First edition, on ordinary paper, of the French translation by Boris Vian.
A pleasing copy, considering the poor quality of this post-war paper.
First edition, with no deluxe-paper copies issued.
A fine copy.
New edition, one of 50 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe-paper copies.
A fine copy.
The first edition, published two years earlier, included no deluxe-paper issue.
First edition on ordinary paper.
Spine very lightly sunned, a trivial defect.
Signed autograph inscription from Marcel Pagnol to Mr. R. Bouchard on the printed dedication page.
First edition, one of the press review copies.
Trimmed copy, joints soiled and restored, stain to the lower cover.
Humorous signed autograph inscription by Paul Morand: "Cher Caracalla, j'apprends que vous n'avez jamais reçu mon Fouquet ; en juin dernier je vous l'envoyais avec ma fidèle pensée. Que le diable patafiole le facteur ! Je vous renouvelle ici ma très amicale sympathie. Morand."
First edition, one of the press service copies.
A faint waterstain affecting the centre of the final leaves.
Bradel binding in patterned paper-covered boards, smooth spine, black oasis morocco lettering-piece, wrappers and spine preserved.
Precious presentation inscription signed by Jean Genet to Claude Romain, who created the role of Maurice in this play: "à Claude Romain petit gamin et déjà grand comédien. Ton pote, Jean Genet."
High Surveillance was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre des Mathurins on 26 February 1949, directed by Jean Marchat, with Tony Taffin, Claude Romain, Robert Hossein and Jean-Marc Lambert in the cast.
Claude...
First edition, one of the press service copies, no deluxe paper copies issued.
A dampstain to the lower edge of one textblock edge.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Casamayor: "à Jean Paul Sartre au nom de la réalité concrète avec la fidélité de Casamayor."
Rare edition, partly first, as it contains for the first time a letter by Louis Blanc, following the edition published by Bry aîné in 1847.
Corner creases to the wrappers, small tears to the spine.
Second edition of Barbès's text, partly first edition as it is here augmented by a letter from Louis Blanc, published a few weeks after Barbès and Louis Blanc were sentenced to deportation by the High Court of Bourges for their role in the events of 15 May 1848. The first edition of Barbès's text had been published in Paris by Bry aîné.
Corner creases to the wrappers, small tears to the spine.
First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on japon paper, deluxe issue.
Minor tears and two small losses at the foot of the spine at the level of the deckle edges, a stain in the left margin of the upper cover, a wide-margined copy.
Illustrated with a photographic portrait of the author as frontispiece.
Rare first edition of a work by the "German Beccaria," unrecorded in French libraries according to WorldCat, composed while the author held the chair of feudal law at the University of Leipzig, a position obtained at the age of thirty, three years prior.
Contemporary full brown sheep, smooth spine gilt with fleurons, light brown morocco lettering-piece, red edges. Bookplate of Count Giacomo Manzoni, former Finance Minister of the Roman Republic, concealing an ownership inscription written in...
First edition, one of 100 copies numbered on alfa paper, the only copies on deluxe paper.
Photographic vignette on the upper cover.
A rare and handsome copy.
First edition, one of 26 numbered copies on alfa paper, our copy one of 14 hors commerce copies, the only deluxe paper issue.
A rare and handsome copy.
First edition, one of 26 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only copies issued on deluxe paper.
A rare and attractive copy.
New edition, partly original as revised and expanded.
Vertical creasing to the upper cover, a pleasant copy.
Illustrated with a photographic portrait of the author as frontispiece, together with three further plates.
Scarce pamphlet issued by the relief committee for political prisoners of the Russian penal camps in Grenoble.
Rare collection of pamphlets printed in Toulon or Marseille, notably during the Restoration period, several of which implicate senior military figures of the First Empire.
The first item is: "Ordonnance du Roi, Portant règlement sur les Franchises du Port de Marseille et Suite de l'Ordonnance..." printed in Toulon, by Alx (sic) Curet, (1815), 16 pages, comprising an extract from the Moniteur of 24 February 1815.
Bound in half ivory vellum with corners, smooth spine, manuscript inscription in black ink to spine, blue pasteboards with some surface abrasions, contemporary binding.
Some foxing. A few nicks to the edges.
Bound in continuation:
1)...
Autograph letter signed and dated September 26, 1955, by Georges Simenon, addressed from Cannes to André David.
18 lines in black ink on one leaf bearing his American address in Lakeville, Connecticut.
Mailing fold as usual.
Georges Simenon apologizes for his delayed response: "mais j'étais en plein roman. Parbleu ! si je me souviens de vous !" and indicates his upcoming availability to his correspondent, even specifying his future address in Cannes. He authorizes André David's project to adapt his novel "Maigret et la Grande Perche" for the screen, while setting his terms: "vous pouvez travailler sur La Grande Perche mais, bien entendu, mon acceptation ne...
First edition of the French translation prepared by Alexandre Vialatte, one of the complimentary copies.
A manuscript ex-dono erased in the upper right corner of the half-title page, resulting in a small loss of paper.
Signed autograph inscription by Alexandre Vialatte to Albert Thibaudet.
Second edition comprising the reissue of the first two volumes of the Bulletin, no less scarce than the copies of the first edition, and corresponding to the opening phase of Bourbon’s legislative and regulatory activity, a veritable mine of information not only on legal matters but on every aspect of the island’s daily life (cf. Ryckebusch, 1224).
Contemporary Bradel bindings in half fawn marbled sheepskin, smooth spines ruled in gilt with double fillets, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, yellow edges, three corners lightly rubbed.
The third and final volume lacking, occasional foxing, two black stains to the lower cover of the first volume.
First edition.
Green half morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands and blind-tooled compartments, a few rubs to the spine, marbled paper sides, comb-marbled endpapers and doublures, sprinkled edges, contemporary binding.
Georges Perrot (1832–1914), a French Hellenist and archaeologist, undertook in 1861, together with the architect Edmond Guillaume and the travelling physician Jules Delbet, a scientific and literary mission to Greece and Asia Minor on behalf of the French Ministry of Public Instruction, the results of which were published in 1872.
He would later be the author, with Charles Chipiez, of the monumental Histoire de l'art dans l'Antiquité, Égypte...
An uncommon first edition (cf. Palau, 92 173. Barbier, IV, 1072. Quérard, II, 40. Cioranescu, XVIII, 28675-28678.)
Contemporary full marbled fawn calf, smooth spine decorated with double gilt panels and ornaments, hazelnut calf lettering-piece, spine caps defective, covers framed with a single blind fillet, marbled endpapers, corners rubbed, gilt fillets to the edges, red edges; a fragile contemporary binding: spine ends trimmed, joints and upper hinge entirely split.
The imprint is fictitious: the pamphlet was not printed at Saint-Malo.
This satire, directed against the government, religion and customs of the Spaniards, and marked by singular bad faith (Fleuriot never...
First edition of the French translation (cf. Sabin 8048; Quérard I, 521, who gives the date 1825).
Contemporary half roan with an aubergine hue, the flat spines lightly sunned and ruled with gilt fillets and dotted tooling, some rubbing to the backs, marbled paper sides, yellow mottled edges.
A few very light, insignificant spots.
John Bristed, born in the county of Dorset in 1778, died in the United States in 1855.
After studying medicine and law, he entered the Church. "Before leaving England he began writing and seems to have held ideas considered radical at the time (...) In 1806 Bristed came to New York City and there practised law, lectured, and wrote...
A very rare first edition.
Répertoire bibliographique des livres imprimés en France au XVIe siècle. Aix, vol. I, p. 36:5. Lindsay & Neu, French Political Pamphlets 1547–1648. A single copy recorded in WorldCat (Chicago, Newberry Library).
Our copy is offered disbound, in sheets, preserved in plain marbled paper wrappers, with an early manuscript label on the upper cover.
Répertoire bibliographique des livres imprimés en France au XVIe siècle. Aix, vol. I, p. 36:5. Lindsay & Neu, French Political Pamphlets 1547–1648. A single copy recorded in WorldCat. A rare example bearing on the title an early contemporary manuscript annotation: “du 11 avril...
First edition, first printing (with the table in X7 and without the errata leaf, which only appears in the second printing copies).
Cf. Blackmer 863. Atabey 607.
Manuscript ex-libris at the head of an endpaper, a few minor foxing spots.
Contemporary half tan calf binding, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, brick-red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, lemon edges speckled with blue.
Spine slightly rubbed and stained, minor loss to the upper joint.
The work reflects the observations and notes from a journey undertaken in 1790–1791.
A few years later, the Comte de Salaberry (1766–1847) would become, contrary to the Philhellene...
Uncommon first edition, issued anonymously: as early as 1817 the second edition bears the author's name (cf. Davois III, 117. Tulard 1194.)
Contemporary half blond sheepskin binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, joints split and repaired, blue paper-covered boards with a few scuffs, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.
An interesting account of the Russian campaign, which the author, the Vicomte de Puybusque or Puibusque (1792-1841), experienced as a military intendant: it abounds in little-known details concerning the Grande Armée and the Imperial Guard.
Bound at the end is Thomas Lindley’s: "Voyage au Brésil ; où l'on trouve...
First edition of this important royal declaration partially reversing the compulsory deportation measures established by the declarations of 8 January and 12 March 1719.
Responding to repeated complaints from colonial governors, the royal government henceforth resolved that only voluntary emigrants should be sent to populate the colonies.
Our copy is offered disbound.
First edition (cf. Quérard I, 152, which incorrectly gives the date as 1824).
Our copy is preserved in its original beige printed wrappers, with the title label pasted to the spine.
Tears and corner losses to the wrappers, a few scattered foxing spots.
Born in Béthune (Pas-de-Calais) in 1777 and deceased in Margency (Val-d'Oise) in 1824, Chevalier Bail began a military career before turning his attention to the moral and political sciences.
This work was entered for the prize awarded by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1823.
Illustrated edition by George Roux featuring 12 large chromotypographs, 2 maps, and numerous photographic views.
Publisher’s decorative binding by Hetzel, signed Engel, known as “au globe,” type 4, spine with the lighthouse design, lower cover of Engel type "h" as per Jauzac; all edges gilt.
Headcaps very slightly pushed without consequence, original blue endpapers faintly faded as often, a few occasional spots of foxing.
Les Frères Kip is a detective and adventure novel, likely inspired by a late 19th-century criminal case: the Rorique brothers.
Copy not recorded by Jauzac.
First edition on ordinary paper.
Autograph inscription signed, in pencil, by Sacha Guitry to madame Simone Gerbert.
Photographic postcard depicting Jean-Paul Belmondo with sunglasses and a cigarillo between his teeth.
Handsome copy.
Autograph inscription signed by Jean-Paul Belmondo in the lower margin of the photograph: "Pour Claude JP Belmondo".
Provenance: from the collection of the great autograph collector Claude Armand.
First edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Autograph inscription signed by Henri Charrière to journalist and historian Gilbert Guilleminault.
Henri Charrière, known as Papillon, ward of the state and petty criminal, had been sentenced to the penal colony in 1931 for a murder he always denied. More than thirty years later, he recounts his terrible experience in this autobiographical text. He describes the violence, injustice, diseases and escape attempts, crowned by years of exile in South America: « Pure of all contact, his publisher noted, and of all literary ambition, what he writes is "as he tells it to you", you see it, you feel it, you...
First edition of the French translation, one of 51 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Spine and boards slightly and marginally sunned, as often.
Rare and handsome copy of this work, splendidly adapted for the screen in 1967 by Richard Brooks, with Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, and John MacLiam in the leading roles.
Richard Brooks even went so far as to film in the actual house where the crime took place, as well as in the same courthouse, where 7 of the 12 jurors played their own roles.
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.
Autograph letter dated and signed by Jacques Mesrine, dated Saturday September 22, 1976, 67 lines in blue ink on one page recto verso addressed to his love of the time, Jeanne Schneider, thanks to whom the manuscript of Instinct de mort was discreetly smuggled out of prison.
Jacques Mesrine, then incarcerated at Fleury-Mérogis prison and deprived of human warmth, is enthusiastic about all the visits he receives in the visiting room, thus dispelling the myth of the antisocial bandit devoid of human feelings: "And after that they'll say I'm a savage! No, quite the contrary, and people who have had contact with me want to...
Autograph letter dated and signed by Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and father of the Grand Condé, 2 pages on one sheet, 27 lines in black ink.
Minor restorations and dampstain to left margin of the sheet. Discreet annotation by a former owner at head of verso of the letter.
Although he acknowledges the full atrocity of the crime perpetrated by sieur Cardinet against the person of the son of one of the most important magistrates of the city of Bourges, Henri II undertakes to intervene in favor of the assassin: "... l'action qui sest passee a Bourges est très méchante estant un assassinat très inhumain fait en plein jour contre le fils dun des...
"Ce soir je suis très mal foutu... il est 19 heures et je me couche juste après la fin de ta lettre... de rien de grave... juste une grande fatigue (à rien faire)" ["Tonight I feel really awful... it's 7 PM and I'm going to bed...
First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on pure linen thread paper, the only deluxe copies.
Rare and handsome copy complete with its illustrated dust jacket which shows minor scuffs to head and foot of spine.
The work was adapted for cinema in 1957 by Phil Karlson with Dianne Foster and Richard Conte in the principal roles.
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.
Autograph signed poem quatrain by poet Franc-Nohain entitled "Du pays tourangeau".
Fold marks inherent to postal handling.
The signed poem, 31 lines in black ink on one leaf, was included in the collection "Inattentions et sollicitudes" published in 1894 under the same title with some variants:
"Du pays tourangeau
Lai médiévite.
Du pays tourangeau
La belle châtelaine
Garnit de blanche laine
Son agile fuseau.
C'est Yette qu'on l'appelle,
Et Yette est la plus belle...
A tourné, pour se voir,
Les yeux vers son miroir :
Rajuste sa cornette,
Et se voit si proprette
Dedans ses, beaux atours,
New edition of the French translation based on the latest English edition, with some parts in first edition.
Half brown sheep bindings, smooth spines decorated with black and gilt fillets, gilt friezes at head and foot of spines, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, Romantic bindings.
Some surface scratches on the boards and minor rubbing to the spines, headcaps of the first two volumes with small losses.
A rare and handsome copy of this work which serves as the first detective novel in literary history.
William Golding is considered one of the most important precursors of anarchist and utilitarian thought, he is the father of Mary...
