Gift ideas between 5 000 and 10 000 €

Exceptional album comprising 54 original caricatures, some captioned, executed in India ink, pencil, and watercolour (including three small pencil sketches on loose leaves), together with several blank leaves.

This entertaining and highly personal album, evidently compiled by an amateur artist, appears to chronicle the various adventures and misadventures of a small cast of recurring characters, all seemingly connected in one way or another with the French Embassy to the Ottoman Porte, as suggested by a piece of official letterhead inserted between two leaves.

Contemporary full ivory vellum with yapped edges, smooth spine ruled in red, a restored split at the head of the...

First edition, totalling 240 numbered copies, ours one of 10 copies on japon à la forme, the deluxe issue, complete at the end of the volume with its additional complete suite of illustrations in black as stated in the limitation.

Illustrated with 17 splendid pochoir plates in black, white, and gold by George Barbier.

A rare and...

A rare first edition, of which no subsequent reprint exists, complete with all his Neo-Latin poems, chiefly composed in Rome. The volume also contains two Greek poems at ff. 60 and 62, together with a poem which inspired the celebrated sonnet Happy he who like Ulysses.

Modern binding in full limp vellum, smooth spine, red edges, white pastedowns and endleaves.

Some defects within: discreet restoration to inner margin of title verso; small tear without loss at foot of ff. 2-3; dampstaining to lower margin of ff. 25-28 and 45-48; minimal marginal defect to f. 44, not affecting...

First French edition, illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 40 mounted colour plates on thick brown paper, each protected by a captioned tissue guard, along with 30 black-and-white line drawings within the text, one of the extremely rare 30 copies printed on japon, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page; the deluxe issue.

Publisher’s Bradel binding in full vellum-style boards, smooth gilt-titled spine, upper board gilt-stamped with title and a tree design, top edge gilt; the silk tie on the lower board is lacking.

...

Autograph manuscript by Louis Pasteur. One page in black ink on a single leaf, with numerous erased words and crossed-out passages.

Unpublished note by pasteur on his rabies vaccine.

Pasteur was under the scrutiny of...

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half black long-grain morocco binding, smooth spine tooled in palladium with author, title, and date, anthracite-grey paper boards, original wrappers and spine preserved (the latter with two small stains at head and foot), endpapers and pastedowns of anthracite-grey paper, binding signed Thomas Boichot.

Precious and exceptional signed presentation inscription by Louis-Ferdinand Céline: "A Mac Orlan son admirateur et ami fidèle. LFerd"

Autograph letter signed by Auguste Renoir, dated in his hand 5 February 1909. 2 pp. in black ink on a double leaf.

Horizontal mailing fold. Renoir penned this letter at his villa Les Collettes in Cagnes, where he created works of great sensuality and essayed sculpture. The painter orders brushes and refers to an expected visit from the family of Dr Emile Baudot, his physician of long standing and chief medical officer of the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest. Renoir's sole pupil was the venerable doctor's daughter, Jeanne Baudot, of whom he painted a portrait and who sat alongside her master for a canvas by...

First edition of this album of caricatures by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi which he numbered and initialed (copy no. 36). Printed “in small numbers” (Bartholdi Museum), with only six located in institutions (Colmar Museum, BnF, Harvard, UPenn, NYPL, Rutgers University).

Publisher’s blue cloth binding, flat spine gilt-lettered lengthwise, upper board numerously framed in black, anchors and stars stamped in black at the corners, title and date gilt-stamped; lower board numerously framed in black, black stars at the corners and a central anchor, red edges. Slight rubbing to joints, faint...

The first edition for large parts of the text, printed in 550 copies with the correct date of 1891 on the title.

Contemporary paper boards with blindstamped floral motifs, spine very slightly browned, brown shagreen title-piece, gilt date to foot of spine, covers preserved.
Biographical press clippings bound in at end, bookseller's description laid down on head of one endpaper, leaving a mark on the opposite page.
This copy is complete with the original preface by Rodolphe Darzens, removed from most copies of this printing.
A good copy in a contemporary binding, which is rare, according to Clouzot.

Third edition, partly original, expanded with 25 poems, along with a lengthy introduction by the poet Théophile Gautier and several articles and letters by Barbey d'Aurevilly, Dulamon, Sainte-Beuve, Charles Asselineau, Custine, Edouard Thierry et Émile Deschamps selected by Baudelaire.
With a steel-engraved frontispiece portrait of the author by Nargeot.
One of the rare first issue copies with the correct date of 1868 on the title and without statement of edition.
This comprehensive edition contains 25 unpublished poems, totaling 151 poems (100 poems in the 1857 edition). Among the new poems, eleven are from Les Épaves.
Although...

Illustrated edition, limited to 68 copies. The illustrations comprise a title-frontispiece, 28 colored vignettes in the text and numerous colored wood-engraved tailpieces by Daragnès after pastels by Anna de Noailles, accompanied by the complete suite of thirty progressive states of a single plate, showing the color breakdown. 

Bound in full lemon morocco, mosaic boards composed of a border of brown morocco fillets in the form of stylized hearts, surrounding two concentric undulating gilt fillet frames, with hearts in brown and teal morocco fillets at the center of the boards, smooth spine with mosaic of...

The ‘Kehl edition’, the most renowned edition of Voltaire's works, illustrated and published on deluxe paper. It was printed on five different types of paper, and only the deluxe editions, such as ours on laid paper, feature engravings. These are naturally the most sought-after and rarest copies.

Binding in full painted sheep decorated with a “honeycomb” motif, smooth spine tooled with gilt fleurons, fillets and compartments, light beige calf lettering and volume pieces, gilt chain-roll border on covers, marbled endpapers, gilt roll on edges, all edges marbled, contemporary binding. Two volumes (nos. 50 and 70) with slight variations in gilt tools on the spines and...

First edition on ordinary paper, without edition statement, bearing the correct colophon dated 30 November 1918.

The 128 deluxe paper copies would only be issued six months later, during the summer of 1919.

Light spotting to the margins of the endleaves, small l and a faint dampstain to the title page and following leaves, a bluish stain to the margins of pp. 339-340 inherent to the quality of the paper.

Bound in contemporary half forest-green morocco over corners, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, gilt date at foot, cat’s-eye patterned paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, binding signed...

First edition, one of the press copies.
Half brown shagreen binding, smooth spine with gilt floral panels, gilt initials C.T. at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, covers preserved, gilt edges, one upper corner slightly rubbed, binding dating from some years later.
Inscribed by Charles Terrasse (son of Claude) in ink at the head of a flyleaf.

Discreet restorations to the joints.
Precious presentation copy signed and inscribed by Alfred Jarry: "A Claude Terrasse son admirateur et son ami. Alf. Jarry" [his admirer and friend]

 

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...

Autograph letter by Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, vividly executed in multiple colours, signed and dated by the artist, 27 January 1956, addressed from his villa “La Californie”. Fourteen lines written in green, blue, pink, orange, red, violet and turquoise pencil on a watermarked “BFK Rives” sheet.
A few negligible transverse folds, as expected from mailing.

Picasso did not regularly employ colour in his correspondence. Here, however, he seems to have offered a gracious gesture to his friend and banker Max Pellequer, as the...

Second edition, first for some parts, one of 100 copies on vergé blanc paper.
Contemporary Bradel half dark-green cloth over marbled paper boards, the spine with gilt fleuron, date and double gilt fillets at foot, upper corners rubbed, covers preserved.

An attractive copy in a pleasant binding.
Handsome autograph inscription from Paul Verlaine to Alice Densmore.

First edition, one of 25 copies on handmade laid paper, numbered and justified by the publisher, the only deluxe issue.
 
Bradel binding in half chocolate-brown morocco with corners, smooth spine, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, illustrated wrappers by Manuel Orazi and backstrip preserved.
Work illustrated with 136 black and colour drawings, in- and out-of-text, by Georges Bottini.
 
Bookplate mounted.
 
Our copy is enriched with a full-page original drawing, signed by Georges Bottini and heightened in black ink, depicting Jacques Beaudarmon wearing a bowler hat and conversing with the « môme...

First edition of the French translation by Jean Dutourd, one of 86 numbered copies on pur fil, only grand papier (deluxe) copies. 

Anthracite morocco binding, gilt title lengthwise, date at the foot, black stingray boards framed in morocco, gilt decorative paper endleaves, original wrappers preserved, gilt edges, an elegant binding signed Boichot. Like most copies, two sunned spots to head and foot of spine, title-page and half-title slightly shaded due to the paper’s acidity.

Rare deluxe-paper copy of one of the most influential...

Autograph letter signed by Honoré de Balzac to Gustave Silbermann, dated 18 May [1846], with the blind stamp of the Hôtel des Trois Rois in Basel. A delicate document, with fold marks that have caused some tears with some minute lacks of paper, affecting a few letters, including the last two letters of the author's signature.
A fine epistolary testament to Balzac's unrestrained passion for art collecting, in this likely unpublished letter addressed to his friend, the Strasbourg bookseller and printer Gustave Silbermann. Balzac was planning a stay in Strasbourg, during which he became engaged to Madame Hanska.

First edition of the French translation by Father F. Le Comte (cf. Cordier, Bibl. Indosinica, 1046. Streit BM, V 1719. Sommervogel V, 583).

Contemporary full mottled brown calf, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands and double gilt panels adorned with gilt floral tools, speckled edges.

Spine expertly restored; pages 181–184 repeated; pagination jumps from 284 to 289 without loss.

The first part (pp. 1–327) contains the “Relation du Royaume de Tunquin,” and the second, the “Relation du Royaume de Lao” (pp. 329–436). The Italian Jesuit G. F. de'Marini (born in Taggia [Genoa] in 1608 – died in Macao in 1682) set sail for the Indies in 1638, preached the...

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”.

First collected edition. No deluxe paper copies issued.

Publisher’s binding in full green cloth, flat spines, with their dust jackets designed by Adam Rusak, showing only minor and insignificant marginal tears.

Rare presentation copy dated May 1, 1992 and signed by Solzhenitsyn to USSR émigré journalist and writer Sam Yossman, on the title page of the first volume.

First edition, very rare, of this album illustrated with 12 lithographic plates by Émile Verdier after drawings by the author (1 frontispiece and 11 plates, including one large folding plate depicting Pointe-à-Pitre) (cf. Sabin 8949).

Text and illustrations by Armand Budan.

Contemporary binding in brown quarter cloth with corners, smooth spine with long chocolate shagreen title-piece, boards covered with marbled paper framed by blind fillets, blue endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, early 20th-century binding.

The plates depict: Palmiste River. Heights of Petit-Bourg; Forest interior. Road to the Soufrière; View of the Soufrière from Versailles; The Yellow Baths...

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...

First edition printed in small numbers at the author's expense. This book exists only in proof state with blank wrappers and was never commercially sold. There were no deluxe copies printed.

The author distributed to his friends this set of printed proofs, with blank wrappers. The first cover, also blank, bears a printed stamp "proofs".

Foxing to covers, joints lightly rubbed.

Exceptional presentation copy: "to Monsieur Mauge this clandestine book most cordially Jacques Chardonne."

First edition.

Bound in full marbled paper, with a light brown morocco spine label; original wrappers preserved. Spine ends, corners and joints slightly rubbed; minor marginal stain to rear wrapper.

Rare first edition of Andersen’s tale about an ill-fated dryad often compared to “The Little Mermaid” (1837). Both feature a feminine nature spirit longing to shed her form to enter the human world, with fatal consequences.

An exceptional copy, inscribed by Hans Christian...

First edition, comprising the original narrative of the discovery of the Kerguelen Islands, together with a memoir on Madagascar (pp. 154-169), and the portion headed “Observations sur la guerre de l’Amérique” (pp. 121-133, Sabin 3718).

Work illustrated with a folding map bound out of text (“Terres Australes ou partie septentrionale de l’Isle de Kerguelen”), bordered by eight smaller coastal charts or views.

Contemporary full marbled fawn calf, spine tooled in gilt with sawtooth motifs and floral devices; red calf title label with a minor loss at the foot; joints showing rubbing...

Collective edition, partly original. It is illustrated with 3 frontispiece titles and 23 figures by François Chauveau. The three frontispiece titles dated 1660, the title page of the second volume with the date 1664, the other two title pages dated 1660. In the second volume, the privilege is also dated 1664, while the other two volumes have the privilege dated 1660. The second volume is therefore the 1664 reprint, identical in every respect to the 1660 edition, with the exception of the collation of the preliminary pieces. The three discourses as well as the examinations of each piece appear for the first time.

Binding in full 20th-century chocolate morocco signed Alix at the...

First edition, partly original, of the author's complete works.

Our copy retains the engraved frontispiece portrait of Madame de Staël by Müller, present in the first volume.

Some minor foxing, rare minor scratches on a few covers, holes at the bottom of the last marbled paper flyleaf in the ninth volume.

Full pinkish-red glazed calf bindings, smooth spines with richly...

New edition and first printing of the su­perb illustrations by Pierre Bonnard, one of 20 numbered copies on japon, the only deluxe paper issue.
Half blue percaline bradel binding with corners, smooth spine adorned with a central gilt fleuron and double gilt fillet at the foot, chocolate brown shagreen ti­tle label with minor scuffing, french curl on Turkish patterned paper boards, cov­ers and spine preserved, contemporary binding signed Carayon. Spine slightly browned, corners slightly dulled.
Our copy is housed under a half moroc­co chemise with five raised bands, “ill. de P. Bonnard” stamped in gilt at foot of spine, boards of tiger patterned paper, and a slipcase bordered with...

A rare Belgian pirate edition in 8 tomes bound in 4, published shortly after the novel's first serial appearance in the Journal des débats from August 28, 1844 to January 15, 1846. Complete with all half titles and title pages. They are all dated 1845, except for the last two (vol. 7-8) dated 1846. The edition includes the misprint "Christo" for "Cristo", present in the pre-first edition of the Journal des débats, and corrected for the first time at the end of 1846 in the first illustrated edition.

Contem­porary brown half shagreen, spine ruled in gilt, gilt titles and volumes, brown marbled paper boards, marbled edg­es. Spines uniformly lightened, rubbed corners and edges with...

First edition, one of 20 numbered cop­ies on hollande, the only deluxe issue (grand papier) after 10 copies on japon.

Bound in gray half morocco in panels, smooth spine, gilt date at foot, abstract decorative paper boards, black onion­skin pastedowns and flyleaves, original wrappers preserved, pastedown book­plate, top deckled edge gilt, binding signed Boichot.
Small tears with small lacks of paper to the margin of an endpaper and on the front cover.
The work is dedicated to Paul Verlaine who wrote the preface "which was a way of advertising to gay readers" (Gra­ham Robb, Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century, p. 210).

Precious signed and inscribed...

First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on pure laid paper, the only large paper copies.

Autograph presentation inscription dated and signed by Charles de Gaulle: "Pour J. Emery, bien cordialement ! C. de Gaulle. 25.2.61."

A fine and rare large paper copy with autograph presentation inscription signed by Charles de Gaulle.

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...

Rare and sought-after first edition.
 
Half-black shagreen binding, spine in four compartments, marbled paper boards, pebbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, contemporary binding.
Some occasional light foxing as usual.
 
Rare copy in strictly contemporary binding.

First edition featuring the celebrated original color stencil "Aidez l'Espagne!", printed on Arches paper by Joan Miró.
With literary contributions by Christian Zervos on Pablo Picasso's "Guernica", as well as texts by Jean Cassou, Georges Duthuit, Pierre Mabille, Michel Leiris, Paul Éluard, René Char...
Illustrated with numerous reproductions of works by Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró’s "Le faucheur".
Some rubbing and small tears to the spine, as often, a vertical crease to the rear wrapper, otherwise a fresh and well-preserved copy.

First edition, with all the features of first issue copies, including the misprint “Sénart” on the dedication leaf.

Contemporary plum-coloured 3/4 morocco binding signed by Georges Huser, spines with five raised bands, numerously ruled in blind, with a gilt floral tool at centres, dates in gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edges gilt, bookplates on each front pastedown. Complete with the publisher’s catalogue at the end of the first volume.

A very handsome copy, elegantly bound by Georges Huser, with the...

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 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 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 copies on Japon, the only deluxe issue.

Navy blue half shagreen with slight color restoration, spine with five raised bands abundantly framed in gilt, blue watered silk flyleaves, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, gilt top edge, binding signed J. Querelle.

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.

Original autograph manuscript by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, one page in black ink on a yellow paper sheet, numerous corrections, and rewritings.

Exceptional working manuscript of a passage from the original French version of Wind Sand and Stars [Terre des Hommes] from chapter VI "Dans le désert", a magnificent ode to the barren wilderness of deserts doomed to disappear due to the inevitable development of the industrial age. This section from the original French novel was removed for the English version translated by Galantière and remains unpublished in English. Moreover, the final two paragraphs of the manuscript are unpublished in the original French version...

Autograph letter signed to Madame Catusse, 12,6x20,4cm, 3 pages on a double leaf.

Autograph letter signed by Marcel Proust, probably addressed to Madame Catusse. The recipient and date have been determined by Proust scholar Jean-Yves Tadié. Three pages in black ink on a double leaf edged in black. A fold inherent to the mailing.
A sombre and admirable letter steeped in Proustian melancholy. The future author of In Search of Lost Time feels more than ever the loss of his mother during the New Year period. The famously generous Proust also asks his faithful confidante Madame Catusse to buy a gift for the Straus couple, whose wife inspired...

First edition, with 18 engraved maps et 5 folding engraved plates.
Contemporary tan calf, skillfully restored tear to the first folding map, some marginal restorations to the map “Troisième division - Archipel des navigateurs”. Falkland Islands map expertly rebacked on the outer margin as well as the Magellan Strait map. Map of the Buton Strait with a small marginal tear and a second restored with a strip of paper.
Bougainville undertook the first official French circumnavigation and scientific expedition. Starting from Nantes in November 1766, he sailed to the Falklands, made a stopover in Buenos Aires and then crossed the Magellan Strait and the...

Very rare and highly sought-after first edition according to Clouzot, for which no copies on large paper were issued.

Full red morocco binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt rolls on headcaps, inner dentelle border on off-white morocco pastedowns enhanced with a red morocco mosaic fillet and quintuple gilt fillets, the fillet and quintuple gilt fillets interlacing at corners, gilt fillet border on turn-ins, ivory watered silk endpapers, iron-grey wrappers and spine preserved (Clouzot notes two states of wrappers: iron-grey - the rarer - and bluish-grey), all edges gilt, double gilt fillets on board edges, half red morocco slipcase with bands, spine with five raised bands...

First edition, a first impression copy numbered in the press.

Binding in half brown morocco, spine in five compartments, gilt date at the foot, geometric pattern paper boards and endpapers in the same paper, top edge gilt, wrappers and spine preserved in perfect condition, binding signed by T. Boichot.

Apollinaire's second major poetic work with bold graphic innovations and a portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire by Pablo Picasso as frontispiece.
“Some of the best war poems, all languages combined, are brought together in this collection, alongside experimental works such as Les Fenêtres (close to Cubism) and La Jolie Rousse, which were far ahead of their...

First edition illustrated with 48 color lithographs by the author, one of a few named copies on japon reserved for the principal collaborators of the publication, ours specially printed for the celebrated bibliophile Colonel Sickles, deluxe issue.

This copy is complete, as stipulated in the justification, with the duplicate set of lithographs in black and in color.

The work is also illustrated with 40 decorated initials designed by the prestigious bookbinder Paul Bonet.

This is Maurice de Vlaminck's most important...

Extremely rare original photograph showing Charles Baudelaire on albumen paper, contemporary print in carte de visite format, mounted on a board from the Nadar workshop, 35 boulevart (sic) des Capucines; “Photographic portrait for us taken by Nadar. Taken the same day as the previous one, same dimensions, same clothes. The waistcoat is still unbuttoned but Baudelaire hides his hands in the pockets of his trousers. Seen face on, he seems more troubled and sadder than in the previous attempt.” (Ourousof, 1896)
“Another carte de visite from the same day as the previous no. 41 [...] a contemporary albumen print found in the Musée d'Orsay collections (Provenance: from the Braive collection...

Rare first edition, with the wrapper and title page dated 1874.

Half black morocco binding with corners, spine with five raised bands, date at foot, gilt fillet on boards, combed paper pastedowns and endpapers, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, binding signed Alix.

Printed in 1869 by Lacroix, this edition was not released for sale for fear of censorship. Only about ten copies were stitched and given to the author (five have been recorded to date). In 1874, Jean-Baptiste Rozez, another Belgian publisher-bookseller, acquired the stock and published the work with a wrapper and cancel title page dated 1874, without publisher's imprint. It was in his...

First edition of one of the most beautiful books of the 18^th century, of which the text and the music are entirely engraved$. It is illustrated with an engraved title, 3 frontispieces by Le Bouteux and Le Barbier, a dedication page with the Dauphine arms, and 100 figures by Moreau le Jeune, Le Barbier, Le Bouteux and Saint-Quentin, finely engraved in copperplate by Masquelier and Née. The portrait of Laborde, which can be found on some copies, is not part of this edition and was printed in 1774, separately.
Dentelle bindings in full navy blue morocco, signed by Bruyère at the bottom of the pastedown endpaper. Slipcase covered with a blue marbled paper, suede interior, lined...

Superb original photographic portrait of Ravachol taken by Alphonse Bertillon, contemporary print on albumen mounted on bristol board.
Extremely rare handwritten caption signed by the most famous of the French anarchists, written in his hesitant and naive handwriting, at the bottom of the photo: “1er mai 1892 Koningstein [sic] Ravachol” “1st May 1892 Koningstein [sic] Ravachol”.
The spelling Koningstein chosen by Ravachol differs from his father's surname (Königstein). This variation confirmed by the Maintron (Biographical dictionary of the social and labour movement) is found in particular in a piece of his writing by hand dated 13 April 1892 and kept at the Conciergerie.
“ Un...

A collection of four extremely rare first editions:
- Thuileur des trente-trois degrés de l'écossisme (1813), “a rare and sought-after work and one of the best thuileurs in existence...” (Caillet, I, 2910). With a frontispiece and 14 plates (one folding) as well as a large folding table at end;
- Récapitulation de toute la maçonnerie ou Description et explication de l'hiéroglyphe universel du maître des maîtres (1812) with two plate;
- l'Explication de la croix philosophique (1806) with a folding plate showing the eponymous cross;
- l'Explication de la pierre cubique (1806) with a folding plate describing the stone.
This copy is further enriched with a small insert...

Fourth collective edition for the first part and third for the second and third parts, published by Corneille himself. Our copy is adorned with the frontispiece of the first two editions (dated 1645), and the portrait of Corneille by Michel Lasne, dated 1644.

Later bindings in full blue morocco, Jansenist spines with five raised bands, endpapers and pastedowns framed with gilt dentelles of marbled paper, all edges gilt, marbled paper slipcases bordered with morocco, bindings signed by Alix.

Rare and beautiful copy elegantly bound.

First edition, one of 90 numbered copies on laid Arches paper, the only deluxe copies (grand papier) after 10 Montval.

Beautiful copy.