Nobel Prize in Literature

First collected edition, one of 45 numbered copies on white Holland laid paper, the deluxe issue.

Introduction and study by Jean Bloch-Michel
A fine copy despite two slight areas of sunning at the head and foot of the spine. 

First collected edition, one of 260 numbered copies on tinted wove paper, the only large-paper issue after 45 copies on white Dutch wove paper.
Introduction and critical study by Jean Bloch-Michel.
Spine and covers slightly and marginally sunned, with a faint offset mark from a bookseller's description label to the margin of one endpaper.

First edition, with no deluxe paper issue.

A fine copy.

Dated and signed presentation inscription from Annie Ernaux to the woman of letters Christiane Baroche: "Pour Christiane, très amicalement. Annie. 24/03/93."

Autograph letter dated and signed by Alexis Léger, 26 lines in blue ink, written from Washington to his friend Emily Amram, describing the torments of his convalescence following a "stupid accident".

Folds inherent to mailing.

The poet thanks his friend for her floral attentions during his illness: "combien la présence de vos fleurs m'a aidé contre les mauvaises ombres pendant mes jours de réclusion !" and, much to his regret, must once again postpone the visit he had promised her: "une mauvaise grippe washingtonnienne, qui m'a surpris, déjà fatigué, peu après mon retour chez moi, achevé de me déprimer, et pour ne pas accabler encore...

First edition, of which there were no large paper copies.

Complete with dj (slightly sunned at edges of spine and covers), small tears to head of upper cover. 
Handsome autograph inscription, signed and dated by Canetti to Raymond Queneau : " Für Raymond Queneau aus Freude über eine unerwartete Begegnung, Juni 1951 [for Raymond Queneau, the pleasure of an unexpected meeting, June 1951]".

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.

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...

First edition on ordinary paper.
Handsome, fine autograph inscription signed by Albert Camus : "à Albert Béguin qui trouvera ici les raisons de mes désaccords avec Esprit, avec mon bien cordial souvenir...[to Albert Bégiun who will find here the reasons for my disagreements with the Spirit, in friendly remembrance…]"
A little light spotting primarily to upper cover and ffep.
Retaining its advertising notice, entitled "Lettres sur la révolte".

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...

First edition, one of the 200 numbered copies on Hollande paper, the only large paper edition.
A stain on the front cover near the title, fading on the half-title page, shaded endpapers.
Rare copy with full margins.

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 of the French translation, one of 30 copies numbered on pure white Lana wove paper, the deluxe issue.

Handsome illustrated cover.

A pleasing copy, untrimmed.

Sinclair Lewis was the first American novelist to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

First edition, one of the advance review copies.

Spine and covers slightly and marginally sunned, internally clean and well-preserved.
Work for which Patrick Modiano was awarded the "Prix Goncourt" in 1978.
Rare inscribed copy, signed by Patrick Modiano to Jean-François Revel.
 

First edition of André Gide's French translation of Typhoon, completed in print on 25 June 1918 by the Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française, in the small blue-wrapper series devoted in particular to Gide's own works and translations. One of 300 numbered copies on Rives paper, the sole deluxe issue, this copy no. 250.

Half black morocco with bands, signed Creuzevault at the head of the front free endpaper. Smooth spine with longitudinal title, title and top edge in palladium. Original wrappers and spine preserved. Some rubbing to the boards and corners, with slight rubbing to the joints. A rare...

Sixth issue of the year 1947, richly illustrated with photographic reproductions, including numerous works by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Illustrated cover by Jean Lurçat. Contributions by Albert Camus, Alexandre Astruc, Darius Milhaud, Iain Lang, Robert Sabin, Nancy Newhall, Newton Arvin, Jacques Delamain, Beaumont Newhall, Jean Vermandoy, and Woody Guthrie.

Cover slightly rubbed and soiled, a loss to the spine, leaves slightly browned.

Ex-libris of Pierre Mercier.

First collected edition, one of 30 copies on alfa paper, this copy unnumbered but duly identified as printed on alfa at the foot of the spine and in the limitation statement, the only deluxe-paper copies.
Albert Camus's foreword appears here for the first time.
A pleasant copy.

First edition, one of 15 lettered copies on Imperial Japan paper, the deluxe issue.

Full red morocco, spine with five raised bands decorated with triple gilt compartments, very minor rubbing to the bands, gilt date at foot, gilt rolls to the spine ends, boards framed with triple gilt fillets, sand-coloured polished calf endleaves and doublures, wrappers and spine preserved, all edges gilt, slipcase edged in red morocco and covered with decorated paper sides, an elegant binding signed by Devauchelle.

A fine copy superbly bound in full morocco by Devauchelle.

Illustrated edition with original colour engravings by Marianne Clouzot, one of 575 copies printed on Rives wove paper.
As is generally the case, the chemise spine and the slipcase boards are lightly sunned, the boards evenly and slightly toned, otherwise a fine copy internally.

New edition of the French version of the celebrated poem "Tu seras un homme mon fils", a complete reworking of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If", one of the numbered copies on Lafuma wove paper.

Bound in half forest green morocco with corners, the spine faded and sunned, with four raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with gilt compartments enhanced by red, brown and dark brown onlaid morocco inlays, gilt date at the foot, marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

A few light spots of foxing.

A handsome copy in an attractive binding.

Signed autograph presentation inscription from André Maurois to...

Autograph card signed, dated 18 November 1984, 12 lines in blue ballpoint pen, addressed to her friend the woman of letters Christiane Baroche, in which she discusses her latest work "Plaisirs amers" and the friendship binding the two women writers.

Autograph envelope addressed to Christiane Baroche enclosed.

A fine and affectionate letter of thanks, written six days after the announcement of the Prix Renaudot awarded to Ernaux for La Place:

« Merci Christiane de ta lettre qui m'a fait très chaud au coeur, car les moments de "gloire" sont aussi ceux qu'on a envie de traverser avec les gens qu'on aime bien. Je t'embrasse. Annie. »

...

First edition, one of the press review copies.

A pleasing copy.
It is the work for which Patrick Modiano was awarded the "Prix Goncourt" in 1978.
Rare signed autograph inscription from Patrick Modiano to his friend, the actor and dubbing artist Roger Lumont.
 

Autograph card signed, dated 25 April 1987, 17 lines in black ballpoint pen, addressed to her friend, the woman of letters Christiane Baroche, in which she lavishes praise on her latest work entitled "L'hiver de beauté".

With the original envelope.

"Ma chère Christiane,

après tout, je me console : celui qui a fauché "L'Hiver de Beauté" a eu du nez, il a passé de bons moments, avec ta superbe Isabelle, ta non moins acide et volontaire Queria. Tu as réussi un très beau livre dans une langue que je trouve de plus en plus rigoureuse, la construction est remarquable et "fluent" comme on dit en anglais, c'est très naturellement qu'on passe de l'une...

Autograph signed postcard, 12 lines in black ballpoint pen, addressed to her friend, the woman of letters Christiane Baroche, in which she expresses her complete intellectual affinity with her.

The recto of the postcard features a reproduction of the painting "Trompe l'oeil" by Cornelis Gysbrechts.

"Ma chère Christiane,

merci ! Ce petit prix a surtout le mérite de grossir ma cagnotte pour la maison de mes rêves, enfin, un peu : 5000 F. Mais je suis très contente. Je voulais te dire depuis les vacances de Pâques combien j'avais eu le plaisir à écouter ta voix fraternelle dans ton recueil de "Rimes intérieures". J'aime ce que tu aimes, je...

First English edition, published one year after the first edition (American), complete with its illustrated dust jacket with unclipped price.
Publisher's pink-red cloth, title, author's name and publisher's imprint to the spine, all three in gilt.
Headcaps very slightly pushed, faint foxing to the boards, a fine copy. On the dust jacket, spine and boards sunned as is common, discreet wear and stains to the headcaps, boards and corners, marginal browning and a dampstain at the foot to the inside of the jacket.

First British edition of 1955 (the first edition of 1954 is American), complete with its dark pink dust jacket designed by Lynton Lamb, on which one of the two prizes received by A Fable in 1955 is mentioned: the Pulitzer Prize. This is the work on which William Faulkner laboured longest and which he considered his masterpiece.

Publisher's binding in candy-pink cloth, with title and author's name gilt in a false panel at the head of the spine, and publisher's name gilt at the foot. Galignani...

English reprint of 1955 — the first American edition was published in 1927 and the first English edition in 1928 — on ordinary paper, complete with its original illustrated unclipped dust jacket.

Publisher's binding in light blue cloth, title, author's name and publisher's device stamped in dark blue to spine, title repeated, also in dark blue, to head of upper board.

Spine ends and edges slightly sunned as is often the case, a...

First edition of this poetry collection, which was awarded the Cholmondeley Prize on publication, complete with its dust jacket illustrated by Leigh Taylor.

Publisher's binding in brown half-cloth, title, author's name and publisher's device gilt to spine, bronze-coloured glossy paper to boards. To recto of rear endpaper, a manuscript quotation in black pen by a celebrated English poet: "the mind can only repose on the stability of truth... Samuel Johnson."

First edition, for which no large-paper copies were printed; one of the review copies.

A pleasing copy.

Laconic but significant autograph inscription, dated and signed by Annie Ernaux, to Gallimard's esteemed reader, the writer Christiane Baroche: « merci. »

Complete autograph manuscript in French by Anatole France, 7 pages in black ink on 7 leaves and a signed autograph note on a bifolium.

Complete and extensively corrected speech by Anatole France, on the occasion of a banquet given in his honor in London. The future Nobel Prize winner for Literature delivers a passionate appeal for peace between nations and an ode to England - its philosophy, literature and politics - less than a year before WW1.

The writer offered this manuscript with a signed note: “Keep, dear colleague and friend, keep these leaves of paper if they are of any value to you. Anatole France London, December 12, 1913”.

First edition of the 4 novels of this 'Histoire contemporaine' tetralogy. First illustrated edition for each. Copy no. 87, one of 100 on japon impérial, including an additional suite of drawings on chine, facing each watercolor illustration. Total run of 1000 copies, with 93 full-page illustrations, head-bands and decorations for each chapter, all in colour ; illustrations after the watercolors of Serge Beaune, made by the workshop of de D. Jacomet & Cie.

Handsomely and uniformly bound copy in red morocco.

A satirical novel about the clergy, the army and civil society in the Third Republic, published from 1897 to 1901, and a portrait of France during...