Popular literature

First edition, one of 35 numbered copies on Ingres d'Arches paper, this being one of 10 hors commerce copies.

Text established, with notes and preface by Jean-Pierre Barril; unpublished texts, letters and documents selected by Léon Aichelbaum and Jean-Pierre Barril.

A very fine copy.

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Holland paper, deluxe issue.

A very small chip at the foot of the spine.

A fine copy, with full margins and in double wrappers.

First edition, one of the numbered copies on wove paper from the Papeteries de Savoie.
Illustrated with original artwork by Pierre-Marie Renet, also known as Frédéric Monnier.
Spine and boards marginally sunned, as often.

First edition, printed in a small number on Dutch paper.

Spine and covers lightly sunned, small tears to the spine, final endpapers browned.

Speeches by M. Chaumié, Anatole France and Abel Hermant.

Autograph inscription signed by Eugène Fasquelle to Marcel Batilliat, whose name he misspelled: "à M. Marcel Batillat."

The Symbolist novelist Marcel Batilliat was a close friend of Émile Zola and campaigned to preserve the memory of the author of the Rougon-Macquart cycle.

First edition, one of the deluxe copies on alfa, this one an unnumbered hors commerce, only deluxe issue after 10 copies on Arches.

Full blue-gray morocco binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt date at foot, yellow box calf doublure, watered silk free endpapers, original wrappers including spine bound in, all edges gilt, half morocco chemise in panels, wood motif paper boards, slipcase edged in morocco, wood motif paper boards lined with blue felt, outstanding binding signed Hélène Alix.

Unrecorded presentation copy signed and inscribed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline to Belgian pacifist writer Jean Tousseul.

Handsome copy housed in a fine doublure morocco binding by Hélène Alix, in...

First edition, one of the copies printed on alfa paper.

A small split to the spine, a few light foxing spots.

Manuscript signatures of Joseph Kessel and Hélène Iswolsky.

First edition, one of 70 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe paper issue.

Bound in blue-grey half morocco, spine in five raised bands, date gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, blue-grey endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and sun-faded spine preserved, top edge gilt, an elegant binding signed Boichot.

Valuable autograph inscription signed by Joseph Kessel, in violet pencil, on the front free endpaper: "A Charles Maurras cet exemplaire plus digne de lui" enhanced with the manuscript signature of Georges Suarez.

A fine copy, attractively bound

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 peut dépendre que du résultat...

First edition on ordinary paper with all the features of the first printing. Includes its publisher’s band expertly restored and the publisher’s catalogue at rear.

An exceptionally fresh copy, preserved with its rare red publisher’s band quoting Molly’s phrase “C’est le voyageur solitaire qui va le plus loin” (“he travels farthest who travels alone”, translation by John H. P. Marks) followed by this text on the verso:

 

“One should not be misled by the tone of this extraordinary novel and take Journey to the End of the Night for a pamphlet by the violence of its sarcasm as well as its ever-present and particularly ferocious satire. The author aims to create a very faithful image of urban...

First edition on ordinary paper.

Bradel binding in chocolate-brown half shagreen, smooth spine, date gilt at the tail, contemporary leather boards japonisants, embossed and polychrome, decorated with gilded and colorful floral motifs, marbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and restored spine preserved, later binding.

Exceptional presentation copy signed by Emile Zola: "à Edmond de Goncourt son ami Emile Zola."

Below the presentation inscription, a manuscript gift inscription by Edmond de Goncourt: "Edmond de Goncourt à Pauline Zeller."

First edition, one of 70 numbered copies on Arches wove paper.

Our copy is enriched with the autograph signatures of Jacques Prévert — who signed as Jacques Rêve-vert (with the word “vert” highlighted in green) — and of André Pozner, each accompanied by two small drawings: a little cat for Jacques Prévert and a camel’s hump for André Pozner.

A fine copy, complete with its slipcase.

First edition.

Publisher's full cloth-backed pictorial boards, front board with color illustration, pictorial endpapers, a newspaper clipping photograph of the Disney couple pasted on the front pastedown. Minor lacks to the upper cover, corners slightly creased.

Exceptional incribed copy by Walt Disney on the front pastedown: "Best wishes / Walt Disney," below a portrait of him with his wife and their dog.

First edition, with no deluxe copies printed.
Pleasant copy, which is uncommon given the fragility of this book, often handled without care.
Inscribed and signed by Serge Gainsbourg to a recipient named Georges.
 

First edition, one of 20 numbered copies on Japan paper, the smallest issue of the deluxe edition, along with 20 on Arches.

Spine and covers marginally faded and sunned as usual, with minor paper losses at the flaps.

Illustrated with 8 original lithographs by Georges Annenkoff.

As with all copies from the deluxe issue, this copy includes the complete double suite of illustrations on vellum and on China paper.

Second edition with some parts in first edition (with 5 added tales), Félix Vallotton's illustrations in first issue, one of 20 numbered copies on japon, only deluxe issue.
Bradel binding, brown 3/4 cloth, smooth spine with floral motif stamped in gilt at center, twice ruled in gilt at foot, slightly chafed morocco title-label, marbled paper boards, original covers and spine preserved, contemporary binding signed Carayon.
Small clear stains to the top edge of first board, one corner slightly rubbed, a spot of foxing at foot of the first few pages. 
Illustrated with 50 drawings by Félix Vallotton.

Rare and handsome copy housed in a contemporary binding by Carayon.  

"It's war!" we shouted that night, over and over again. The terrible word brought us bad luck... It was 1913: the following year, we were packing our kits again. This time, for real. And not all the guests came back." p. 335

First edition, one of only 6 copies printed on Hollande, this being copy no. 1 of the deluxe issue.
Bound in navy blue morocco backed boards with corners, spine very lightly sunned with raised bands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper-covered boards and endpapers, edges untrimmed, top edge gilt, covers and spine preserved. Binding signed Lavaux.
A fine copy with wide margins, attractively bound.
Bookplate pasted to a flyleaf.
The author's own copy, profusely...

First edition of each volume.
Publisher’s full burgundy cloth bindings, flat spines, blue endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved for the second volume, front cover preserved for the first volume, gilt top edges.
Minor discoloration spots on the boards.
The first volume includes 75 biographies of notable figures of the time (each featuring a facsimile autograph and a wood-engraved portrait by Brauer), including Paul Arène, Léon Cladel, Coquelin ainé, Charles Gounod, Frédéric Mistral, Albert Robida, Octave Uzanne...
The second volume contains 76 biographies (each with a facsimile autograph and a wood-engraved portrait by Brauer) of figures such as Auguste Bartholdi, Benjamin...

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 see me again. This gave me immense pleasure and do you know what happened...

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.
 

"CLAC: Cercle Littéraire des amis des caves / Cercle libre des amateurs de cuisse." ["Literary Circle of cellar friends / Free circle of thigh...

C'est en allant acheter des nougats
Aux magasins du printemps
Que j'entendis pour la première fois
Ce cha cha cha obsédant

Autograph manuscript signed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline written in blue ballpoint pen on a sheet of white paper numbered 237 in the left corner. Some stains as well as a central fold of no consequence. Some pinholes in the upper margin, evidence of the organization of Céline's manuscripts in "bundles".
"Y'en a un charlatant là-haut ! et terrible ! et vous le connaissez !... donc de dessous, là ! de dessous la table, je regarde le moulin... pas loin... peut-être deux cents mètres... et dans quel air éblouissant !... eh bien je vous dis comme je l'ai vu..." ["There's a charlatan up there! and terrible! and you know him!... so from underneath, there! from under the table, I look at the...

« Il faut avant de rentrer en cage [...] que je vous demande le grand service de faire entrer à l'hospice mon cousin (le petit Dacheux) à qui vous avez bien voulu faire avoir sa dispense d'âge. » ["Before returning to the cage [...] I must ask you the great favor of having my cousin (little Dacheux) admitted to the hospice, for whom you were kind enough to obtain his age exemption."]

The former...

Manuscript pages from ‘Conversations with Professor Y', n.p. [Meudon] n.d. [1954], various sizes (from 10x21 cm to 27x21 cm), 34 sheets.
Autograph manuscript by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, 34 sheets of various sizes, written in blue and sometimes pink ballpoint pen. Some of the pages are numbered by Céline at top left. The last folio numbered 159 is signed by the writer at the bottom.
Two leaves contain previously unpublished passages: the first, a few lines long, refers to the Professeur. The second leaf numbered 136 features another full-page text on the verso which we did not find in the ‘Professeur Y' or in any of the published works of Céline. Céline refers in this unpublished passage to...

First edition of Les Hommes d'aujo­urd'hui (33 issues lacking out of 469). Five volumes bound in light blue half-cloth, smooth spines, blue morocco ti­tle labels decorated with double filets, marbled paper boards (4 volumes). The color title pages have been preserved and bound in. Marginal tears without damage to the text (no. 163; no. 165; no. 184, p. 2). Mar­ginal restorations without damage to text on 8 leaves be­tween nos. 214 and 223. Two leaves of no. 224 backed. Mar­ginal tear with some paper missing (no. 345, p.1). Format of quires in the first vol­ume varies; some are trimmed more than others.
First edition of Les Femmes du jour, very rare complete collection in 11 issues published...