Nobel Prize in Literature

Illustrated edition, with compositions drawn and engraved on wood by Léon Schulz: a frontispiece printed in red and black, together with numerous headpieces and tailpieces. The edition was limited to 1,230 copies; ours is one of the numbered copies on Rives laid paper.

Bound in full peacock-blue shagreen, smooth spine lettered in gilt with author and title, marbled paper pastedowns, top edge gilt, original wrappers preserved. Binding sunned, with marginal fading to the upper cover and spine, and a scratch to the upper cover.

The copy from the library of the writer and filmmaker Carlo Rim (pen name of Jean Marius Richard), enriched with eight letters by Frédéric Mistral, in French and...

Edition issued a few months after the first edition.

A pleasant copy.

Autograph inscription signed by Patrick Modiano to Michel Tarte.

First edition, no deluxe copies issues; this one an advance copy.

Light foxing to the edges, insignificant loss to the lower left corner of the final endpaper, somewhat clumsily cut.

A pleasant copy.

Signed and inscribed by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio to Madame Vivier.

First edition, one of 330 numbered copies on Holland paper.

Light foxing to the endpapers.
A fine copy, the blue wrappers unfaded.

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 l'affectueuse sollicitude de bons amis comme vous et Phil...

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 Chronicle of a Death Foretold a few years later.
On the last page, below the colophon, Gabriel García Márquez specified an address in...

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 texts of 20th-century literature, housed in an uncommon stingray binding recalling the famous fish, “bright in the sun” as Hemingway wrote. 

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 copy retaining the original blue colour of the wrappers.

The translation had appeared a few...

Autograph letter signed by François Mauriac, on the letterhead of the Grand Hôtel du Parc in Royat (Puy-de-Dôme), 14 lines in black ink, probably addressed to the historian Georges Goyau, a specialist in religious history.

François Mauriac looks forward to meeting his friend Goyau that evening and poetically conjures up Abbé Perreyve, a prominent figure of nineteenth-century liberal Catholicism:  "j'ai rêvé cette nuit que l'abbé Perreyve jouait sous ma fenêtre de quinze instruments à la fois, comme un homme orchestre, ce n'était que le vent".

First edition, one of 1,050 numbered copies on alfama paper.

Publisher's boards after the original design by Mario Prassinos. A tiny sunned area at the head of the spine.

A remarkably fresh copy.

First edition, one of the numbered copies on alfa paper.
Spine sunned as is usual, a small dent to one board edge, a small dark mark to the lower part of the front board.
Publisher's binding after an original design by Mario Prassinos.

 

First edition, one of 1,050 numbered copies printed on vélin labeur paper.
Publisher's binding after an original design by Mario Prassinos.
A fine copy.

New edition of the French translation, one of 1,040 copies produced to a design by Mario Prassinos. Number 153 of 990.

Publisher's black pictorial boards decorated with geometric patterns. The slightest rubbing, otherwise a very fine copy.

First French edition, translated by R. N. Raimbault. One of 100 numbered copies printed on Lafuma Navarre pure wove paper, this copy numbered LXXIV. 

Copy in its original wrappers. In excellent condition.

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.

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. »

In a postscript, Ernaux adds her delight at learning of the...

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 m'interroge sur les mêmes choses que toi, la folie, la...

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 bookshop label affixed to the foot of the front pastedown.

Colour very slightly faded to the headcaps, discreet staining to the foot of the spine and to the tail edge. To the dust jacket, the spine...

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 few faint marks to lower board. To the dust jacket, some minor chipping to spine ends, joints and corners, old traces of adhesive tape to the inside of the flaps. A pleasing copy.

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."

Head of spine very slightly pushed. To the dust jacket, head of spine and upper left corner slightly chipped, old crease to head of upper board, a tiny tear to lower board, price clipped.

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 the Dreyfus Affair.

Bookplate of J.L and...

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.