Original Gift Ideas

First edition, one of 1,000 numbered copies on Renage vellum, the only deluxe paper issue after 26 copies on pure rag paper.
An important body of memoirs by Marcel Pagnol.

Light foxing to the upper edges of the volumes.
Very fine copies.

Very scarce first edition of the Armenian translation, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece and title-frontispiece printed on tinted heavy stock by Weger (Leipzig), together with several in-text figures reproducing seals.

The CCFr records only copies of the French edition (indeed, the same year 1871 saw the publication of a first French translation; a second French edition was issued in Paris in 1888, at which time a German version was also printed at the Leipzig address).

Bradel binding in half brown percaline, smooth spine gilt-ruled and tooled with a gilt frieze, marbled paper boards, endpapers soiled, corners rubbed, edges sprinkled in blue.

Some minor foxing, chiefly at the beginning.

Apart from the frontispiece and title-frontispiece, the entire text is printed in Armenian. Fumagalli, Biblioteca Etiopica, 304.

Father Dimotheos Vartabet Sapritchian, an Armenian priest from Constantinople, travelled to Ethiopia in 1867 with one of his compatriots, Archbishop Isaac.

The travellers, who carried to King Theodore of Abyssinia a message from the Armenian patriarch, entered the country via Wahni in the west and crossed the regions of Bagemder and Tegré before embarking at Massawa.

The first part contains the narrative proper; the second offers observations on the country’s history, manners, and customs.

It also includes reflections on the Ethiopian Church, the clergy, baptism, confession, penance, marriage, funerary rites, festivals, and more.

A rare Jerusalem imprint: printing in the city is thought to date back to 1823.

Letter written by a secretary and signed by Louis XVI, addressed to Cardinal Ludovico Calini, in ink over eleven lines. The signature of Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, appearing at the foot of the bifolium, accompanies that of the King for these New Year wishes. The recipient's name is inscribed on the verso: "Mon Cousin le Cardinal Calino".

A few waterstains, a small hole at "qu'il vous ait".

"My Cousin, I have seen with pleasure from your letter of October 1st the token of the sincerity of the wishes you express for me at the beginning of this year. Your good intentions are as well known to me as you must be certain of my desire to give you proof of my esteem and affection. Whereupon I pray God that He may have you, My Cousin, in His holy and worthy keeping. Written at Versailles the 31st of January 1776." (our own translation). 

Very rare first edition of the new laws enacted in 1775 by Catherine II, Empress of Russia, here translated into Turkish for the recently annexed Turkic-speaking provinces taken from the Ottoman Empire.

The work is divided into two parts: the first, dated 12 November 1775, comprises the first 28 chapters (pp. 1–190); the second contains chapters 29 to 31 (pp. 191–248).

Contemporary-style half mottled sheep with small corners, unlettered spine with five raised bands decorated with double gilt fillets and gilt thistle tools, marbled paper boards, red edges, modern binding.

Pale marginal dampstaining to the upper right corner of the initial leaves.

Bronze cast of the Marquis de Sade's skull by the master founder Avangini. One of a unique numbered edition of 99 bearing a reproduction of Sade's signature, this one no.31.
Also included is a certificate of authenticity signed by the Comtesse de Sade, with the family's wax seal.
Provenance: family archives.

First edition, richly illustrated with reproductions of works by Edouard-Marcel Sandoz.

Publisher’s full cream cloth binding, smooth spine, complete with its illustrated dust jacket.

A very handsome copy.

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, one of 42 numbered copies on Japon paper, the leading copies after 8 hors commerce on Chine paper.
Elegant Bradel binding in half black calf over floral paper boards by P. Goy & C. Vilaine, covers preserved (lightly soiled at edges), top edge gilt.
With a frontispiece portrait of the author on Chine paper by Jean-Louis Forain.
One tiny foxing as well as a small, clear marginal dampstain touching frontispiece.
A very good copy nicely bound.

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 French edition, no deluxe paper copies issued.

Minor, insignificant spotting to the edges.

A handsome copy.

Autograph postcard signed by Albert Einstein to Ludwig Hopf. 18 lines written verso and recto, address also in Einstein's handwriting. Postmarked June 21, 1910. 

Published in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 5: The Swiss Years: Correspondence, 1902-1914, Princeton University Press, 1993, n°218, p. 242.

An exceptional and highly aesthetic card from Albert Einstein to "the friend of the greatest geniuses of his time" - according to Schrödinger - mathematician and physicist Ludwig Hopf, who introduced Einstein to another 20^th-century genius: Carl Jung.
The master invites his pupil Hopf to a dinner party, whose guests include scientist Max Abraham, future great rival during Einstein's Zurich years and a fervent opponent of his theory of relativity.

The recipient Ludwig Hopf joined Einstein in 1910 as an assistant and student at his physics and kinetic theory seminars at the University of Zürich. They signed two fundamental papers on the statistical aspects of radiation and gave their names to the "Einstein-Hopf" velocity-dependent drag force. Their letter exchanges retrace the complex path of Einstein's work on relativity and gravitation, bearing witness to their great complicity and Hopf's invaluable contribution to the Master's research. A few months after writing the postcard, Hopf even found an error in Einstein's calculations of the derivatives of certain velocity components which Einstein corrected in a paper the following year. They also formed a musical duo – Hopf accompanied on the piano the Master's violin, performing pieces by great musical geniuses like Bach and Mozart.
With this card, Einstein invited his pupil and friend Hopf to dinner with Max Abraham, at the dawn of a major scientific controversy that would pit them against each other from 1911 onwards. Abraham's theory of special relativity failed to convince Einstein, who criticized its lack of observational verification and its failure to predict the gravitational curvature of light. In 1912, their dispute became public through scientific articles. Abraham never acknowledged the validity of Einstein's theory.

During their brilliant artistic and intellectual exchanges, Hopf undoubtedly succeeded where Freud had failed, as he declared to him in a letter: "I shall break with you if you boast of having converted Einstein to psychoanalysis. A long conversation I had with him a few years ago showed me that analysis was as hermetic to him as the theory of relativity can be to me" (Vienna, September 27, 1931). As a fervent supporter of psychoanalysis, Hopf is known to have introduced the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung to Einstein. Hopf and his teacher both left for Prague's Karl-Ferdinand University in 1911, where they met writer Franz Kafka and his friend Max Brod in Madame Fanta's salon.
With the rise of the Nazi regime, the fates of the two theoreticians were plagued by persecution and exile. Einstein first took refuge in Belgium, Hopf in Great Britain after his dismissal in 1934 from the University of Aachen because of his Jewish origins. They continued their prolific correspondence in the midst of the turmoil, Einstein suggesting to Hopf the opening of a university abroad for exiled German students. Hopf died shortly after his appointment as chair of Mathematics studies at Trinity College Dublin in July 1939.

A precious invitation from the great physicist to one of the final dinner gatherings of the "old school" of science embodied by Max Abraham, on the eve of the publication of the theory of general relativity which would overturn classical conceptions of space and time and propel Science into the 20th century.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece, in-text illustrations and maps, and a double-page map at the end.

Literary collaboration by Joseph Sachot.

Drawings, cover design and maps by André Millot.

Contemporary binding in green half shagreen with corners, smooth spine without title, marbled paper boards, illustrated wrappers bound in on tabs and preserved.

A compelling account of the life and conditions of Inuit populations: Father Roger Buliard (1909–1978), an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, served for fifteen years as a missionary in the Arctic before joining the Canadian military chaplaincy.

The book was a great success upon publication and inspired many future explorers.

Our copy includes an autograph note signed by Roger Buliard to a friend nicknamed Titi, written on thin paper and dated March 19, 1950.

Also included:

I. Two handwritten postcards addressed to the recipient of the note, along with newspaper clippings.

II. A small oblong 12mo green cloth album with eyelets and ties, containing 29 original silver print photographs, small in format (from 12 x 7 cm to 4 x 4 cm), mounted on heavy paper, depicting the author and various moments from his 1947 expedition.

A delightful ensemble.

Exhibition catalogue of paintings by Tony Curtis, presented at the Center Art Galleries in Hawaii.

Catalogue illustrated with reproductions of works by Tony Curtis.

A very good copy. The original mailing envelope for the catalogue is included.

Signed by Tony Curtis in blue felt-tip pen on the front cover of the catalogue.

Provenance: from the collection of the distinguished autograph collector Claude Armand.

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, of the French translation.
A small tear restored at the foot of the spine, a pleasing copy.
Letter-preface by Jean Cocteau, preface by Somerset Maugham.
Illustrated cover with a portrait of the Aga Khan by Kees Van Dongen, with iconography.

Rare and precious signed autograph presentation from the Aga Khan to Madame Avrillier.

 

New edition illustrated with 47 engraved and hand-colored costume plates (cf. Colas 2784).

This is a reissue, under the Metz imprint, of a portion (volume IV) of the Tableau Historique des costumes, des moeurs et des usages des principaux peuples de l'antiquité et du moyen âge, originally published in Paris and Metz between 1804 and 1809.

Rare and attractive copy preserved in its original publisher’s wrappers, with the original plain waiting cover and a printed title label affixed at the head of the spine.

First edition of this major work, illustrated with 12 engraved plates and 85 figures in the text (cf. Garrison-Morton 2485. Osler 1550. Duveen 461. Cushing P/139. Waller 10966. Norman 1658).

In studying the process of fermentation, Pasteur demonstrated that the spoilage of beer was caused by airborne microorganisms, and not by spontaneous generation as previously believed.

His research contributed significantly to the treatment and preservation of perishable beverages such as beer, wine, and milk.

A very attractive copy, preserved in its original wrappers.

First edition, illustrated with in-text figures and 9 folding plates; see En français dans le texte, 362. Norman 715 ("Esnault-Pelterie's most important contribution to rocketry").

Minor tears at head and tail of spine, a well-preserved copy.

First edition, printed in a very small number of copies, of this extremely rare offprint (cf. Tardy 338 for the complete edition. Not listed by Polak.)

Some minor foxing, a handwritten letter "R" in ink at the upper right corner of the front wrapper.

A pleasant copy.

First edition, profusely illustrated with in-text figures.

Contemporary red half shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and triple gilt compartments, gilt initials at the foot of the spine, some rubbing to the bands, boards framed with blind-stamped fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns. A binding of the period.

A rare and appealing copy.

First edition, with no deluxe paper copies issued.
Handsome copy complete with its promotional wraparound band "L'amour-ogre".

First edition, one of 35 copies on pure rag paper, this one not numbered but specified as a copy printed for Pierre Jean Jouve under the colophon, the only deluxe paper copies issued.

Three small spots on the lower cover.

A very good copy.

First edition of the French translation by Dominique Aubier, printed in 150 numbered copies on Rives wove paper, ours being one of 30 copies including the original print, numbered and signed by Louis Chavignier.

Our copy is one of only 10 exceptionally enriched with an additional suite on chine appliqué of the etching by Alberto Giacometti and the 14 burin engravings by Louis Chavignier.

The work is illustrated with an original etching as frontispiece by Alberto Giacometti, and 14 full-page original burin engravings by sculptor Louis Chavignier.

A handsome and rare copy.

Enclosed is the printed report, on Rives paper, of the general meeting held on 16 May 1962 by the bibliophile society Les Impénitents.

Also included is the promotional leaflet illustrated with an original burin engraving by Louis Chavignier, justified and signed by the artist, announcing the forthcoming publication of the book.

Minor, insignificant foxing affecting one leaf of the final gathering.

A rare and desirable copy.

Facsimile edition limited to 1,000 numbered copies of the exceedingly rare 1931 first edition published by Jeanne Walter.

Introduction by Fernand Léger.

Splendid volume illustrated with 80 photographs by Moï Ver.

A rare and desirable copy, complete with its original grey full cloth chemise and slipcase.

Rich photographic album comprising the title page and 65 oval silver prints mounted on heavy paper, all on tabs.

Full bottle-green morocco binding, spine without lettering, raised bands framed with black fillets, double blind-ruled frame on covers, gilt roll tooling on the caps, gilt title stamped at the center of the upper cover, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, wide gilt dentelle borders on pastedowns, all edges gilt, one upper corner slightly rubbed, gilt fillets on board edges, an elegant contemporary binding signed by Thouvenin fils.

Minor surface scuffing.

One of the most renowned works by the photographer Alophe (1811–1883). A commemorative album featuring photographic portraits of all the delegates, along with two images of the Union's assembly hall: I. France (Adolphe Cochery – 2 portraits –, A. Besnier, Th. Ansault, Elie Roy, Martial Housez). – II. Germany (Stephan, Günther, Sachse, Hubert). – III. Argentina (Carlos Calvo). – IV. Austria-Hungary (Guillaume Dewez, Michel Gervay, E. Fritsch). – V. Belgium (J. Vinchent, F. Gife). – VI. Brazil (Itajuba). – VII. Chile (Alberto Blest Gana). – VIII. Denmark (J. L. Schou, Petersen). – IX. Egypt (Caillard, Chioffi). – X. Spain (Gregorio Villaamil, Emilio de Navasqües). – XI. United States (James Tyner, Joseph H. Blackfan). – XII. Great Britain (Adams, Page, Alan MacLean, Hogg, Ham). – XIII. Greece (N.-P. Delyanni, Mansolas). – XIV. Haiti (Charles Noël). – XV. Hawaii (William Martin). – XVI. Italy (Tantesio). – XVII. Japan (Nanobou Sameshima, Samuel M. Bryan, Muralt). – XVIII. Liberia (Léopold Carrance). – XIX. Luxembourg (Victor de Roebe). – XX. Mexico (Gavino Barreda). – XXI. Norway (Hefty). – XXII. Netherlands (Hofstede, C. W. Sweerts de Landas-Wyborgh). – XXIII. Peru (Juan de Goyeneche). – XXIV. Portugal (Barros, Ferreira dos Santos). – XXV. Romania (Robesco). – XXVI. Russia (Velho, Poggenpohl). – XXVII. El Salvador (Torres Caïcedo). – XXVIII. Serbia (Mladen Radoykovitch). – XXIX. Sweden (Roos). – XXX. Switzerland (Kern, Edmond Höhn). – XXXI. Turkey (Bedros Couyoumgian). – XXXII. Uruguay (Juan Diaz). – XXXIII. Venezuela (Antonio Parra Bolivar). – XXXIV. International Bureau (Eugène Borel, Moret, Recoing, Duparcq). Founded on October 9, 1874 during the International Postal Conference in Bern, the General Postal Union became, with the significant increase in membership, the Universal Postal Union in 1878.

A fine copy, beautifully bound in full morocco by Thouvenin jeune.

First edition, one of 158 copies printed on pur fil paper, following only 45 on Hollande.

A fine copy.

Original photograph depicting Charles Gounod, full face.

Vintage gelatin silver print mounted on cardboard, produced by photographer Isidore Alphonse Chalot at 18, rue Vivienne, Paris.

Autograph inscriptions in black then blue ink on the verso by the recipient, A. Lasserre, inspector at the Opéra Garnier: "Portrait de Ch. Gounod signé le soir de la 926eme représentation de Faust (samedi 29 septembre 1888) A. Lasserre."

Additional handwritten note in pencil in the right margin of the verso: 1867e représentation de Faust le 28 septembre 1929.

Printed stamp at foot of the verso: "Maison Martinet Albert Hautecoeur, 18, bd des Capucines."

Charles Gounod’s dated autograph signature to upper right corner of the photograph : "Ch. Gounod 29 7bre / 88."

Black and white photographic postcard depicting Louison Bobet in cycling attire.

A fine copy.

Inscribed and signed by Louison Bobet in blue ink, addressed to the prominent autograph collector Claude Armand.

Louison Bobet is among the most decorated cyclists in history: three-time winner of the Tour de France between 1953 and 1955 (the first rider to win the race three years in a row), world champion in 1954, and French national champion in 1950 and 1951. He also claimed victory in numerous classic races, including Paris–Roubaix and Milan–San Remo, among others.

***

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Ronéotype réalisé par Boris Vian de son manuscrit original, avec ajout autographe du titre : "Le penseur" et deux corrections autogrpahes, nouvelle initialement parue dans la revue Dans le train n°15, 1949, puis publiée dans le recueil posthume Le Loup-Garou en 1970.

Sans doute réalisé pour conserver une copie de sa nouvelle, avant l'envoi à la revue Dans le train, ce ronéotype du manuscrit originale signé a été conservé dans les archives de l'écrivain jusqu'à sa mort. les deux corrections autogrpahes et le titre au crayon semble indiquer que Boris Vian avait prévu une nouvelle publication.

Cette biogaphie express de la courte vie d'un philosophe de génie : Urodonal Carrier, était destinée à être lue le temps d'un trajet en transport en commun. Elle fait partie douze textes que Boris Vian publia entre 1948 et 1950 dans la revue humoristique Dans le train.

Provenance : Fondation Boris Vian.

Original autograph manuscript, 8 pages on 4 squared leaves, extensively revised and signed by Boris Vian. Subtle horizontal folds.
This short story, written on 7 June 1948 according to Noël Arnaud, was first published in issue no. 2 of the magazine Dans le train, and later included in the collection Le Loup Garou. The manuscript differs slightly from the printed versions.

Original autograph manuscript of a short story by Boris Vian, written in 1945 and published posthumously in the collection Le Loup-Garou in 1970.
Highly dense manuscript of 17 pages on 9 sheets, written in black ink with deletions and corrections, on perforated graph paper, dated “25.10.45” at the end of the text. One of the very rare manuscripts dated by the author.

Exceptional manuscript of Boris Vian’s first short story, written at the age of 25, just a few months after the Liberation.

Original autograph manuscript of Boris Vian's short story, first published in the magazine Une bouteille à la Mer, no.72, in 1952, then included in Vercoquin et le plancton and republished posthumously in the 1970 collection Le Loup-Garou.
Heavily revised manuscript, written in blue ink on the recto of each sheet, with corrections in purple ink and black pencil.

Ronéotype réalisé par Boris Vian de son manuscrit original, avec ajout autographe du titre : "L'amour est aveugle", nouvelle initialement parue dans la revue Paris-Tabou n°1 de 1949, puis publiée dans le recueil posthume Le Loup-Garou en 1970.

Sans doute réalisé pour conserver une copie de sa nouvelle, avant l'envoi à la revue Paris-Tabou, ce ronéotype du manuscrit originale signé a été conservé dans les archives de l'écrivain jusqu'à sa mort.
Ecrit d'un seul jet et comportant très peu de corrections, il témoigne de la créativité de l'écrivain et de son univers onirique hors du commun.

Provenance : Fondation Boris Vian.

Important original autograph manuscript, signed, of Boris Vian’s short story written in 1950, first published in Bizarre no. 32–33 in 1964, and later included in the posthumous collection Le Loup-Garou in 1970.
With Vian’s autograph name and address at the head of the manuscript.

Extensively revised manuscript, written in blue and violet ink on the versos of each leaf, with a pasted slip of corrections mounted to page 13.

A striking work of speculative fiction in which Boris Vian prophesies artificial intelligence as a conversational module drawing on the integration of encyclopedic data:

“The model you see here is designed to acquire the complete knowledge contained in the sixteen volumes of the Larousse Grand Encyclopedic Memo of 1978 […]. It is an administrative machine, Florence. It is meant to serve as an adviser (…). For every request for information (…), it will provide (…) the typical answer of an extensive French culture. In all circumstances it will indicate the course of action to follow, (…) explain what it is about and how to behave (…). It must absorb everything. It only has a chance of balanced behaviour if it knows everything. Only on this condition can it remain objective and impartial.”

Unlike the utopias of his time, Vian’s narrator does not imagine an A.I. with its own thought and sensibility, but rather a true aggregator of knowledge equipped with an autonomous and efficient search engine. Paradoxically, its sensibility becomes the cause of its downfall: after absorbing Toi et moi, Paul Géraldy’s sentimental romance, the machine falls in love and ultimately assaults its creator.

Anticipating Google and ChatGPT more than fifty years before their emergence, Vian’s little futuristic tale above all stages the dynamics of human relationships, the real subject of the story, in which he joyfully inverts the conventions of seduction.

A very rare signed literary manuscript by Boris Vian.

Provenance: Boris Vian Foundation.

Second edition with some parts in first edition as it was revised.
Spine slightly browned, first cover marginally soiled, a charm at head of first endpaper, handsome interior condition.
Rare.

"In the end, 5 hours of work for example to produce - per man - all that is necessary to man."

Complete unpublished autograph manuscript in French by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. 9 pages on 8 leaves in black ink. Traces of horizontal and vertical folds. A small piece of paper missing in the center of two leaves.

Exceptional unpublished manuscript by Saint-Exupéry, to be compared with his political and economic reflections in Carnets (1989, p. 43). Personally affected by the 1929 crisis, Saint-Exupéry “the self-taught writer” writes passionately about the economy and puts forward reform strategies. The manuscript features a lot of mathematical formulas and equations, along with remarks “To make the ideas clear about what is happening today” (p. 1), on the national economic system and the labor market.
These unpublished pages testify to Saint-Exupéry's great intellectual curiosity, his insatiable need for innovation in all fields of knowledge: mechanics, technology, politics, economics... Saint-Exupéry writes on capitalist reform, as he was an outspoken critic of the system which he later personified in The Little Prince “businessman” character. He develops theories where the State becomes the only employer, banker, and overall production manager: “If the State pays all the salaries including those of the administrations and considers itself as owner of all the products (nothing to be changed within the capitalist system in the sense that it can pay to the administrations special bonuses returning in their salaries and according to the quality as well as the quantity. He pays an amount X. He sells (having taxed his stocks so that they express Y)”.
His reflection is directly related to the stock market crash that bankrupted the Aéropostale, the pioneering airline company where Saint-Exupéry had displayed his talents as an aviator-writer. One also remembers the splendid lines from Terre des Hommes on the value of work: “The greatness of a profession is perhaps, above all, to unite men: there is only one true luxury, and that is human relations”.
Concerned about a better distribution of wealth, he develops throughout the pages several labor market and pension system theories, halfway between Keynes and Marx. The writer was well aware of the value of labor having himself spent long hours on his aircrafts' mechanics. He details his views on the duration of a working day “In the end, 5 hours of work for example to produce – per man – all that is necessary to man. With little work and it is possible to supply men with everything that is – and can with the increase of luxury – become necessary to them”, and makes calculations on savings, pensions, purchasing power. His novels and personal writings contain numerous references to labor and hopes for a more equal human community:

“Saint-Exupéry was also a man of his time, passionate about modernity, especially technical innovation, who constantly tried to reflect on all the problems that arose from it. Hence the countless notebooks, notes, and scattered sheets of paper that he constantly filled in and carried in his pockets and trunks, with which he might one day have written a book.” (Jean-Claude Perrier)

Rare manuscript from a true Humanist, a talented artist, aviator, novelist, political and economic thinker. Saint-Exupéry tries to build a harmonious social order and lay the theoretical groundwork for an ideal society.

First edition of the French translation established by Emmanuelle de Lesseps.
Handsome and very rare copy.
With a presentation by Christiane Rochefort.

Gender discrimination, hate speech and calls for genocide, violent action with a furious, premeditated and unrepentant murder attempt on one of the most famous artists of the 20th century, promotion of violent anarchy with great scatological laughter, programmed elimination or humiliation of half the human race...
 
In her misandrist pamphlet, Scum manifesto ("Society for Cutting Up Men"), Valerie Solanas shows no empathy, leaves no room for moderation or reconciliation, and grants no exception to her project of eliminating all men except for "men who methodically work toward their own elimination [...] [such as] drag queens who, by their magnificent example, encourage other men to demasculinize themselves and thus render themselves relatively harmless." The first manifesto of radical feminism addresses not only women but also encompasses in its struggle the sexual identities rejected by the phallocratic society that Solanas wants to bring down with unprecedented rage for such a battle.
 
"Life in this society being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of society being at all relevant to women, there remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and destroy the male sex."
An introduction that in 1971, Emmanuelle de Lesseps, undertaking a French version, would translate as:
"Vivre dans cette société, c'est au mieux y mourir d'ennui. Rien dans cette société ne concerne les femmes. Alors, à toutes celles qui ont un brin de civisme, le sens des responsabilités et celui de la rigolade, il ne reste qu'à renverser le gouvernement, en finir avec l'argent, instaurer l'automation à tous les niveaux et supprimer le sexe masculin." ["Living in this society means, at best, dying of boredom. Nothing in this society concerns women. So, to all those who have a bit of civic-mindedness, a sense of responsibility and of fun, there remains only to overthrow the government, finish with money, establish automation at all levels and eliminate the male sex."]
 
At once an insurrectional political program, paranoid delirium, and poetic text, Solanas's manifesto disturbs through its refusal to be confined within a genre—serious, utopian, or satirical. For the question posed by such a work may not be that of its morality, but of its author's right to claim excess. Published after her murder attempt on Andy Warhol, Solanas's terrible manifesto is the literary and literal assertion that man does not have a monopoly on violence.
 
Although it presents itself as a cry of anger written in urgency, SCUM is in reality the fruit of two years of reflection and writing before being, for lack of a publisher, mimeographed by Solanas in 1967 and sold in the street ($1 for women and $2 for men), without meeting any success.
 
Seeking recognition, Valerie Solanas then moves in the New York underground milieu and befriends the pope of counterculture, Andy Warhol, whose Factory she frequents. Unable to get her manifesto published, "the best text in all of history, which will only be surpassed by my next book," Solanas tackles her first literary work: Up your Ass, a play she wants her mentor to produce. Unfortunately, Warhol refuses the play and loses the unique manuscript. In compensation, he offers his friend a role in two of his films. Solanas is not satisfied with this small artistic success and, on June 3, 1968, fires three times at Andy Warhol, seriously wounding the artist and achieving fame at the same time. The young woman does not hide that her murderous gesture, more than revenge against the artist, is above all a political act and an artistic necessity to allow her to disseminate her work. Thus, questioned about the motivations of her criminal attempt, she submits to justice and the media this laconic response: "Read my manifesto, you will know who I am."
Maurice Girodias, the sulfurous publisher of Olympia Press, condemned several times notably after the publication of Lolita and Naked Lunch, had already noticed Solanas the previous year. He had then rejected her manifesto but had offered her a contract for her future works. After the attack, he finally decides to also publish the feminist pamphlet of this atypical criminal who declares the omnipotence of women and the harmfulness of the male sex. The height of provocation, Girodias reproduces on the back cover the front page of the New York Post, relating Warhol's tragic hospitalization.
 
Is Solanas's book the work of this sick woman, a violated child, a prostituted high school and university student, an adult diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, escaped from several asylums, and who would end her days in extreme solitude and poverty? Or is this interpretation precisely the demonstration of the prohibition for a woman to claim all the extremities of anarchist delirium and utopia that are granted to men?
 
In 1968, at the heart of the interminable Vietnam War, violence is no longer the preserve of oppressors and the rising anger of minorities against the endemic discrimination of the United States manifests itself through violent confrontations and the birth of radical groups such as the Black Panthers. But women remain excluded from demands and their rights are denied by both camps, as Angela Davis and Ella Baker would also denounce.
 
However, unlike them, Solanas adheres to no emancipation struggle and refuses all fashionable utopias which, according to her, only liberate man; woman remaining, at best, a reward:
"Le hippie [...] est follement excité à l'idée d'avoir tout un tas de femmes à sa disposition. [...] L'activité la plus importante de la vie communautaire, celle sur laquelle elle se fonde, c'est le baisage à la chaîne. Ce qui alléche le plus le hippie, dans l'idée de vivre en communauté, c'est tout le con qu'il va y trouver. Du con en libre circulation : le bien collectif par excellence ; il suffit de demander." ["The hippie [...] is wildly excited at the idea of having a whole bunch of women at his disposal. [...] The most important activity of community life, the one on which it is based, is chain fucking. What attracts the hippie most in the idea of living in community is all the cunt he's going to find there. Freely circulating cunt: the collective good par excellence; you just have to ask."]
 
"Laisser tout tomber et vivre en marge n'est plus la solution. Baiser le système, oui. La plupart des femmes vivent déjà en marge, elles n'ont jamais été intégrées. Vivre en marge, c'est laisser le champ libre à ceux qui restent ; c'est exactement ce que veulent les dirigeants ; c'est faire le jeu de l'ennemi ; c'est renforcer le système au lieu de le saper car il mise sur l'inaction, la passivité, l'apathie et le retrait de la masse des femmes." ["Dropping out and living on the margins is no longer the solution. Fucking the system, yes. Most women already live on the margins, they have never been integrated. Living on the margins means leaving the field free to those who remain; it's exactly what the leaders want; it's playing into the enemy's hands; it's strengthening the system instead of undermining it because it relies on the inaction, passivity, apathy and withdrawal of the mass of women."]
 
A true explosion in protest circles, S.C.U.M. divides emerging feminist movements like NOW or Women's Lib and gives birth to radical feminism. Yet, Solanas refuses any affiliation and even rejects the help of militant lawyer Florynce Kennedy by pleading guilty at her trial while Warhol did not want to press charges against her: "I cannot press charges against someone who acts according to their nature. It's in Valerie's nature, so how could I hold it against her." (A fascinating testimony to the mutual psychological hold these two contrary beings had on each other).
 
In a great fireworks display of obscenity and laughing extremism, Solanas's work nevertheless methodically deconstructs the propositions of progressive intellectuals as much as it reveals the irremediably machistic structure of a falsely modern society. "S.C.U.M. stands against the entire system, against the very idea of laws and government. What S.C.U.M. wants is to demolish the system and not obtain certain rights within the system."
 
Fifty years later, Solanas's manifesto remains bitingly acute, and the sometimes delirious verve of its author cannot justify the progressive erasure of her memory in social history, like her own mother destroying all her manuscripts upon her death.
 
Outraged, convinced, or stunned by the cathartic violence of the text, no one claims to emerge unscathed from the S.C.U.M. experience. This is undoubtedly linked to the almost Célinean literary force of Solanas's pen but perhaps also to the undeniable relevance of her revolt:
"Celles qui, selon les critères de notre « culture », sont la lie de la terre, les S.C.U.M. ... sont des filles à l'aise, plutôt cérébrales et tout près d'être asexuées. Débarrassées des convenances, de la gentillesse, de la discrétion, de l'opinion publique, de la « morale », du « respect » des trous-du-cul, toujours surchauffées, pétant le feu, sales et abjectes, les S.C.U.M. déferlent... elles ont tout vu - tout le machin, baise et compagnie, suce-bite et suce-con - elles ont été à voile et à vapeur, elles ont fait tous les ports et se sont fait tous les porcs... Il faut avoir pas mal baisé pour devenir anti-baise, et les S.C.U.M. sont passées par tout ça, maintenant elles veulent du nouveau ; elles veulent sortir de la fange, bouger, décoller, sombrer dans les hauteurs. Mais l'heure de S.C.U.M. n'est pas encore arrivée. La société nous confine encore dans ses égouts. Mais si rien ne change et si la Bombe ne tombe pas sur tout ça, notre société crèvera d'elle-même." ["Those who, according to the criteria of our 'culture,' are the scum of the earth, the S.C.U.M. ... are comfortable girls, rather cerebral and quite close to being asexual. Rid of conventions, kindness, discretion, public opinion, 'morality,' 'respect' for assholes, always overheated, bursting with fire, dirty and abject, the S.C.U.M. surge forth... they have seen everything - the whole thing, fucking and company, cock-sucking and cunt-sucking - they have been both ways, they have done all the ports and have done all the pigs... You have to have fucked quite a bit to become anti-fuck, and the S.C.U.M. have been through all that, now they want something new; they want to get out of the mire, move, take off, sink into the heights. But S.C.U.M.'s time has not yet come. Society still confines us in its sewers. But if nothing changes and if the Bomb doesn't fall on all this, our society will die of itself."]