Major works that have marked the history of thought.
First editions, often extemely rare, and beautiful antiquarian editions of literary masterpieces hold a special place in the ideal library of a book collector.
New quarto edition, revised and corrected by the author, with numerous decorated headpieces, initials and tailpieces.
Full polished brown calf, spine in six compartments with five raised bands richly gilt-tooled, red morocco lettering-piece, triple blind fillet border to boards, double gilt fillet to board edges, red edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers.
Light scratches and scuffing to boards, corners slightly bumped, otherwise a very fine copy.
Paper flaw causing marginal tears on pp. 49, 571 and 595, light scattered foxing affecting a few gatherings towards the end of the volume, minor wormhole to lower corner of pp. 253 onwards, ending in a charming emoji.
Seventh edition, expanded with new annotations and an appendix containing descriptive and historical details on all the monuments recently erected in the capital by J.-L. Belin, avocat.
Bound in contemporary half midnight-blue Russian morocco, flat spines gilt with romantic arabesques, gilt fillet framing the marbled-paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns; one lower corner lightly rubbed, contemporary bindings.
Scattered foxing.
Illustrated with 58 plates (including 11 archaeological plates), together with 5 folding colour plans hors texte.
A handsomely preserved copy in a period romantic binding.
First edition of the English translation of "De Logomachiis eruditorum" (Amsterdam, 1688) by the Swiss Reformed theologian Samuel Werenfels (1657–1740), a notably engaging essay on the obstacles to concord among Christians created by the endless disputes over the terminology used to define points of belief.
A few small spots of foxing.
Full speckled fawn calf, the spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and gilt tools; rubbing to the spine, the gilt title almost entirely effaced, headcaps trimmed down with a small loss to the tailcap; gilt double-fillet border with gilt corner tools on the covers; some wear to the board edges with gilt fillets, corners softened; edges sprinkled red; contemporary binding.
A few small spots of foxing.
Copy from the library of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, bearing his armorial bookplate “Re que Diou” from the Château de Valençay, mounted on the front endpapers.
A highly appealing provenance, given the fundamental scepticism of the former bishop of Autun.
Third edition, revised, corrected, and enlarged with several important Additions by the author published posthumously, and with Remarks by the Translator (our own translation), with the portrait of John Locke by Godfrey Kneller, engraved by François Morellon de La Cave.
Contemporary full brown calf, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments, brown morocco lettering-piece, triple fillet border to covers in blind, red edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers.
Headcaps missing, surface losses to covers and one larger loss to upper left corner of back cover, corners bumped and worn, rubbing to edges with a small loss at foot of front cover, ink gift inscription to first blank leaf.
In this copy: light marginal dampstaining to early leaves and to pp. 53-58 and pp. 463-472, not affecting text.
This volume is enriched with ink annotations: "n°23 =" to verso of front free endpaper, another inscription to recto of second endpaper, and several ink corrections to margins and text at pp. 3, 125, 127, 148, and 269.
First edition, one of 65 copies on Arches; our copy is unnumbered but correctly justified "vergé d’Arches" at the foot of the lower cover. One of the only deluxe papers issued.
Two slight sunning marks at head and foot of the spine, which is also lightly pinched at the foot.
A pleasing copy.
First edition, one of 12, 13, or 14 numbered copies on Whatman paper depending on the volume, the only deluxe paper copies. The first three volumes had no limited deluxe paper issue and are from an edition of 3,000 copies each. The Whatman copies are as follows:
- 12 copies for volumes seven, eight, nine, twelve, and thirteen,
- 13 copies for volumes four, five, six, ten, and eleven,
- 14 copies for the final four volumes.
Half dark brown morocco with bands, smooth spines, author, title, and volume numbers tooled in palladium, vellum-style boards, plain endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved for every volume, top edges in palladium (uncut for the Whatman copies), bindings signed by René Kieffer (binder’s stamp and label on the first endpaper of each volume). Head of vol. 2 lightly rubbed.
Copy belonging to Charles Péguy’s collaborator André Bourgeois, administrator of the Cahiers de la quinzaine (literary magazine which published this novel). It exceptionally contains valuable bound-in manuscript notes by Romain Rolland and Péguy.
This exceedingly rare set in first edition is handsomely bound by the great René Kieffer. It contains every volume issued on deluxe paper - these being "deuxième exemplaire de souche", i.e. name copies of the administrator after Charles Péguy's copy and before the printer's.
Second edition of this monumental work of historiography.
The collation of the text volumes (74 steel-engraved plates) conforms to the list of plates given in volume XX (with the exception of the plate depicting the French before Moscow, which is lacking), but does not match the plate count of the first edition, as certain plates were not reissued. The atlas corresponds to that of the first edition and is complete with its 66 maps.
Some foxing, mainly affecting the edges.
Handsome bindings of red half morocco with corners, the spines with five raised bands and triple blind-ruled compartments, a few minor abrasions without consequence to three spines, marbled paper sides, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edges, for the 21 text volumes; and a contemporary binding of red half sheep for the atlas, the smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and tools, a few black marks to the spine, red paper-covered boards lightly soiled at the margins, corners rubbed.
Autograph letter signed by François-René de Chateaubriand to Ferdinand Denois, written in Rome and dated 11 August 1829, 2 pages and two lines in black ink on a bifolium. A tear caused by the opening of the letter on the blank portion of the final leaf, not affecting text.
"I must also, Sir, thank you once again: my poor friend La Ferronays [the Minister of Foreign Affairs Auguste Ferron de La Ferronnays was to resign two weeks later due to poor health] has written to me that all his ailments have returned, that he feels unwell two or three times a day, and that he cannot consider returning to public affairs, etc. I believe that the interim will nevertheless be prolonged and that this will allow matters to carry through to the end of the session. I requested leave through MM. Boissy and Givré [his embassy secretaries Hilaire-Étienne-Octave Rouillé de Boissy, and Bernard Desmousseaux de Givré], without being entirely resolved to make use of it: this will depend on events. A telegraphic dispatch of 4 April, arriving via Toulon, informed me that the king étoit fort content de la nomination du pape. Our cardinals rallied to me and conducted themselves very well. Cardinal [Anne-Antoine-Jules de] Clermont-Tonnerre, who suffered a fall, is lodged at the embassy, where I am caring for him as best I can - what will the Gazette say of this? [La Gazette de France, journal of the radical royalists known as Ultras, was highly hostile to Chateaubriand.]... "
Very rare first edition, illustrated in each volume with a copper-engraved frontispiece by Tardieu after Monnet.
Half black grained cloth bindings, smooth spines decorated with blind fillets, marbled paper boards with light rubbing, sprinkled edges, modest late 19th-century bindings.
Some foxing and a few pale waterstains at the end of the second volume.
This work is an essay whose concerns are strikingly close to our own, though expressed in a very different context.
A founder of French ecological thought, the civil engineer François-Antoine Rauch (1762–1837) demonstrated the direct relationship between deforestation and the increase in extreme weather, calling for the preservation of nature in the interest of humankind. He denounced the large-scale clearing of forests undertaken across continents and advocated the restoration and protection of woodland areas.
In the same spirit, he defended wetlands and marshes, to be made healthy without being drained. The first volume is almost entirely devoted to the dangers and imbalances caused by deforestation; the second focuses on the regeneration of rivers and streams, as well as the drainage of marshes, the whole promoting a return to the “primordial harmony.”
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 text.
Published in March 1558, this precious copy contains four books of Latin poems - Elegiæ, Varia Epigr[ammata], Amores [Faustinae], Tumuli - written by Du Bellay in Rome and Paris between 1553 and 1557. The collection, also referred to as Poemata or Œuvres latines, appeared in the same year as three other works from his Roman period: Les Regrets, Divers Jeux Rustiques, and Les Antiquitez de Rome.
New edition and the first printing of Jacques Tardi’s illustrations.
Publisher’s white boards, smooth spine.
A handsome copy.
Presentation inscription, dated and signed by Jacques Tardi to Joëlle Passani, with an original black-felt drawing depicting a sorrowful-faced Bardamu in a small vignette.
First French edition, illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 40 mounted color 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.
A very handsome copy, one of the exceedingly scarce Japon copies.
Provenance: manuscript ex-libris on the half-title of Maurice Feuillet, renowned press illustrator, notably for major legal trials, as well as art critic and founder of the Figaro artistique. Feuillet is best remembered for his courtroom sketches during the trials of Émile Zola in 1898 and Alfred Dreyfus in 1899.
Illustrated edition with compositions by Arthur Rackham, 13 in colour tipped in with captioned tissue guards, and 52 black-and-white illustrations in the text, one of 55 copies on Japon paper, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page, deluxe issue.
Publisher’s full vellum binding, smooth spine gilt-lettered with gilt-stamped animals, upper cover gilt-stamped with the title and an illustration of animals, top edge gilt, uncut, lower cover silk ties preserved.
A fine copy of the works of the most celebrated fabulist, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, one of the rare copies on Japon.
Provenance: manuscript ex-libris on the half-title of Maurice Feuillet, a renowned press illustrator, notably for major judicial cases, but also an art critic and founder of the Figaro artistique. Feuillet remains famous for his courtroom sketches at the trials of Émile Zola in 1898 and Alfred Dreyfus in 1899.
First edition, printed on Vélin d’Angoulême, with the usual typographical errors, and containing the six proscribed poems; one of the few copies presented to the author and "intended for friends who render no literary services".
Full claret morocco binding, spine with five raised bands richly decorated with multiple gilt- and blind-tooled fillets; third-state covers; boards framed with multiple blind-tooled fillets; marbled endpapers; gilt turn-ins; all edges gilt; marbled paper slipcase with morocco border; signed binding by Semet & Plumelle.
Precious copy, enhanced with an autograph dedication in ink by the author on the dedication page, addressed to Paul Meurice, playwright, journalist, and close collaborator of Victor Hugo, « à Paul Meurice, témoignage d'amitié. Ch. Baudelaire » ["To Paul Meurice, in token of friendship. Ch. Baudelaire"]. Featuring twenty autograph corrections by the author to the printed dedication and four poems:
- At the dedication: two pencil corrections to the last words of the first line. Baudelaire adds a plural to “es langueS françaiseS,” “es” being, in fact, the contraction of “en les.” A surprising syntactical correction, sacrificing coherence, which the author later amended in 1861 to “Magicien es Lettres Françaises”.
- “La muse vénale”, p. 29: one ink correction to the final word of the last line of the first tercet, “Guère S,” one of the earliest misprints corrected by Baudelaire, which had nevertheless escaped him on the proofs, as with the following.
- “Le chat”, p. 110: one ink correction in the second line of the sixth quatrain, “au” logically changed to “un.”
- “Don Juan aux enfers”, p. 43: three ink corrections to the third line of the third tercet. The first, a simple misprint, “errant S,” had already troubled Baudelaire on the proofs, but its earlier correction had not been carried over.
The other two, “leS rivageS,” are not orthographic corrections but represent one of the very first poetic variants, absent from most presentation copies, foreshadowing the forthcoming complete revision of Les Fleurs du mal and the new original edition of 1861.
-"Le reniement de Saint Pierre", p. 217: a pencil correction on the fourth line of the second quatrain. The “D” replacing the “C” in “Cieux” is underlined three times. Curiously, the proofs reveal the exact opposite: “Les Dieux” was then corrected with a “C,” equally emphatically underlined. Anti-clerical remorse or altered alliteration? This correction, found in only a few copies, drew the poet’s attention to another misprint, still intact in our copy, later corrected in subsequent presentation copies: “au X doux bruit.”
-Baudelaire also inscribed a large “C” in pencil on pp. 52, 73, 91, 187, 191, and 206, at the head of the six poems condemned on 20 August 1857 for removal from copies in circulation. He transferred the same “C.” to the table of contents, opposite the six incriminated titles: Les Bijoux, Le Léthé, À celle qui est trop gaie, Lesbos, Femmes damnées: À la pâle clarté, and Les Métamorphoses du Vampire.
In total, twenty autograph interventions by Charles Baudelaire.
Illustrated edition with 13 colour plates on brown paper by Arthur Rackham tipped in with captioned tissue guards, together with 14 black-and-white illustrations in the text by Rackham, including a frontispiece portrait of Alice, one of the very rare 20 copies on Japon, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page, copy from the deluxe issue. A few name copies on the same paper were also issued.
Publisher’s full vellum binding, smooth spine lettered in gilt with a gilt illustration of the Cheshire Cat, upper cover stamped in gilt with the title and an illustration of two fantastic creatures, illustrated endpapers, top edge gilt. Occasional light foxing.
A handsome copy of the most sought-after of Rackham’s illustrated works, one of the exceedingly rare copies on Japon paper.
Provenance: manuscript ex-libris on the half-title of Maurice Feuillet, celebrated press illustrator, notably for major legal trials, as well as art critic and founder of the 'Figaro artistique'. Feuillet remains renowned for his courtroom sketches during the trials of Émile Zola in 1898 and Alfred Dreyfus in 1899.
Illustrated edition with 24 colour plates by Arthur Rackham tipped in with captioned tissue guards, 8 full-page black-and-white illustrations, together with numerous ornaments and vignettes in the text by Arthur Rackham, one of 300 copies printed on vélin à la forme, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page.
Publisher’s Bradel binding in full bright white vellum, smooth spine lettered in gilt, upper cover gilt-stamped with the title and a design of fantastic animals within a vertical gilt rule, illustrated endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt, untrimmed edges preserved.
A very well-preserved copy of Milton's baroque and Dionysian spectacle, superbly illustrated by Rackham.
Provenance: manuscript ex-libris on the half-title of Maurice Feuillet, a renowned press illustrator, particularly noted for major court cases, as well as an art critic and founder of the Figaro artistique. Feuillet is remembered for his courtroom sketches during the trials of Émile Zola in 1898 and Alfred Dreyfus in 1899.
New edition, revised, corrected, and considerably enlarged.
Contemporary bindings in half mottled fawn calf over corners, smooth spines gilt with fillets, morocco title and volume labels, brown paper-covered boards, sprinkled edges.
Some minor rubbing to the spines, a few corners slightly bumped.
L'Esprit des lois occupies volumes I to IV; La Défense de l'Esprit des lois volume V (with a general index); Lettres persanes volume VI; volume VII gathers the Considérations and related pieces; volume VIII contains the posthumous works.
This collected edition of Montesquieu's works offers no particular bibliographical peculiarities in its contents but constitutes a very rare Zweibrücken printing bearing the false Saarbrücken imprint: Deux-Ponts was in fact an autonomous and conveniently located printing centre (by virtue of its proximity) for introducing into France titles that could not otherwise evade censorship.
Two works bound in one volume: first edition of Principia philosophiae followed by the first Latin edition of Specimina philosophiae. Complete with blank leaves b4 and 2Q4.
Printer's mark representing Minerva and her owl, as well as the motto “Ne extra oleas” on the title page. Numerous in-text engravings.
Bound in full calf, spine with five raised bands framed in gilt, elaborately decorated in gilt, gilt arms of the Society of Writers to the Signet at center of boards framed in blind, marbled endpapers, speckled edges. Library shelfmark glued to the pastedown endpaper, additional penned shelfmarks on the pastedown, and a manuscript ex-libris of the Signet Library, “Ex Lib: | Bibl: Scribar | Sig: Reg:” on the title page. Joints, spine-ends and corners restored, more foxing on the first six leaves, on the title page of the Specimina and the last four leaves of the volume. Some spots to the boards. Unusual paper defect around the author's name on the title page of Principia, present in other copies (Library of Congress, BnF), small wormhole to the lower margin of this same page, burrowing to p. 129 of the “Specimina”. A few faded letters on 4 lines where two pages were joined together (pages 296–297).
First Latin edition of the Discourse on the Method containing the first occurrence of the famous “cogito ergo sum”.
Very rare first edition of the Japanese translation, accompanied by Taiichi Ogawa’s annotated commentary.
Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Alphonse Daudet.
Spine with two tears at head and foot, soiling to the wrappers, a few minor spots internally.
First Japanese edition of Alphonse Daudet’s masterpiece. Harshly received in Provence upon its publication in 1872, despite the support of Frédéric Mistral, the novel soon came to be regarded as one of the landmarks of French literature, and the character of Tartarin became the emblem—and finest ambassador—of the city of Tarascon.
First edition, printed on thick wove paper.
Bound in contemporary half brown shagreen, smooth spines decorated with black typographic motifs, marbled paper boards, hand-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern slipcase edged in brown morocco with matching marbled paper sides and olive-green felt lining.
Some occasional foxing, the note "Henri Beyle" in black ink at the upper corner of the title page of the first volume, final catalogue leaf present at the end of the second volume, small corner restorations to four leaves of the first volume.
"Very rare and extremely sought after. Usually quite simply bound at the time. Often foxed" (Clouzot). "This work is of great rarity in fine condition" (Carteret).
A handsome and very rare copy, large-margined and attractively bound at the time, of this masterpiece by Stendhal—rarer still than Le Rouge et le Noir.
First edition on vélin d'Angoulême (laid paper), complete with all six condemned pieces, with the usual typographical errors.
Contemporary red half sheepskin binding, spine with four raised bands framed in gilt adorned with gilt fleurons, red percaline boards, marbled endpapers , speckled edges.
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, one of 45 numbered copies on Holland paper, the deluxe issue.
Full chocolate-brown morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed with black fillets, date gilt at foot, gilt rolls on the caps, marbled paper endpapers and doublures, gilt double fillet borders on the doublures, gilt fillets along the edges, original wrappers and spine preserved, all edges gilt, slipcase edged with matching chocolate morocco, sides in marbled paper, interior lined with grey felt. A splendid binding signed by Semet & Plumelle.
A very handsome copy, perfectly bound in full morocco by Semet & Plumelle.
Second issue of the first illustrated edition of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, distinguished by the small bat vignette on the title-page.
Publisher’s neo-Gothic binding in full brown polychrome cloth, the smooth spine gilt-stamped with an allegory of Notre-Dame de Paris, the boards adorned with an extensive gilt and polychrome design (red, blue, and pink) depicting scenes from Notre-Dame de Paris, yellow endpapers and pastedowns, shaded white flyleaves, all edges gilt, a characteristic Romantic publisher’s cloth binding. Spine evenly faded. Minute split at the head of the upper joint. One leaf detached, two others working loose. Occasional marginal foxing.
Work embellished with illustrations by Charles François Daubigny, Valentin Foulquier, Thoedor Josef Hoffbauer, Tony Johannot, Aimé de Lemud, Ernest Meissonier, Célestin Nanteuil, Camille Roqueplan, Louis Henri de Rudder, and Louis Steinheil...
A handsome copy of Victor Hugo’s timeless masterpiece, preserved in its polychrome Romantic cloth binding.
Rare and sought-after first edition, first issue.
Includes the subscribers' list and the foreword, which were omitted when the remainder of this edition passed into the hands of another publisher, Dion-Lambert. It also retains the pagination error in volume two: page 164 instead of 364. With a letter from the author, bearing his autograph signature, written and dated 14 April 1839, in the hand of his secretary. One page written in black ink on a leaf. Slightly darkened at the upper edge, with occasional foxing, and the usual folds from postal handling.
Our copy is enriched with an exceptional, prophetic and macabre letter by François-René de Chateaubriand: "mais moi je suis mort, absolument mort et s'il me fallait écrire un mot dans un journal, j'aimerais mieux être enseveli à mille pieds sous terre." ["but I am dead, utterly dead, and if I were required to write a single word in a newspaper, I would rather be buried a thousand feet underground."]
Signed with the author’s faltering hand, this apparently unpublished letter was penned by his secretary: "Vous connaissez la main de [Hyacinthe] Pilorge que j'employe pour remplacer la mienne souffrante de la goutte" ["You will recognise the hand of [Hyacinthe] Pilorge, whom I employ to replace my own, suffering from gout,"] the author explains in the introduction to the letter.
Black half-morocco bindings, smooth spines with double gilt fillets and double blind-stamped compartments, black paper boards, slight superficial rubbing to some boards, marbled paper pastedowns and endpapers, sprinkled edges; contemporary bindings. Sparse foxing.
New edition of the French translation.
Half saffron percaline Bradel binding, smooth spine slightly sunned and decorated with a central gilt motif and double gilt fillet at foot, brown shagreen title label with a few scuffs, marbled "cat’s-eye" paper boards, preserved wrappers, lightly rubbed corners, contemporary binding.
Rare first edition illustrated with one table and two plates showing cranial shapes and portraits of the insane.
See Garrison Morton, 4922. En français dans le texte, 203. Kelly, p. 326. Foucault, Histoire de la folie, 523. Jan Goldstein, Console and classify, 65. Bariéty & Coury, 882.
Half calf binding with corners, smooth spine decorated with gilt floral and ornamental motifs, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges; modern pastiche binding.
Some foxing mainly affecting the second volume.
Bound at the end of the volume is Jean-Etienne Esquirol’s "Des Établissemens consacrés aux aliénés en France, et des moyens de les améliorer. Mémoire présenté au ministre de l'Intérieur, en septembre 1818", published in Paris, undated, by Renouard, 35 pp.
On the verso of the title page: "Cet opuscule est extrait de l'ouvrage que l'auteur publiera à la fin de janvier 1838, sous le titre: Des maladies considérées sous les rapports médical, hygiénique, statistique et médico-légal." A rare offprint of the text that led to the adoption of the law of 30 June 1838, which established the creation of one psychiatric institution per department and made confinement subject to medical advice. "This Mémoire to the Minister of the Interior on conditions in Hospitals and Prisons is one of the ablest and most influential documents in the history of administrative psychiatry" (Zilboorg & Henry p. 391, cited in Haskell F. Norman Library, III, 1062). A judicious pairing of two fundamental texts.
First edition, of which there were no large paper copies.
Near contemporary red half morocco over marbled paper boards by P. Ruban, spine in six compartments, raised bands bounded by black fillets, date gilt at foot of spine, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers preserved, top edge gilt.
Attractive ex libris engraved by Provost-Blondel on pastedown, representing a helmet with a feather, medallion and a strip with the motto “Tojours en face.” The ex libris belonged to Victor Coué, a 2nd Lieutenant killed in the First World War.
This copy has two frontispieces: one lithograph heightened by Félicien Rops showing a caricature of Barbey d'Aurevilly with the caption “Il n'a pour page que son ombre. TS [his page is none other than his shadow]” and a portrait of the author engraved by Paul-Adolphe Rajon (1843-1888).
This copy is further enriched with the eponymous series of engravings by Félicien Rops done between 1882 and 1886 with a view to a new edition by Alphonse Lemerre.
The meeting of these two major works of literature and history of art from the end of the 19th century makes for an exceptional and unique copy, since – contrary to what is generally thought – Rops' prints never actually accompanied Barbey's text in a genuine illustrated edition.
The series is composed of three frontispiece plates: La Femme et la folie dominant le monde I et II [Woman and Madness Ruling the World I and II], Le Sphinx [The Sphinx], and six others referring respectively to six of Barbey's short stories and figuring at the beginning of each: Le Rideau Cramoisi [The Cramoisi Curtain], Le Plus Bel Amour de Don Juan [Don Juan's Finest Affair], Le Dessous de cartes d'une partie de whist [The Undersides of the Cards in a Game of Whist], à un dîner d'athées [At an Atheists' Dinner], Le Bonheur dans le Crime [The Joy of the Crime] and La Vengeance d'une femme [A Woman's Revenge].
A very good copy in a practically contemporary binding.
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.
First appearance of the 18 poems by Charles Baudelaire published on pages 1079–1093 of the Revue des Deux Mondes, showing numerous variations from the text of the first edition issued in 1857 by Poulet-Malassis & De Broise.
Full black shagreen binding, smooth spine, double blind-ruled borders on covers, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, slightly later binding.
A rare and attractive copy.
Second edition of the French translation prepared by François-Victor Hugo.
Half red shagreen bindings, slightly faded spines with four raised bands numerously framed in gilt and central gilt tooled motif, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges, contemporary bindings.
Some occasional foxing, minor black specks on a few spines, upper corners of volume 10 slightly damaged.
Our set, attractively bound uniformly in contemporary bindings, is complete in 18 volumes including the often lacking final three volumes of apocryphal writings.
New edition of the French translation established by Amédée Pichot, partly original as it is enhanced with a historical notice on Lord Byron.
Half blue glazed calf bindings, spines partially faded with four raised bands framed by gilt garlands and richly decorated gilt compartments, navy blue glazed calf title and volume labels, blind-stamped floral tools at head and tail, marbled paper boards, gilt fillets at foot, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; a few lightly rubbed corners. Romantic bindings of the period.
Our copy contains 13 engraved plates, some serving as frontispieces.
Scattered foxing, a few leaves browned due to paper acidity.
A copy in an attractive decorative and romantic period binding.
First edition, one of 120 copies printed on pure laid paper.
Pleasant copy with wide margins throughout.
First edition of these significant memoirs by a close companion and comrade-in-arms of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Half aubergine sheep bindings, smooth spines slightly faded and decorated with gilt romantic arabesques, some rubbing with small losses to a few spines and joints, embossed aubergine paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; romantic bindings of the period.
Some foxing, a light marginal dampstain on the final leaves of volume 8.
A pleasant set, attractively bound in contemporary romantic bindings.
A fine set of the first four volumes of the French intégrale edition, identical to the original American structure. Volume 1 is housed in a metal case with embossed lettering and a folding map of Westeros. It is a copy of the highly sought-after very first French collector's edition of the series published in 2012. Volumes 2 and 3 followed in 2013, and volume 4 in 2014.
Each volume signed by George R.R. Martin on the title page. The signatures were obtained during the author's only public signing session for French readers, held in Dijon on July 3, 2014. (Volume 5 was not published until 2015.)
Colour pictorial wrappers with flaps. Slight rubbing to corners, minor handling wear to spines of vols. 2 and 3, crease marks to upper board of vol. 3, lower board of vol. 4, and front flap of vol. 3; edges of volumes 2, 3 and 4 lightly toned. Light rubbing to spine and boards of metal case.
First edition for each volume.
Fine copy of Du côté de chez Swann in first edition, second printing, with all identifying points (front cover dated 1913, table of contents present, no publisher's catalogue at end); copy in first edition bearing the mention "quatrième édition" for À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs (with the correct colophon dated November 30, 1918); although bearing the same colophon dated November 30, 1918, the 128 reimposed copies were not actually printed until a year later, together with the large paper copies of the Swann reissue; for the following 11 volumes, numbered copies on pur fil (wove paper), the only large paper copies apart from the reimposed ones.
The complete first edition of À la recherche du temps perdu comprises the first two volumes on ordinary paper with the particularities mentioned above, followed by deluxe copies for the subsequent volumes. These deluxe copies on pur fil are in the same format as the first two volumes.
Restorations with losses filled on the spine and boards of the first and second volumes, spine of third volume browned, small tears or slight losses of no consequence at foot of certain spines, rear board of fifth volume partially sunned, some foxing on fore-edge of sixth volume, manuscript ex-libris inscriptions in upper right corners of front cover and title page of first volume. This complete set of La Recherche comprises the following titles: Du côté de chez Swann, À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, Le Côté de Guermantes (2 volumes), Sodome et Gomorrhe (3 volumes), La Prisonnière (2 volumes), Albertine disparue (2 volumes), and Le Temps retrouvé (2 volumes).
Fine complete set, all volumes in first edition as published.
First edition dedicated to Louis Jouvet, one of 108 numbered copies on Lafuma Navarre laid paper, reimposed in quarto tellière format, deluxe issue.
Half red morocco-backed marbled boards, spine with five raised bands framed with blind fillets, date gilt at foot, marbled paper sides, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, binding signed by D.H. Mercher.
Premiered by Louis Jouvet at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées on 14 December 1923. The actor also oversaw the staging and set design; in 1933, the play was later adapted for the screen by Roger Goupillières, again starring Louis Jouvet in the leading role.
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 wished and prepared by the author himself, this last edition was assembled and edited by Banville and Asselineau. The copy Baudelaire had “prepared for the third edition of Les Fleurs du Mal” mentioned in Poulet-Malassis' correspondence has since been lost. It is impossible to know if his faithful friends respected the architecture and the author's poem selection. Most of the new poems were subsequently placed at the end of Spleen et Idéal, between the poems “Sympathetic Horror” and “Self-Tormentor”.
Contemporary red half shagreen binding, one corner slightly worn. Almost no foxing throughout.
This last edition was used as the first volume of Baudelaire's complete works, as stated “œuvres complètes” on the half-title page. Les Fleurs du Mal was also sold separately, given the several years it took to publish all seven volumes of the complete works.
“Very rare in a contemporary binding without a volume label on the spine” (Clouzot).
Handsome copy set in an elegant contemporary binding.
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.
First edition, one of the review copies stamped "M.F." on the front cover and numbered in the colophon.
Small restored tears to the spine and upper part of the front cover, slight traces of creasing to the margins of the front cover.
Precious inscribed copy signed by Louis Pergaud to J.H. Rosny jeune, one of the historic members of the Goncourt Prize jury. Pergaud had won the 1910 Goncourt for his collection of short stories De Goupil à Margot.
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.
New "À la bannière" edition with bevelled boards, violet on a red background, illustrated with 154 drawings by Férat engraved by Barbant.
Publisher’s decorative cloth binding "à la bannière" of type 6 signed by Lenègre, upper cover plate signed by Souze, lower cover of type e1 with central medallion on a black ground, framed with geometric motifs.
Attractive upper cover, with glossy percaline and sharp gilt, small black spots on the spine, head- and tailcaps collapsed as usual, some occasional foxing, small dark and light stains on the lower cover.
L’Île mystérieuse is linked, though not a sequel, to two other novels by Jules Verne, Vingt mille lieues sous les mers and Les enfants du capitaine Grant.
The author notably drew inspiration from Robinson Crusoe for the castaways’ life on a deserted island.
This work, one of Jules Verne’s most celebrated, was adapted eight times for cinema and television.
New edition with hitherto unpublished material, printed three years after the first edition.
Contemporary full brown sheepskin binding, smooth spine with 7 gilt compartments decorated with friezes and classical vases, leather lettering piece, inscription "Lycée impérial de Marseille, prix de l'an XIII (1805)" gilt-stamped on upper cover, gilt rolls on board edges, tooled spine-ends, white pastedowns and endpapers, price label with the "Lycée's" header affixed to front pastedown. Usual wear to joints with a small hole, lower spine-end missing and leather loss at foot of spine, wormhole affecting several letters of the word "Marseille" on front cover, corners bumped, gilt tooling on board edges and spine-ends slightly faded, hole to half-title leaf not affecting text, and leaves throughout cockled.
Ink annotation on title page: "1ère Edition 1796".
Four further editions will follow the first two: 1808, 1813, 1824, and 1835 (the latter published posthumously).
First edition, one of 340 numbered copies on Holland paper, the only deluxe paper issue.
Bound in brown half morocco with corners, smooth spine, marbled endpapers, original wrappers preserved.
Some discreet restorations to the spine and joints.
Our copy, with full margins, retains the folding genealogical table of the Rougon-Macquart.
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 with orange morocco lettering pieces, edges and covers treated somewhat differently. General condition of the 70 volumes: bindings with light rubbing to corners, gilt a little dulled, occasional foxing, a few wormholes and old restorations, not affecting the text. 28 volumes (vols. 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 24, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 43, 48, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70) with cracked joints at the ends, and 20 volumes (vols. 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 33, 34, 37, 42, 46, 49, 53, 56, 57, 60, 65, 66, 68, 70) with damaged caps.
Two editions were published at the same time. Our copy belongs to the prestigious in-8 edition on large paper published in 70 volumes (the other edition being in-12 format in 92 volumes). It is richly illustrated with 125 etched plates:
- There are 17 portraits, including 3 of Voltaire: a frontispiece portrait by N. de Largillière engraved by P. Alex. Tardieu; one drawn from Houdon's bust by Moreau le Jeune and engraved by P. Alex. Tardieu; and one allegorical portrait by Louis Croutelle after Moreau le Jeune, belonging to the second series of illustrations of Voltaire's works executed by Moreau for the publisher Renouard. The 14 other portraits include an allegorical frontispiece of Frédéric-Guillaume, Prince of Prussia, depicted in profile in a medallion by Dambrun after Moreau le Jeune; a portrait of Henry IV by Pourbus engraved by Tardieu; one of Charles VII engraved after the original in the King's Cabinet by Mavieri; another of Agnès Sorel drawn by Moreau the Younger after the original in the King's Cabinet and engraved by Mavieri; one of Joan of Arc engraved by Beisson; followed by the Count of Dunois engraved after the original in the King's Cabinet by J. B. Fosseyeux; one of Louis XIV drawn by Moreau Le Jeune after C. Le Brun engraved by J. B. Fosseyeux; one of Charles XII engraved by P. Alex. Tardieu after the original in the King's Cabinet; one of Pierre I engraved by P. G. Langlois after a painting by L. Caravaque; one of Madame du Châtelet after Marie Anne Loir and engraved by P. G. Langlois; one of the Count of Argental after J. Defraine and engraved by J. B. Fosseyeux; one of Frédéric II of Prussia painted from life by Van Loo and engraved by P. G. Langlois; one of Catherine II of Russia engraved by J. B. Fosseyeux; and one of d'Alembert after De La Tour engraved by N. F. Maviez.
- 93 engravings by Moreau le Jeune, including 44 figures for le Théâtre (engraved by Lingée, Simonet, de Launay, Trière, Halbou, Duclos, Romanet, Dambrun, de Longueil, Delignon, Le Mire, Le Veau), 10 for la Henriade (engraved by Masquelier, Delignon, Dambrun, Patas, Gutemberg, Helman, Simonet, Duclos, Romanet), 21 for la Pucelle (engraved by Simonet, Dambrun, Halbou, Baquoy, Trière, Delignon, de Longueil, Croutelle and Duclos), 4 for the Contes (in verse, engraved by Langlois, Duclos, Delignon and Le Veau) and 14 for the Romans (engraved by Trière, Duclos, de Longueil, Dambrun, Baquoy, Delignon, Simonet, Langlois and Halbou).
- 14 scientific plates in volume 31, illustrating the experiments of Newton, Descartes and Leibniz.
- 1 battle plan in volume 24 about the Histoire de l'Empire de Russie sous Pierre le Grand.
According to Bengesco (IV, no. 2142), our copy is missing a portrait of Louis XV in volume 22, as well as a portrait of Voltaire by De La Tour (replaced here in the last volume by an allegorical portrait by Louis Croutelle after Moreau le Jeune). This copy includes all the additional portraits, with the exception of two illustrations that are almost always missing: a portrait of Vertot and an engraving of the Œuvres.
Rare and genuine posthumous first edition of the first six books of the Confessions, the remaining volumes not appearing until 1789. Several other editions were issued shortly thereafter, but the evidence provided by the commentary published in the June 1782 issue of the Journal Helvétique clearly establishes that this separately printed edition, known as the "large type" issue, is indeed the very first (F. Michaux, "L'Édition originale de la première partie des 'Confessions' de J.-J. Rousseau" in Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France, 35th Year, No. 2 (1928), pp. 250-253).
Contemporary half calf bindings, flat spines tooled with gilt fillets and decorated with havana morocco title and volume labels, marbled paper boards, all edges blue.
A handsome copy of this seminal text of the autobiographical genre, preserved in a contemporary binding.
Illustrated edition with 192 color plates of military uniforms, chiefly from the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, after watercolors by Job (see Colas I, 1549).
Texts by various members of La Sabretache.
Contemporary bindings in cherry red morocco-grain half shagreen, spines with five raised bands framed by black fillets, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edges, original wrappers preserved.
The illustrated plates are distributed as follows: in the first volume, 48 hand-colored plates numbered and captioned on their tissue guards; in the second, 48 unnumbered color plates; in the third, 48 unnumbered color plates; and in the fourth, 48 unnumbered color plates.
Complete set of all that appeared in La Sabretache, consisting of 48 issues each containing 4 color plates.
Themes of military life, patriotism, and even nationalism were the hallmark of Jacques Onfroy de Bréville (1858-1931), an illustrator whose vocation was initially thwarted.
A handsome set uniformly bound in contemporary bindings.
First edition on ordinary paper, with the correct colophon dated 26 February 1926.
A pleasant copy.
First edition, one of 95 copies on pur fil, the only deluxe issue after 45 copies on Hollande.
A slight vertical crease on the front cover.
A handsome copy.
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 by Huser.
A handsome copy in a well-executed binding.
First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on pur fil.
Spine slightly sunned, a small scratch to the front cover, corner creases at the preserved margins.
Rare copy as issued.
First edition on ordinary paper.
A few small spots of foxing, and a faint dampstain along the right margin affecting most leaves of the volume.
Black 3/4 morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed in black, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards framed in gilt, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers preserved and bound on stubs, top edge gilt, slipcase trimmed with black morocco, marbled paper slipcase boards, binding signed P. Goy & C. Vilaine.
Very rare signed and inscribed copy to Madame Charpentier, his publisher’s wife: "... son bien dévoué et respectueux..."
First edition of the French translation, one of 325 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe issue together with a few alfa mousse copies not for sale.
Minor tears without loss at the head of the spine, which also shows slight sunning at the foot, final endpaper partially shaded.
A rare and pleasing copy.
First edition.
Full red morocco binding, round spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons, slight rubbing on the caps, double frame of blind-stamped gilt fillets on the covers, with fleurons at the corners of the inner frame, edges slightly blunt, marbled paper endpapers and back covers, gilt edges and heads, very elegant 19th-century binding ‘a la Du Seuil’ signed Quinet on the first endpaper.
Rare first edition of Chamblain de Marivaux's first theatrical success, The Surprise of Love, published four years before The Second Surprise of Love. This play, performed in the spring of 1722 before being published the following year in 1723, already contains all the essence of Marivaux's style, all its subtle gallantry. According to the Romantic poet Theophile Gautier, it is the author's masterpiece.
First edition, no copies on deluxe paper issued.
3/4 brown half morocco binding, spine with color restoration, five raised bands framed in black, gilt date at foot, boards, endpapers and pastedowns in wood-grain style marbled paper, covers and spine preserved, gilt edges, an elegant binding signed Alix.
Manuscript ex-libris in black ink and a discreet restoration to the upper right corner of the first endpaper.
First edition, one of 55 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only deluxe paper issue.
Bound in half brown morocco, spines with five raised bands, gilt dates at foot, boards covered with abstract patterned paper, endleaves and doublures of brown paper, original wrappers and backstrips preserved, gilt edges, bindings signed by Thomas Boichot.
A precious copy of this foundational text of modern feminism.
One of the very few copies bearing an autograph inscription—fewer than ten are recorded—of this first edition, containing the Marseillaise.
First edition illustrated with an engraved frontispiece by Charles-Étienne Gaucher after Jean-Jacques Le Barbier and four pages of engraved musical score at the end of the volume. La Marseillaise appears here in its true first edition, having first been pre-published in the Almanach des Muses in 1793 and circulated as separate leaves.
Contemporary half-sheepskin binding, smooth spine gilt-decorated with compartments, fleurons and fillets, red morocco title-piece, black pasteboard sides. Several manuscript and pasted ex-libris on the pastedown and endpapers. Spine restored, some foxing. The last two letters of the dedicatee’s name have been trimmed in the binding.
The work is enriched on the half-title with an exceptional autograph presentation by Rouget de L’Isle to a fellow artist of the Revolution: “M de La Chabeaussiè[re] / de la part de l'auteur.”
Rouget de Lisle and Poisson de la Chabeaussière, the recipient of the dedication, both embodied the revolutionary fervour and left their mark on the republican history of France through their writings.
La Marseillaise is presented here alongside other poems and songs. This first edition delivers the celebrated anthem in its original form: six quatrains, as written by Captain Rouget de L’Isle for the Army of the Rhine in April 1792, and proclaimed the national anthem in 1795 by the decree of 26 Messidor Year III.
As lyricists and men of letters, Rouget de L’Isle and La Chabeaussière were zealous servants of the Revolution but also victims of its excesses. At the time of this inscription, in Year V of the Republic, the two men were at the height of their glory: one as the author of the national anthem that thrilled revolutionary France, the other as the writer of the most widely disseminated republican catechism of the Revolution. Indeed, La Chabeaussière composed another major work of revolutionary heritage: a Catéchisme républicain, philosophique et moral, reprinted eighty-two times up to the Third Republic, which earned him a seat on the Commission exécutive de l’instruction publique. Like Rouget de L’Isle, he also achieved success as a lyricist and librettist, notably for the comic operas of Nicolas Delayrac. The history of La Marseillaise from its creation is interwoven with that of La Chabeaussière and of the composer Delayrac, whose heroic drama Sargines ou l’Élève de l’amour presents striking similarities with the anthem.
Neither La Chabeaussière nor Rouget de L’Isle, despite the fame of the Marseillaise, escaped the terrors of the Revolution. Declared “suspects,” they were both imprisoned in 1793, respectively at the prisons of the Madelonettes and of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After these dark hours, they resumed a more peaceful existence and continued to collaborate actively with the Almanach des Muses, which first published La Marseillaise in volume form.
Upon La Chabeaussière’s death in 1820, the copy embarked on a most romantic history. It still bears the inscription of its second owner, Édouard Gendron: “Ce livre a été acheté en 1821 – à un carrefour près la place de l’école de médecine, parmi un tas de ferraille.”
First publication by its composer of the most celebrated symbol of the French Republic: La Marseillaise. Its precious presentation brings together revolutionary poets whose intertwined destinies left an indelible mark on the history of France.
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.
Contemporary red morocco bindings, flat spines gilt in a lattice design with floral gilttooling, beige morocco volume and title labels, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt fillet on the edges, gilt roll-tooled borders on the pastedowns, blue paper endleaves and doublures, gilt dentelle turn-ins, all edges gilt. Joints expertly restored.
A handsome copy, elegantly bound in contemporary red morocco with richly gilt-tooled spines, of this edition undertaken by Etienne Fessard, dedicated to the heirs to the kingdom or"enfants de France", the Duke of Berry, the Count of Provence, and the Count of Artois.
First edition of the translation by F. de Bretonne, assistant curator at the Sainte-Geneviève Library, based on a comparison of all earlier versions. The work is enriched with a suite of 10 vignettes by Charlet, retaining its original pink paper wrapper with vignette dated 1831; the volume also includes a portrait of Cervantes.
Half long-grain claret morocco binding with corners, signed at the head of the front endpaper S. David, late 19th century. Spine with four raised bands, decorated with complex and stippled tools within compartments. Gilt fillets on the bands. Double gilt ruling along boards and corners. Minor rubbing to some bands, joints, and corners. One corner slightly turned in. Occasional spotting in an otherwise fresh copy.
Original wrappers and spines preserved. Binding executed on untrimmed paper gatherings.
A very handsome copy.
New edition.
Contemporary binding in half green shagreen, spine in four compartments set with gilt stippling, gilt fillets and gilt fleurons in the corner pieces, multiple blind tooled frames on the boards, white iridescent paper endpapers, all edges gilt.
Some leaves shorter in the bottom margin.
Handwritten inscription signed by George Sand on the first endpaper: “à mon bon ami Edmond Plauchut. G. Sand".
Today the only outsider to the family buried in the cemetery of the Nohant house, is Lucien-Joseph-Edmond Plau
chut (1824-1909) who began an epistolary relationship with George Sand in the autumn of 1848 when he was a voluntary expatriate after the fall of the Republic. Leaving for Singapore, he was shipwrecked off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands and was able to save only one cassette containing Sand's letters that he had preciously bound. These missives were his salvation: they allowed him to be collected, fed and laundered by a rich Portuguese admirer of the Lady of Nohant, Francisco Cardozzo de Mello.
After several journeys toward the Far East, and several exotic presents sent to his distant and yet so close friend, Plauchut finally met George Sand in
1861. In 1870, she paid a vibrant tribute to him in the preface of her novel Malgrétout.
Despite everything, she recounts the shipwreck of which he was a victim and expresses with emotion her friendship for this courageous friend. Plauchut, much loved by the Sand family – and particularly George's granddaughters who nicknamed him Uncle Plauchemar – was an integral part until his death in January 1909.
The handwritten signed inscriptions on La Mare au Diable are very rare, this one is from a superb provenance.
First edition of the French translation (cf. Sabin, 33726 (original edition). Humboldt Library, 4696.)
Complete text, without the Atlas, which was published many years later (1867) and is frequently lacking.
Tears and small marginal losses to some leaves, spine of the second volume split, slight splitting at head and tail of the other volumes, foot of the spine of the first volume restored, some minor foxing.
First complete French edition, translated by H. Faye, of this seminal work by one of the greatest scholars and explorers of the nineteenth century; a masterful synthesis through which Alexander von Humboldt founded physical geography (P. Rousseau, Hist. de la science, p. 362).
The author himself regarded this as the work of his life.
Thanks to his scientific training and his various expeditions, in particular the exploration of South America with Aimé Bonpland, Humboldt was able to gather in a single work all the material, the sum of knowledge on celestial phenomena and life on Earth, from nebulae to the mosses clinging to granite rocks.
This work truly marks a milestone in the intellectual development of humanity.
Edition from the year of the original, stating 78th thousand.
Copy complete with its wraparound band announcing the award of the 1965 Prix Renaudot.
A minute tear without consequence at the foot of one joint.
Autograph inscription signed by Georges Perec to Jean Berthou and his wife.
Second edition only one month after the first edition.
Spine lightly wrinkled, small signs of folding in the margins of the boards, a light mark on the second board.
Claude Couffon, a French specialist and translator of the major Spanish-speaking writers of the second half of the 20th century, translated Chronicle of a Death Foretold a few years later.
On the last page, below the colophon, Gabriel García Márquez specified an address in Barcelona, that of his famous literary agent for Spain: “c/o Agencia Carmen Ballcells Urgel 241, Barcelona, 11.”
Rightly considered as one of the most important works op the Spanish language, the novel by García Márquez, however, had difficult beginnings after a first refusal by the avant-garde Barcelona publisher Seix Barral: “This novel will not be successful [...], this novel is useless.”
García Márquez sent it from Mexico to the Argentinian publisher Francisco Porrúa who immediately perceived the power of this unknown Colombian writer: “It wasn't a question of getting to the end to find out if the novel could be published. The publication was already decided from the first line, in the first paragraph. I simply understood what any sensible publisher would have understood: that it was an exceptional work.”
Finished printing in May 1967, Cien Años de Soledad appeared in bookshops in June with 8,000 copies selling out in a few days. The second print on 30 June will have the same success, as will the editions that follow week after week. More than half a million copies were sold in three years.
Several copies were later inscribed by Gabriel García Márquez who over the years has become one of the most famous South American writers, translated into 25 languages. However, contemporary autograph inscriptions on the first prints are extremely rare, even more so to one of his French translators who will contribute largely to his international renown.
