed with blind-stamped vertical rolls, endpapers and pastedowns in cat’s-eye paper, all edges gilt. Roman bookseller’s label at the top...

First edition of Pierre Drieu la Rochelle's first book, one of 150 numbered copies on Hollande laid paper, the only deluxe copies.
Precious autograph inscription signed by Pierre Drieu la Rochelle : « to Charles Maurras this anxious testimony. Pierre Drieu la Rochelle ex. sergeant in the 146^th Infantry. October 1^st, 1917. »
Important testimony of the young Drieu la Rochelle's admiration – then in full intellectual development – for the « master of Martigues » to whom he sends this copy of his war poems composed in 1916 after being wounded at Verdun.
Demobilized and...

First edition.
Some foxing to spine and boards.

Precious dated and signed autograph inscription from Irène Delmas, president of the National Association of Former Female Deportees and Prisoners of the Resistance (ADIR): "A monsieur Massin avec l'amitié et la reconnaissance des Anciennes Déportées de la Résistance. IRDelmas Présidente de l'ADIR. Paris 13 Novembre 1957." (To Mr. Massin with the friendship and gratitude of the Former Female Deportees of the Resistance. IRDelmas President of ADIR. Paris 13 November 1957.)

Our copy is exceptionally enhanced with the signatures of several members of the editorial committee of the Association of...

First edition, limited to 1,100 copies, divided into four fictitious editions within the same year, in order to create the illusion of commercial success. These were subsequently reissued with a new title-page bearing an edition statement and the author’s name, together with a volume designation on the half-titles (cf. Clouzot). Our copy carries the designation “third edition.” Contemporary bookplate traces on the upper pastedowns. Expert restorations to headcaps and joints, with a tiny loss at the foot of the lower joint of vol. I. A clean copy, entirely free of foxing.

Contemporary half chocolate calf bindings...

First edition, one of the numbered copies on vellum, the only printing.
Publisher's binding executed after the original design by Paul Bonet.
Rich iconography.
Handsome copy complete with its illustrated dust jacket.
Precious autograph inscription signed by André Malraux: "Pour Georges Bataille André Malraux."

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on hollande paper, deluxe issue (only the first volume numbered).
Each volume includes a historical introduction by Philippe De Gaulle.
Ex-libris pasted to the front of each volume.
A very fine copy with wide margins, complete in twelve volumes of this important work, commencing in 1905 and concluding in April 1969.

First edition on ordinary paper, bearing the correct imprint dated 6 May 1959, with the false statement of second edition.
Spine very slightly sunned.
Signed and inscribed by Eugène Ionesco to the stage director, playwright, and writer Simone Benmussa on the half-title.

First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on bouffant vellum paper from the Salzer mills, ours being No. 1, the only deluxe paper issue.
Handsome copy of this work awarded the Grand Prix du Roman of the Académie française. 
 

First edition of this complete suite of 18 numbered intaglio plates enhanced in colour, on 'J. Honig & Zoonen' laid paper, depicting 72 merchants accompanied by captions beneath each figure.
First printing, subsequent editions will feature individually numbered figures surrounded by a border.

Bound in half sienna morocco with corners, smooth spine, title stamped in gilt throughout, tiger patterned paper boards, combed paper endpapers and flyleaves, first cover retained, gilt head.
 
Extremely rare and the earliest known suite of prints depicting itinerant merchants and pedlars in Spain. Each figure is...

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on pur fil de lana, only deluxe issue.
Nice copy.

First edition, printed in a small run of numbered copies.

With two photographic portraits: one of Charles Pathé and the other of his brother Émile, and a view of the Kodak-Pathé and Pathé-Cinéma factories.
3/4 beige sheepskin binding, spine with four raised bands decorated with black typographical motifs, date at foot of spine, marbled paper boards, endpapers and flyleaves.
Discrete restorations to spine, some rubbing to upper corners of boards.

Signed by Charles Pathé on his photographic portrait.

Rare first edition of this manual on film development.
Illustrated with 54 figures in the text and 6 folding plates at rear, containing 107 interest­ing samples of films negatives and celluloid.

With a frontispiece photographic portrait of Charles Pathé.

Skilfully restored brown half sheepskin pub­lisher's binding, smooth spine decorated with golden arabesques, small gaps filled at head of spine, marbled endpapers and past­edowns.

"In the early years of the twentieth century, the largest film production company was the Société Pathé Frères (Pathé Brothers Com­pany). Founded in 1897, the company was at its height in 1920s when it unveiled the first home...

First edition, one of 8 numbered copies on Chinese paper, the deluxe issue.
Bound in full red morocco, smooth spine, spine and boards decorated with a geometric design of black and gilt fillets representing interlaced mountain peaks in zigzag pattern, endpapers and pastedowns illustrated with an original lithograph signed in pencil by Germaine de Coster, following endpapers of red paper, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt; a very elegant contemporary binding signed by Hélène Dumas and Germaine de Coster.
This copy is further enriched with an original charcoal portrait of Jean Giono, signed by...

First edition, one of 200 numbered copies on Hollande paper, the only large paper copies.

3/4 blue morocco Bradel binding, spine with five raised bands highlighted with gilt dots and decorated with triple gilt compartments, gilt date at tail, gilt fillets on marbled paper boards, marbled paper flyleaves and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, others uncut, binding signed Canape.

Rare copy of Guy de Maupassant's masterpiece beautifully bound in an elegant signed binding.

First edition of the French translation, one of 51 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Spine and boards slightly and marginally sunned, as often.
Rare and handsome copy of this work, splendidly adapted for the screen in 1967 by Richard Brooks, with Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, and John MacLiam in the leading roles.
Richard Brooks even went so far as to film in the actual house where the crime took place, as well as in the same courthouse, where 7 of the 12 jurors played their own roles.

Autograph letter signed by Marshal Davout to his wife, Aimée Leclerc. Two and a half pages in black ink on a double sheet. Fold marks inherent to mailing.
Very likely unpublished letter ("the intimate correspondence of Marshal Davout ceases from August to November [1807]" incorrectly states the Marquise de Blocqueville in Le Maréchal Davout, prince d'Eckmühl, raconté par les siens et par lui-même) addressed to his beloved wife, sister-in-law of Pauline Bonaparte. Settled in his palace halfway between Warsaw and Łódź, Davout, now Governor General of the Duchy of Warsaw, longs for his wife and their property in...

Autograph letter by Jean Cocteau, signed with his famous star, addressed to his great love, the actor Jean Marais. Dated by the author July 1940. One and a half pages in black ink on a sheet.
Two small marginal tears not affecting the text. Traces of transverse folds inherent to posting.
Magnificent love letter from Cocteau to Marais, who formed one of the most legendary artistic couples of the 20th century. Against the backdrop of defeat and German Occupation, their unbreakable bond is embodied in this letter from the writer with its desperate accents.
Published in the Lettres à Jean Marais, 1987, p. 157.
This missive from a...

2 frontispieces and 12 numbered engravings bound at rear of the second volume.
Small lack of paper to upper right corner and marginal restoration to the first volume's title page. Minor foxing, a light halo to the right margin of each of the 12 engravings at rear of the second volume.
Red half morocco binding, smooth spines with arabesques motifs in gilt, marbled paper boards, snags and rubbing to boards and edges, corners bent.
The book was first published as The Universal Cook in London in 1792; its fourth edition was translated into French...

First edition, one of 20 copies on Arches paper, most limited deluxe issue (tirage de tête).
Like all copies on Arches, it is wrapped in a double dust jacket in yellow and white, and bears the rare sanguine vignette drawn and engraved by Hans Bellmer.
Preface by Jean Paulhan.

Our copy is housed in a custom clamshell box featuring an original design signed by Julie Nadot.

Beautiful first edition copy of this masterpiece of erotic literature, in its most limited deluxe issue.

"CLAC: Cercle Littéraire des amis des caves / Cercle libre des amateurs de cuisse." ["Literary Circle of...

Actes et paroles - Avant l'exil, 1841-1851 [Words and Deeds - Before the Exile, 1841-1851]
Michel Lévy frères, Paris 1875, 19,5x25cm, bound.
First edition, one of 20 numbered copies on chine, most limited deluxe edition of this important collection of speeches, public declarations, and political texts intended for French parliament (Chamber of Peers, Constituent Assembly and Legislative Assembly), all written - as stated in the title - prior to his exile. These important texts address freedom of the press, theater and education, as well as the abolition of the death penalty.
Half red shagreen binding, smooth spine decorated in gilt lengthwise, marbled paper...

A unique combination of French translations of the first two philosophical works on the Sublime, marking the beginning of the most important reflection on aesthetics in Western history.
Extremely rare first edition of the first French translation of a philosophical work by Immanuel Kant, and the second ever translation of a Kantian text. The others were only translated during the 19th century. Illustrated with a portrait of the author by Benezy. The first edition in German was published in 1764 in Königsberg under the title "Beobachtungen über das Gefühl des Schönen und Erhabenen".
Contemporary half brown roan binding with vellum corners, smooth...

First edition and first printing of Lucien Laforge’s pacifist illustrations, one of 400 deluxe copies on special matte red paper from the Barthélémy paper mills, the only deluxe issue announced.
Some light wear, otherwise a very good copy of this fierce anti-militarist pamphlet in which runs "comme le grésillement du fer rouge marquant à vif la chair pâle et grasse du Bourgeois repu de morts" (Paul Vaillant-Couturier in L'Humanité).

First edition, one of 120 numbered copies on holland paper, deluxe copy.
Very handsome copy.
Autograph inscription signed by André Malraux to his friends Minka and Karl-Hans [Strauss] enhanced with two small drawings in red and blue ink representing cats.
Minka, a Rothschild descendant, and Karl-Hans Strauss, were important patrons and collectors of art and music close to André Malraux. Their correspondence seems to reveal that in the 1970s the elderly writer was hunting around the world, with his last companion Sophie de Vilmorin, for works for their collection. At the end of his life, he thus rediscovered this youthful passion that inspired his first work...