Inscribed Books

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 on ordinary paper despite a mention of twelfth edition.

Paper yellowed and slightly brittle at the edges, a small insignificant lack at the head of the leaves of the first gathering which was poorly cut.

Beautiful autograph inscription signed by André Malraux on the half-title page: "A André Germain - cet ancien portrait de moi-même où je ne me reconnais guère que par endroits - avec le fidèle souvenir et la sympathie d'André Malraux." (To André Germain - this old portrait of myself in which I hardly recognize myself except in places - with faithful memory and the sympathy of André Malraux.)
 

First edition, one of 350 numbered copies on handmade paper, ours unnumbered, the only deluxe copies.

Half-shagreen red binding, spine with five raised bands highlighted with gilt dotting and decorated with double gilt fillets, small stains on spine, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns, front cover preserved, corners very slightly bumped, speckled top edge, contemporary binding.

Precious autograph inscription dated and signed by Marcel Bleustein, who took the pseudonym Blanchet during the Resistance, to Paul Verneyras.
Press man, union activist and politician, Paul Verneyras joined the Resistance from 1940 by participating in the development of the Libération-Nord movement with Gaston Tessier. For his action during the occupation, Paul Verneyras was decorated with the rosette of the Resistance and made officer of the Legion of Honor.

Moving tribute from one Resistant to another Resistant.

 

First edition printed in small numbers of this offprint from the Mercure de France published on May 15, 1920. OCLC does not locate any copies in North America and only three in Eu­rope (Bnf, Bibliothèque Doucet, Uni­versitätsbibliothek Basel).
Covers with frayed margins, second cover partially shaded, one small piece of paper missing from the right margin of a page due to the fragility of the paper.
Signed and inscribed copy to paint­er Bernard de Blois: “En sympathie de voisin de logis et d'esthétique. Canudo 1922.” [”In sympathy as a neighbor of lodgings and aesthetics. Canudo 1922.”]
Extremely rare first edition of the li­bretto of the ballet Skating-Rink set on a roller-skating rink, created by the Ballets Suédois with choreogra­phy by Jean Börlin and music by Ar­thur Honegger, as well as costumes, curtain and stage designs by Fernand Léger.
This Futurist poem-libretto is di­rectly inspired by Charlie Chaplin's The Rink (1916), using the events in the skating rink as a metaphor for the hectic life in modern cities with its mechanical, almost ritual repeti­tions and its vicious circle of attrac­tion and rejection.
Canudo's inscription dates from 1922, the year of the ballet's creation at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées by the Ballets Suédois. The troupe had been founded by the Swedish art collector Rolf de Maré after the model of Di­aghilev's Ballets russes. “The action of this 'Ballet aux patins', subtitle given by Canudo to his poem-libret­to, takes place in Paris in the hall of the popular ballroom Tabarin trans­formed into a skating rink for roll­er skates. Skating practised in large skating rinks such as the Skating Pal­ais on Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, had conquered the popular balls and café-concerts as early as 1875, but it returned in force in the 1910s after the ball-bearing revolution” (Josiane Mas). The dynamism of this activi­ty had won over the Italian Futurists and also inspired popular culture like Chaplin's The Rink, which Canudo certainly watched during a leave of absence from the French army where he had enlisted – like Apollinaire – during WW1.
The rare first edition of Canudo's poem is the real starting point of the Gesamtkunstwerk of Skating-Rink – the text that inspired its musical compositions, costumes and chore­ographies. Its title “for the music of...” clearly suggests a work in progress for which the artists have not yet all been chosen: Arthur Honegger, a famous member of the “Groupe des Six”, was commissioned to write the music in 1921 and did not finish the orchestration until 5 days before the ballet premiered. Canudo encour­aged every contributing artist to study Chaplin's film, which is reflect­ed in numerous aspects of the pro­duction: the figure of the “Madman” in Canudo's poem becomes a color­ful, cubist Tramp under the brush of Fernand Léger, with a high hat, a jack­et with uneven tails and trousers with one striped and one checked leg. His movements choreographed by Börlin were based on Chaplin's part, with comic acrobatics and countless laps of the skater – a metaphor for the be­witching rhythm of industry and the daily hustle and bustle of the modern city. To the chagrin of critics, these new concepts of dance and perform­ing arts combined modernity and the popular life inspired by the New World: “Despite their national foci, what made Skating Rink and Parade modern were their American refer­ences: both looked to Hollywood – Skating Rink to Charlie Chaplin, Parade to The Perils of Pauline; both made references to jazz, and both referred albeit in indirect ways to American mechanical modernity. The motivation behind their evident ad­miration for the United States was the desire that France and other Europe­an countries might emulate American modernity and, through attaining its promised financial rewards, use them to create a better life.” (Ramsay Burt, Alien Bodies. Representations of Mo­dernity, “Race” and Nation in Early Modern Dance, 2002).
This text created by a key figure of the Parisian avant-garde for the Ballets suédois in 1920 called for the conver­gence of the arts – literature, painting, dance and music – transforming the stage into a pure Cubist and Futurist manifestation.
Extremely rare, all the more with an autograph inscription by Ricciotto Canudo.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Foreword by Raymond Queneau.
Light dampstains to spine, some staining to board margins.
Rare autograph inscription signed by Boris Vian to the actress Jacqueline Pierreux, mother of Jean-Pierre Léaud, and to her husband the novelist and screenwriter Pierre Léaud: "Pour monsieur Léaud et mame Pierreux avec une bise (pas pour lui). Boris Vian." (For Mr. Léaud and Mrs. Pierreux with a kiss (not for him). Boris Vian.)
In April 1948, Jacqueline Pierreux created the role of Judy in the theatrical adaptation of "J'irai cracher sur vos tombes" at the Verlaine theatre, directed by Alfred Pasquali.

First edition in French, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.

Spine sunned with dampstains, pale dampstain to right margin of front board.

Autograph inscription signed by the translator Maurice Edgar Coindreau to Pierre Ripault.

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 on ordinary paper.
Handsome copy.
Autograph inscription signed by Patrick Modiano to the stage director, playwright and writer Simone Benmussa and her companion the actress Erika Kralik.
Literary advisor to the Compagnie Jean-Louis Barrault - Madeleine Renaud, then, in 1957, editor-in-chief of the Cahiers Renaud-Barrault, Simone Benmussa also directed, from the Odéon theatre, the cultural service and the Cahiers of the Renaud-Barrault company. She adapted for the theatre works by her friend Nathalie Sarraute, Pierre Klossowski, Jean Cocteau, Gertrude Stein... She was the companion of the actress Erika Kralik.
 

Edition richly illustrated with photographs by Leni Riefenstahl.
Publisher's full grey cloth binding, flat spine, a complete copy with its striking illustrated dust jacket.
A few minor spots of foxing, insignificant, and a slight discoloration mark on the rear board.
A pleasant copy.
Inscribed and signed by Leni Riefenstahl to Jean-Pierre Richard: "Jean Pierre Richard herzliche gewidmet. Leni Riefenstahl."

First edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Two angular fold marks on the back cover.
Fine and humorous autograph inscription signed by Erik Orsenna to Bernard Kouchner: "Cher Bernard, la voici, la voilà, la terreur de Jean-Edern, la [comédie française], en deux mots brefs : la studebaker était une jolie voiture et Matignon un beau manège. Avec mon amitié. Le coupeur Erik." (Dear Bernard, here it is, here it is, Jean-Edern's terror, the [French comedy], in two brief words: the Studebaker was a pretty car and Matignon a beautiful riding school. With my friendship. The cutter Erik.)