Pandora's Box: Daring Gift Ideas

"Si quelque part au monde le coeur de la liberté continue à battre, s'il est un lieu d'où ses coups nous parviennent mieux frappés que de partout ailleurs, nous savons tous que ce lieu est l'Espagne." ["If anywhere in the world the heart of freedom continues to beat, if there is a place from which its beats reach us more clearly struck than from anywhere else, we all know that this place is Spain."]

Double autograph letter signed by Victor Segalen to Emile Mignard. Nine pages and a few lines written in black ink on two bifolia and one single leaf. Horizontal folds from mailing.
Emile Mignard (1878-1966), also a physician from Brest, was one of Segalen’s closest childhood friends, whom he met at the Jesuit college Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Brest. The writer maintained with this companion a prolific and steady correspondence in which he described with humor and intimacy his daily life across the globe. It was at Mignard’s wedding, on 15 February 1905, that Segalen first met his future wife, Yvonne Hébert.
Lengthy letter discussing the progress of...

Autograph letter signed, partly unpublished, by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, addressed to his lawyer, Maître Thorvald Mikkelsen. Two pages written in blue ink on a large sheet of white paper; numbered “575” in Céline’s hand in red pencil at the top left corner.
Fold marks from mailing.
This letter was only partially transcribed in Année Céline 2005, p. 64.
 
A moving and bitter letter by Céline, who had just lost his aunt Amélie (the “Aunt Hélène” of Death on Credit), and witnesses the slow disappearance of the world he once knew. The writer finds solace in the memoirs of Élisabeth de Gramont, another...

First edition, posthumous, printed on Holland paper.
Contemporary full marbled brown calf binding, spine in compartments richly decorated, red morocco title label, black morocco volume label, a small loss to the lower joint at the foot, rubbing marks, surface abrasions to the upper cover with a small loss of leather, one corner bumped, marginal loss to the right corner on pages 247 and 257.

Paper generally fresh. This copy has been bound as a single volume, following the 1772 edition of Diderot’s Works in 6 volumes (Volume VI, II).

A good copy.
The introductory text, à la mémoire de Diderot, is by Jakob-Heinrich Meister, a friend of Necker and successor...

Complete autograph manuscript of 106 pages entitled: “Mémoire de la construction et agrèz d'une galère ordinaire, avec l'explication des termes, l'usage des manœuvres, et de toutes les parties qui composent le corps de la galère et son armement”. Penned in a neat, unrubricated hand, with occasional marginal notes in another hand.
 
Contemporary full vellum binding, lightly soiled with minor wear, smooth spine without lettering.
A major and invaluable manuscript chronicling the revival of the French galley fleet, written by the most influential galley shipwright of his time: Jean-Baptiste Chabert.
We have...

An album containing 14 gouaches on silk, including 12 erotic paintings. The first painting on each side of the folding shows a bird and on the other side maple leaves, thus masking on each of the first pages the erotic aspect of the collection. Shunga is the generic Japanese term that designates erotic art, it literally means Spring Image, spring being a euphemism and figure of style expressing sexuality. The term Shunga having been reserved for a long time for prints, collections or albums have often been designated by the appellation Pillow Books, or notes for the pillow, etc. (Utamaro: The Song of the Pillow, 1788).
Japanese accordion album covered with damask silk with flowers and...

First edition, one of 50 copies printed anonymously on papier japon.
First edition, one of 50 copies printed anonymously on papier japon.
Illustrated with an erotic frontispiece by Félicien Rops on chine.
Custom chemise and slipcase in half morocco and paper boards signed Boichot, some discreet restorations to the spine and covers, some discreet restorations to the top margin of the frontispiece, not affecting the engraving.
“La Présidente”, honorary nickname given to Apollonie Sabatier (alias Aglaëe Savatier, her real name), was one of the most captivating Salon hostesses of the 19th century. She inspired an ethereal love in Baudelaire who...

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 edition, one of 30 numbered copies on vellum pur-fil paper Johannot, deluxe copies ("tirage de tête").
Rare and beautiful copy.

Erotic manuscript consisting of two beveled wooden boards with two paintings and 10 leaves with a painting on the recto and a handwritten Tibetan text on the recto. The text is the same on the 10 leaves, it is a mantra. On two of the leaves it is almost completely erased. On the recto of the two wooden boards there are also two different handwritten mantras. The paintings are executed directly on the wood and the leaves. The dimensions of the paintings vary somewhat, from 5.5 cm, 6 cm to 12, 14 cm in width.
This form, 2 pieces of wood with leaves in the middle, is traditional. The whole was often attached by a string, or by holes in the wood through which a string was passed. Very good...

Autograph letter signed in black ink, addressed to his mother and dated “Sunday morning the 14th.” A few underlinings, deletions and corrections by the author.
Formerly in the collection of Armand Godoy, n°188.
A fading Baudelaire: “The state of disgust in which I find myself makes everything seem even worse.”
Drawn by the promise of epic fame, Baudelaire went to Belgium in April 1864 for a few conferences and in the hope of a fruitful meeting with the publishers of Les Misérables, Lacroix and Verboeckhoven. The meeting didn't...

First French edition, one of 25 numbered copies on Hollande paper, deluxe issue.

This second volume of La comédie américaine was first published in English as The Ski Bum.
Fine copy.