Gift ideas – Tales & Legends

First edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Pierre Dominique to Henri Béraud.
Foxing to boards, spine sunned with three small tears.
Provenance: from Henri Béraud's library in Ré.

Revised and expanded edition by Paul-Louis Jacob and enhanced with an original literary notice by Charles Nodier, one of the rare copies printed on Dutch laid paper.

Half red morocco binding with corners, spine with four fine raised bands set with gilt garlands decorated with gilt compartments adorned in the grotesque style, triple black fillets on marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt, elegant contemporary binding signed by Lebrun. A trace of a bookplate cleanly removed from one pastedown.

Rare and handsome copy beautifully bound.

First edition illustrated with six single-line drawings by the author and of which no deluxe copies were printed.
Autograph inscription signed by Michel Seuphor to Gérard Mouizel presenting his wishes: "... bon pour un bond heureux pour l'année 1983..." ["...good for a happy leap for the year 1983..."]
Pleasant copy.

first edition.
Bound in half red shagreen, back smoothes decorated with gilded nets, marbled paper plates, guards and contreplats of handmade paper, sprinkled edges, contemporary binding.
autograph dedication of the author signed autograph of his friend Champfleury Vain.
Some foxing.

First Edition printed in small numbers of this reprint for which it was not drawn of great papers.
Autograph signed by Claude Lévi-Strauss in English at the head of the first cover.
Marginal and slightly discolored boards without gravity.

Edition printed in 400 numbered copies on Hollande paper and illustrated with a frontispiece as well as 11 vignettes by Duplessis-Bertaux.
Half green morocco binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with the gilt monogram of the great bibliophile Roger de Cormenin repeated five times, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt.
Provenance: from the library of Roger de Cormenin, son of Louis de Cormenin who was the confidant and secretary of Théophile Gautier and also the intimate friend of Gustave Flaubert.

First edition.
Half forest green shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with the gilt monogram of the great bibliophile Roger de Cormenin repeated five times, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, near-contemporary binding.
Provenance: from the library of Roger de Cormenin, son of Louis de Cormenin who was the confidant and secretary of Théophile Gautier and also the intimate friend of Gustave Flaubert.
Handsome copy beautifully bound.

First edition of the translation and abridgment by the Marquis de Paulmy and Contant d'Orville.
Armorial copy of the Rohan Chabot family, certainly, given the date of the edition, of Louis-Antoine de Rohan-Chabot, known as the Chevalier de Rohan. 2 mascles and two chabot fish crowned in the corners. We know that the library of Cardinal de Rohan (famous!) bore mascles on the spine as a stamp.
Contemporary full glazed blonde calf bindings. Smooth spine decorated. Title label and volume label in brown morocco. 3 scratches on the upper cover of volume II, without consequence. Cracking of upper joints with very slight leather loss. Fine copy.
Le chevalier du soleil is a translation of the Spanish chivalric romance by Diego Orthunez de Calahorra, the first part of which appeared in 1555; the later sequels, second and third parts, are not by the author. Interesting preface by the Marquis de Paulmy, famous medievalist of the time, who affirms that the Amadis cycle is a sequel to the Chevalier du soleil. A table of contents allows one to trace the chronology of each character. The Marquis de Paulmy and his colleague Contant d'Orville did not merely translate Le chevalier du soleil; they compiled not only the sequels to the Histoire du chevalier du soleil, but also the last 21 Amadis romances, and the Roman des romans by Duverdier, which allows one to follow the destiny of all the characters of Spanish romance chivalry across two books. More strange seems the introduction of music in scores and songs by Philidor and Grétry celebrating chivalry, testimony to the 18th century's perception of romance chivalry.

Illustrated edition with 3 out-of-text engravings.
Publisher's signed romantic black cloth binding by Lenègre, smooth spine richly decorated with gilt and polychrome ornamentation, covers with frames of fillets and arabesques in blind, front cover enhanced with gilt and polychrome architectural decoration, large gilt and polychrome ornament on lower cover, edges gilt.
Some stains on covers, small lacks of cloth at foot, occasional foxing.
Handsome copy of this collection of moral tales in its romantic cloth binding.

Statement of second edition, illustrated with three figures engraved by Tardieu. The first edition appeared in 3 vols. 18mo, the same year.
Full marbled brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red long grain morocco title-label and volume labels. A tear with loss at head of first volume. Rubbing. 2 corners slightly bumped. Headcap of volume II partly worn away.
Collection of light and gallant tales by François de Lantier. Verses he wrote for Madame du Barry earned him a pension from Choiseul and a position in Dresden. He is the author of the voyages d'Anténor. Of his tales, he himself wrote in his preface: "it is better to write fairy tales than political dreams and to have a small clandestine commerce with the Muses, than to bear the burden of public affairs on one's back."
Viollet Le Duc bookplate; from the library of Laurent de Crozet; Laurent de Crozet bookplate. Jules Bobin manuscript ownership inscription. (Interesting provenance chain...)

Edition printed in 170 numbered copies on grand vélin de Rives.
Illustrated with 23 original compositions by Gaston Barret engraved on copper.
Endpapers uniformly shaded, otherwise a handsome copy.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Handsome autograph inscription from Blaise Cendrars to Jules supervielle : " à supervielle, voleur d'enfants."
A tiny marginal lack, not serious, on the first free endpaper, lacks to head of a leave (less than skillfully cut), small traces of folding to lower cover.
A handsome and rare copy.

First edition of which there were no large paper copies.
Autograph inscription from Georges Dumézil.
A good copy.

Second edition, expanded with some tales. The first edition appeared in 3 volumes in 18mo. Illustrated with three figures engraved by Tardieu.
Contemporary full tree calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with tools and roulettes. Red morocco title label, and black morocco volume label. Rubbing. A small lack to the tail headcap of volume 1. One corner opened.
The first volume gathers the tales in prose and the second the tales in verse as well as a theatrical piece.
A collection of light and gallant tales by François de Lantier. Verses he composed for Madame du Barry earned him a pension from Choiseul and a position in Dresden. He is the author of the voyages of Antenor. Of his tales, he himself wrote on this subject in his preface: "il vaut mieux faire des contes à dormir debout que des rêves politiques et avoir un petit commerce clandestin avec les Muses, que la charge des affaires publiques sur le dos." ["it is better to tell tall tales than to have political dreams and to have a small clandestine commerce with the Muses than to bear the burden of public affairs on one's back."]

New edition illustrated with original etchings by Tony Johannot.
Half olive shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands set with cold fillets and gilt dots, decorated with triple gilt compartments, gilt title, corners very slightly bumped.
Work illustrated with original etchings hors-texte by Tony Johannot.
Scattered foxing.

First edition.
Half navy calf binding with corners, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and double compartments as well as blind typographical motifs, minimal insignificant rubbing traces on headcaps, gilt fillet frame on marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, contemporary Romantic binding.
Work illustrated with an engraved frontispiece.
Bibliophilic pen notes concerning the work opposite an endpaper, scattered foxing.
Rare.