Suggested or explicit, illustrated or purely textual, sadistic or sapphic, published under the cloak or out in the open, love has always had an intimate and passionate relationship with literature. No, curiosity does not kill the Eroticat...
New edition.
Illustrated with engravings by Jean Hugo.
A pleasing copy.
Inscribed and signed by Anaïs Nin to the writer Christiane Baroche.
First edition, one of 480 numbered copies on laid paper, only grands papiers (deluxe) copies besides 20 Arches and 100 service de presse (advance) copies on laid paper.
Our copy is complete with the rare vignette etching drawn and engraved by Hans Bellmer printed 'en sanguine' present in only around 200 copies.
Preface by Jean Paulhan.
Spine very lightly faded.
A beautiful copy of this masterpiece of erotic literature.
Bronze Cast of the Marquis de Sade's Skull
2012 | 20 x 13.5 x 15 cm | bronze
Bronze cast of the Marquis de Sade's skull by the master founder Avangini. From a unique numbered edition of 99 bearing a reproduction of Sade's signature, this one no. 30.
Also included is a certificate of authenticity signed by the Comtesse de Sade, with the family's wax seal.
Provenance: family archives.
New edition.
Spine lightly toned.
Work illustrated with photomontages by Val Telberg.
Inscribed by Anaï Nin to her friend, the writer Christiane Baroche : "Christiane Baroche whose dreams are strong and have roots and bear fruit. Anaïs Nin."
Autograph letter signed from Georges Bataille to Denise Rollin, 40 lines in black ink, two pages on one leaf.
George Bataille and Denise Rollin's relationship lasted from the autumn of 1939 to the autumn of 1943 and left behind it a short but passionate correspondence. This letter dates from the early days of their connection, but already reveals Bataille's agonies: “Perhaps I was too happy with you for some months, even though suffering did not wait long to interrupt, at least for a time, a happiness that was almost a challenge.”
A passionate lover, Bataille moved from exultation to the deepest doubt and even offered his lover a potential way out of their relationship: “If you can't take it, me, any more, I beg you, don't deceive yourself any longer: tell me it's me, and not some foible I could have avoided and which is easily repairable.” He would rather be sac-
rificed on the altar of their love than have a relationship that was bland and flavorless: “Understand me when I tell you that I don't want everything to get bogged down, that I would really rather suffer than see a sort of shaky mediocrity as a future for you and me.”
Earlier in the letter, he turns to humor to tear him away from his worries: “I hardly dare make you laugh by telling
you that I've lost weight, so that my trousers occasionally fall down, because I've not yet gotten into the habit of tightening my belt to the new notch.” Then, he goes back to pleading: “I write to you like a blind man, because that is what you make me when you talk to me the way you do when you leave or when you phone, you make me fall into a darkness that is almost unbearable.” He then tries to get a grip on himself:
“there are moments I'm ashamed of doubting you and being afraid, or of stupidly losing my head.”
Finally, hemmed in by all his doubts as a lover, Bataille tried to find some respite in talking about the family that he had made up with Denise and her son Jean (alias Bepsy): “If you write me, tell me how Bepsy's doing, which is perhaps the only thing that you can tell me that doesn't touch something painful in me.”
In a 1961 interview, Bataille looked back on this time: "Le Coupable is the first book that gave me a kind of satisfaction, an anxious one at that, that no book had given me and that no book has given me since. It is perhaps the book in which I am the most myself, which resembles me the most... because I wrote it as if in a sort of quick and continuous explosion." The letters addressed by Bataille to Denise during this period contain the seeds of the feelings that explode in Le Coupable as in all of Bataille's work. His writing is an ebb and flow of love and suffering, between ecstasy and disappointment, calm and energy, mixing familiar and formal tones, compliments and reproaches. The letters are often impossible to date with precision as they all proceed from the same movement of ecstatic flagellation.
In 1943, Georges Bataille found a house in Vézelay where the couple settled with Laurence (Georges and Sylvia's daughter), and Denise's son Jean. It was there that Bataille completed his book Le Coupable as well as his love story since barely a month after their arrival, Diane Kotchoubey, a young woman of 23, moved in with them. Before the end of the year, Bataille left Denise Rollin for this new flame.
These previously unknown letters were kept by Bataille's best friend Maurice Blanchot who from 1944 became the new lover Denise Rollin, this woman with a "melancholic and taciturn" beauty who "embodied silence". The crumpled letters (one is even torn into five pieces) are as much the precious trace of Bataille's extraordinary passion as they are a valuable source from a little-known period of his intimate life which was until then only perceived through the eyes of his friends. Above all they are of an exceptional literary quality and reveal several sides to him: the man, the accursed, the worshipper and the profaner... all that, according to Michel Foucault, makes Georges Bataille "one of the most important writers of this century”.
First edition printed on vélin d'Angoulême. Complete copy with the six banned poems and the usual misprints.
Half shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands twice ruled in gilt with gilt fleurons, marbled paper boards, marbled pastedowns and flyleaves, contemporary binding. Some foxing scattered foxing.
Pirate edition of 1812, imprint dated 1796. It features the exact pagination of the genuine 1796 edition, as well as the 13 plates and 2 frontispieces by Monnet, Mlle Gérard and Fragonard fils engraved by Baquoy, Duplessi-Bertaux, Dupréel, Godefroy, Langlois, Lemire, Lingée, Masquelier, Patas, Pauquet, Simonet and Trière. The pirate edition is identified by the letters “R. p. D.” in the plates' lower margins, as they have been retouched by Delvaux. In addition, the fillet preceding the date on the title-page is wavy, and the title is presented in seven lines rather than eight.
Bound in full morocco, slight rubbing on the corners, all edges gilt, splendid binding signed by Hardy.
A very fine copy in a magnificent decorated full morocco binding by Hardy.
First edition, one of 300 numbered copies signed and justified by Frans de Geetere, reserved for the friends of La Marie-Jeanne, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
As stated in the limitation, our copy is complete with a manuscript leaf from the work and an original drawing by the author depicting two reclining nude women, signed by him.
A desirable copy, complete with its rare promotional wraparound band: "le livre qu'aucun éditeur n'a osé publier".
First edition clandestinely printed in 175 copies on laid paper, each individually numbered.
Bound in full mint green morocco, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, subtle restoration to spine colour, date gilt at foot, endpapers and pastedowns of combed paper, gilt fillet border on pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, all edges gilt, chemise edged in mint green morocco, covers of cat's eye paper, white felt interior, an elegant binding signed by Alix.
A very rare and handsome copy bound by one of the most distinguished binders of the second half of the twentieth century.
Original photo - Christopher Street Liberation Day March, New York - "The Kiss, Judy Bowen and Philip Raia""On June 28, 1970, I attended the first New York Gay Pride March. The date marks the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which launched the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the U.S. We left from Christopher Street, a gay cultural mecca in Greenwich Village, and walked up 6th Avenue to Central Park. To end the day, a kissing contest was held in the middle of the park! It was a great moment of joy, love and freedom. This couple, who kissed for hours under an umbrella, obviously didn't care about photographers" (Interview with Clément Thierry, 2021)
12 large paintings on silk: 24 x 34.5 cm, depicting couples embracing. These works seem very close to the style of Yamamoto Schoun.
A folding collection covered with a patterned green silk fabric. The silk paintings are loosely inserted into movable paper frames. Label on the upper cover missing. Cloth is faded, with a few perforations, dampstains in the lower part of the upper cover, and missing edges. First board is split at the head and foot of the joint.
Although the colors are quite varied, they all rest on and derive from a dominant pale green, the color found on the boards. The palette mixes different shades of green with complementary colors in the clothing (red, blue-gray...). Couples are always clothed, with clothing playing a revealing role, an integral part of Japanese eroticism. The decor shows a variety of everyday objects, such as teapots and boxes. In each of the paintings, elements frame and circumscribe the scene: screens, sliding walls, windows, but beyond a perfectly balanced composition: the interiors participate in the unveiling, in a staging intended for the gaze.
First edition printed in 85 numbered copies and 3 hors commerce copies, ours one of the 70 on B.F.K. de Rives paper.
A fine copy complete with its chemise and slipcase in full black cloth, spine of the chemise slightly faded, a small tear at the foot of the lower panel of the slipcase.
Illustrated with 19 original photographs signed in pencil by Henri Maccheroni.
Fourth edition.
A pleasing copy.
Introduction by Harry T. Moore.
Presentation inscription signed by Anaïs Nin to the writer Christiane Baroche: "my friend love, Lawrence and i was the first woman i write abour him. Anaïs Nin."
New edition.
Illustrated with engravings by Jean Hugo.
A pleasing copy.
Fine signed autograph inscription from Anaïs Nin to the woman of letters Christiane Baroche: "Your poems should be in a book one can keep nearly and read now and then for substance. Anaïs Nin."
First edition, with no deluxe paper issue stated.
An attractive copy, complete with its publisher’s wraparound band; "Moi, dit Pierrot, je les mettrais pas entre toutes les mains..."
A few scuffs to the band.
Rare signed autograph inscription from Bertrand Blier to Germaine Beaumont.
Two years later, Bertrand Blier adapted his novel for the screen, starring Patrick Dewaere, Gérard Depardieu, Miou-Miou, Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Fossey in the leading roles.
One of the first collected editions of these seven comic novellas, initially printed separately, by the Sieur de Préfontaine, regarded as a first-rate author by Charles Louandre: "without seeking to diminish in any way the merit of Boileau, without disputing his title as legislator of taste, one may say that Charles Sorel, Furetière, Préfontaine, [...] contributed alongside him and before him to cleansing the French Parnassus."
The first edition of one of the short stories contained in this volume, L'Assemblée des filoux et des filles de joie, is to this day lost; its earliest version is thus found in the 1671 editions.
Early nineteenth-century binding in full brown long-grain morocco, smooth spine with six gilt compartments decorated with urns, red morocco lettering-piece, triple gilt fillet border to boards, gilt-tooled roll to board edges with a diagonal line pattern, gilt edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers with a shell pattern. Bookplate of "ED. PETIT" on the verso of the first free endpaper.
First free endpaper torn at inner margin over 5 cm, title page marginally rubbed, very slight marginal dampstaining from p. 297 to p. 318. A handsome and pleasing copy.
(our own translation)
Edition illustrated with 12 original colour watercolours by Gerda Wegener, printed hors texte, one of 400 numbered copies on Arches laid paper.
Spine and boards faintly sunned at the margins, otherwise a pleasing copy.
First edition, one of 90 numbered copies on vellum, ours one of the few hors commerce copies, the only issue after 20 copies on orange paper.
Spine slightly sunned as usual, with a small tear to head of spine; a fine copy.
Illustrated with a frontispiece by Max Ernst.
Whimsical inscription on a presentation copy to Surrealist painter Yves Tanguy: "in memory of a past not unlike a Henri III sideboard. Lély." (A monsieur Yves Tanguy en souvenir d'un passé pareil à un buffet Henri III)
First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on tinted Rives wove, the only issue following 40 copies on Arches wove enhanced with an additional suite of the illustrations.
A fine copy.
Work illustrated with three etchings by Alberto Giacometti.
Postcard after an original photograph by David Hamilton depicting a young girl walking through a flower-filled meadow.
A fine copy.
Signed by David Hamilton in black felt-tip pen at the foot of the card.
Provenance: from the collection of the noted autograph collector Claude Armand.
Postcard-format reproduction of a photograph by David Hamilton depicting a nude woman seen from behind, gazing at herself in a mirror.
Signed by David Hamilton in black felt-tip pen at the lower right corner of the card.
A handsome copy.
Provenance: from the collection of the noted autograph collector Claude Armand.
First edition printed in 300 numbered copies on pure rag vellum from the marais, ours being one of the 246 containing illustrations in the text.
Work illustrated with 18 unsigned drypoints in the text by Fernand Hertenberger.
Boards uniformly and lightly sunned.
Rare and handsome copy.
Ronéotype réalisé par Boris Vian de son manuscrit original, avec ajout autographe du titre : "Le penseur" et deux corrections autogrpahes, nouvelle initialement parue dans la revue Dans le train n°15, 1949, puis publiée dans le recueil posthume Le Loup-Garou en 1970.
Sans doute réalisé pour conserver une copie de sa nouvelle, avant l'envoi à la revue Dans le train, ce ronéotype du manuscrit originale signé a été conservé dans les archives de l'écrivain jusqu'à sa mort. les deux corrections autogrpahes et le titre au crayon semble indiquer que Boris Vian avait prévu une nouvelle publication.
Cette biogaphie express de la courte vie d'un philosophe de génie : Urodonal Carrier, était destinée à être lue le temps d'un trajet en transport en commun. Elle fait partie douze textes que Boris Vian publia entre 1948 et 1950 dans la revue humoristique Dans le train.
Provenance : Fondation Boris Vian.
Ronéotype réalisé par Boris Vian de son manuscrit original, avec ajout autographe du titre : "L'amour est aveugle", nouvelle initialement parue dans la revue Paris-Tabou n°1 de 1949, puis publiée dans le recueil posthume Le Loup-Garou en 1970.
Sans doute réalisé pour conserver une copie de sa nouvelle, avant l'envoi à la revue Paris-Tabou, ce ronéotype du manuscrit originale signé a été conservé dans les archives de l'écrivain jusqu'à sa mort.
Ecrit d'un seul jet et comportant très peu de corrections, il témoigne de la créativité de l'écrivain et de son univers onirique hors du commun.
Provenance : Fondation Boris Vian.
Autograph manuscript signed by André Breton, written in black ink on two sheets of green paper.
Horizontal fold to each sheet, pagination in red pencil on the 2nd sheet. Published in the journal Art, 1955.
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.
- Paris 1970, 19.5x30cm, 15 photographs. -
"Le 28 juin 1970, j'assistais à la première Gay Pride de New York. La date correspond au premier anniversaire des émeutes de Stonewall, qui ont lancé le mouvement de libération LGBTQ+ aux États-Unis. Nous sommes partis de Christopher Street, haut lieu de la culture gay de Greenwich Village, et nous avons remonté la 6e Avenue jusqu'à Central Park. Pour clôturer la journée, un concours du plus long baiser a eu lieu au milieu du parc ! C'était un grand moment de joie, d'amour et de liberté. Ce couple, qui s'embrassait depuis des heures sous un parasol, ne se souciait manifestement pas des photographes !" ["On June 28, 1970, I attended New York's first Gay Pride celebration. The date corresponds to the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which launched the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the United States. We set off from Christopher Street, a hotbed of gay culture in Greenwich Village, and made our way up 6th Avenue to Central Park. To round off the day, a contest for the longest kiss was held in the middle of the park! It was a great moment of joy, love and freedom. This couple, who kissed for hours under an umbrella, clearly didn't care about photographers!"] (Interview with Clément Thierry, 2021) Exceptional pictorial history of 15 original black & white silver photographs from the period, signed on the back by the artist. All are stamped on verso by Jean-Pierre Laffont for the Gamma agency, and some have long mimeographed captions in French. The original prints of these photographs are extremely rare, as museums and galleries only possess reprints. This collection is a moving testimony to the beginnings of the now-famous Marche des fiertés, in the aftermath of the Stonewall riots, the first milestone in the emergence of the LGBTQ+ movement in the United States and around the world. On June 28, 1969, police raided Stonewall, a Greenwich Village dance bar run by the mob and catering mainly to homosexuals and transgender people. At the time, the United States prohibited establishments from serving alcohol to homosexuals, who were often victims of police violence. That night at Stonewall was one too many: the police, cornered by the customers, were forced to retreat inside the bar, and the riot lasted seven days. It would be fifty years, on June 6, 2019, before the New York City Police Department apologized to the LGBT community. The events of Stonewall, now considered the founders of gay liberation, led to the formation of some of the first radical homosexual activist groups, such as the Gay Liberation Front and Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (better known by the acronym STAR and founded by two of the most famous transgender activists: Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera). The challenge was to transform this moment into a movement. With this in mind, the Christopher Street Liberation Day March was held on June 28, 1970, one year to the day after the Stonewall riots. The parade, made up of just a few courageous groups at the start in Sheridan Square (Greenwich village), saw its ranks swell by the time it reached Sheep Meadow (Central Park), bringing together over 10,000 demonstrators. This demonstration was to take place every summer, in New York and other major American cities, before spreading to other continents a few years later, becoming today a marker of democratic societies around the world. Our set of photographs shows the diversity of participants brandishing placards with slogans such as "Smash Sexism" or "Perverts' union for gay liberation". Others sport T-shirts with committed messages - "Femme / Butch", "Master / Slave" - or are in their simplest garb. Some marchers wear black T-shirts emblazoned with the Greek letter lambda (?), chosen by the Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) because it stands for liberation and can easily be confused with the insignia of American college fraternities. It was officially recognized as the international gay and lesbian symbol at the International Gay Law Congress in Edinburgh in 1974. The Reverend Robert Clement can be recognized in two shots in his religious vestments.
"Le 28 juin 1970, j'assistais à la première Gay Pride de New York. La date correspond au premier anniversaire des émeutes de Stonewall, qui ont lancé le mouvement de libération LGBTQ+ aux États-Unis. Nous sommes partis de Christopher Street, haut lieu de la culture gay de Greenwich Village, et nous avons remonté la 6e Avenue jusqu'à Central Park. Pour clôturer la journée, un concours du plus long baiser a eu lieu au milieu du parc ! C'était un grand moment de joie, d'amour et de liberté. Ce couple, qui s'embrassait depuis des heures sous un parasol, ne se souciait manifestement pas des photographes !" ["On June 28, 1970, I attended New York's first Gay Pride celebration. The date corresponds to the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which launched the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the United States. We set off from Christopher Street, a hotbed of gay culture in Greenwich Village, and made our way up 6th Avenue to Central Park. To round off the day, a contest for the longest kiss was held in the middle of the park! It was a great moment of joy, love and freedom. This couple, who kissed for hours under an umbrella, clearly didn't care about photographers!"] (Interview with Clément Thierry, 2021)
Original photo from Christopher Street Liberation Day March, New York - "Master and Slave""On June 28, 1970, I attended the first New York Gay Pride March. The date marks the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which launched the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the U.S. We left from Christopher Street, a gay cultural mecca in Greenwich Village, and walked up 6th Avenue to Central Park. To end the day, a kissing contest was held in the middle of the park! It was a great moment of joy, love and freedom. This couple, who kissed for hours under an umbrella, obviously didn't care about photographers" (Interview with Clément Thierry, 2021)
Original photo from Christopher Street Liberation Day March, New York - "Perverts' Union for Gay Liberation""On June 28, 1970, I attended the first New York Gay Pride March. The date marks the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which launched the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the U.S. We left from Christopher Street, a gay cultural mecca in Greenwich Village, and walked up 6th Avenue to Central Park. To end the day, a kissing contest was held in the middle of the park! It was a great moment of joy, love and freedom. This couple, who kissed for hours under an umbrella, obviously didn't care about photographers" (Interview with Clément Thierry, 2021)
Original photo from Christopher Street Liberation Day March, New York - "Activist in a Wheelchair""On June 28, 1970, I attended the first New York Gay Pride March. The date marks the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which launched the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the U.S. We left from Christopher Street, a gay cultural mecca in Greenwich Village, and walked up 6th Avenue to Central Park. To end the day, a kissing contest was held in the middle of the park! It was a great moment of joy, love and freedom. This couple, who kissed for hours under an umbrella, obviously didn't care about photographers" (Interview with Clément Thierry, 2021)
"On June 28, 1970, I attended the first New York Gay Pride March. The date marks the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which launched the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the U.S. We left from Christopher Street, a gay cultural mecca in Greenwich Village, and walked up 6th Avenue to Central Park. To end the day, a kissing contest was held in the middle of the park! It was a great moment of joy, love and freedom. This couple, who kissed for hours under an umbrella, obviously didn't care about photographers" (Interview with Clément Thierry, 2021)
