Second World War

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half black long-grain morocco binding, smooth spine tooled in palladium with author, title, and date, anthracite-grey paper boards, original wrappers and spine preserved (the latter with two small stains at head and foot), endpapers and pastedowns of anthracite-grey paper, binding signed Thomas Boichot.

Precious and exceptional signed presentation inscription by Louis-Ferdinand Céline: "A Mac Orlan son admirateur et ami fidèle. LFerd"

First edition, with no copies printed on deluxe paper.

Minor spots to the covers, not affecting the condition.

Inscribed and signed by Georges Didi-Huberman to a friend named Annick.

First edition, no copies printed on deluxe paper.
Pleasing copy.

Signed autograph inscription from Robert Badinter: "Pour Claude Moncorgé, affectueusement, son cousin. Robert."

 

First edition, one of 150 numbered copies, the only copies on deluxe paper.

Inscribed and signed by Jean-Pierre Abel to Paul Devivat.

Rare and handsome copy with full margins.

First edition published under the pseudonym Cévennes and completed under oppression in Paris on August 1, 1944.

Pleasant copy.

First edition illustrated with original photographs by Robert Doisneau, Marcel Arthaud, Pierre Jahan, Jean Roubier, Pierre Roughol, René Zuber, and Suzanne Laroche.

Publisher’s binding in full tricolour boards, smooth spine without lettering, slightly faded, upper cover decorated with a celebrated photograph by Robert Doisneau, minor spotting to the boards.

A pleasing copy.

First edition printed in 2,000 numbered copies, ours preserved in its original wrappers with Gallimard's resale label.

Fine autograph inscription signed by Jules Roy: "A Jean-Paul Bonnafous ces vieux chants d'un temps de misère, cordialement, Jules Roy."

First edition, one of 45 numbered copies on Vélin du Marais, ours one of 15 lettered copies not for sale, the only copies on deluxe paper.

Attractive copy despite a faint shadow along the margin of the upper cover.

Typescript of L'Intelligence en guerre with autograph manuscript additions


1945 | 22.3 x 27.9 cm | (24) f. | 24 handwritten sheets hold with a pin & 340 leaves of typescript

340 page typescript of the work L'Intelligence en guerre by the resistant writer-journalist Louis Parrot, accompanied by manuscript notes concerning the title, half-title, preface and first bibliography pages (4 pages in total) and the index of names quoted at the end of the volume (6 pages in total). Several folds and rust marks from the metal fasteners.
The typescript includes handwrittencorrections and changes, in particular
25 fully handwritten pages, and additions in the margin on several tens of pages, featuring fully in the version published in 1945 by La Jeune Parque publishers.

First edition of the French translation, one of 31 numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

Spine and covers slightly and marginally faded, a pleasant copy.

First edition, no deluxe copies on fine paper were issued.

Spine and rear cover slightly soiled; a clean and attractive copy internally.

Illustrations.

Valuable signed presentation copy from General Gambiez: "A monsieur J. Debu-Bridel en bien cordial hommage cet envoi de synthèse sur la libération de la Corse cette île qui nous est si chère. Château de Vincennes 26 septembre 1974."

A moving relic of the Resistance and Gaullist legacy.

Rare and fragile original French satirical leaflet dated August 1944.
Vertical and horizontal folds.
This rare document begins by stating sarcastic titles and last wishes of Adolf Hitler:
“Hitler, known as Adolphe to the Nazis and Dodofe to the Gretchens of my former Reich of Krauts, declares the following:On the verge of vomiting my soul to the devil, afflicted with dysentery accentuating the brown color of the flaps of my shirt, having my buttocks in disarray (the result of the kicks up my arse picked up on all the fronts of Europe)...”
This mock testament, written in August 1944, delivers a sarcastic commentary on the Axis powers' imminent downfall and lists the beneficiaries of Adolf Hitler's “bequests”:
The testament ends with this peremptory statement: “Made at ... on ... August 1944 in full mental, cerebral and physical decomposition. Dodofe Hitler king of the Little Funnies.”
A very rare anti-Nazi leaflet from the final days of World War II.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

Quarter red shagreen with corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, gilt-patterned paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

A handsome and scarce copy, attractively bound.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on pure rag vellum, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 29 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies.

A fine and rare example.

First edition, one of 125 numbered copies on B.F.K. de Rives, including an additional suite of the illustrations on pure rag paper.

A few minor spots on the covers, a pleasant copy overall.

Two light marginal dampstains on the slipcase, slightly rubbed at the corners.

Signed by Sacha Guitry at the beginning of the first volume.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies printed on Corvol l'orgueilleux, the only copies on deluxe paper along with a few hors commerce copies on the same paper.

A handsome copy.

Inscribed and signed by Armand Lanoux to Maurice Gorrée: "voici le commandant Watrin histoire d'hommes de bonne volonté," with an original drawing of a flower.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only large paper copies along with a few hors commerce also printed on alfa.

A fine copy of this work dedicated to the memory of Simone Weil: "qui, si elle était morte assassinée, aurait consacré son dernier instant à prier pour ses bourreaux."

Partly first edition, revised and corrected, of which no deluxe copies were issued; one of the review copies.

Spine and covers slightly and marginally sunned, as usual.
Rare and valuable signed presentation inscription from Robert Antelme to Geneviève Hirsch.

"Il n'y a pas d'espèces humaines, il y a une espèce humaine. C'est parce que nous sommes des hommes comme eux que les SS seront en définitive impuissants devant nous."
["There are no human races; there is only one human race. It is precisely because we are men like them that the SS will ultimately be powerless against us."]

This seminal work on the Nazi concentration camp experience was first published in 1947. It was the third and final publication of the short-lived publishing house founded by Marguerite Duras and Robert Antelme, her husband from 1940 to 1946.
Initially unnoticed upon its discreet release — only a handful of copies were sold — the book was reissued the following year with new covers by Robert Marin. It faced the competition of numerous postwar accounts and initially struggled to find a readership. Yet, as recounted by F. Lebelley, "at a time when narratives abounded, the unique power of this work, marked by a stark sobriety, moved readers as a founding text. A writer’s book as well, which, as Duras acknowledged, ‘stepped away from literature.’ Robert Antelme would never write another. Despite the praise and accolades, L'Espèce humaine remained the singular work of a lifetime." (in Duras, ou le poids d'une plume).
Thanks to Albert Camus’s intervention, the book was reissued a decade later, in 1957, by Gallimard and finally reached a broader audience.
Since then, it has taken its place in literary history as one of the most significant works confronting the painful but essential reflection on concentration camps and the human condition. In its wake, writers such as his friend Jorge Semprun would embark on new approaches to the unspeakable task of writing about the camps.
As early as 1947, Antelme wrote in his foreword: "We had just returned, bringing with us our memory, our vivid experience, and felt a frantic desire to recount it exactly as it was. And yet, from the first days, we became aware of the gap between the language at our disposal and that experience [...] How could we resign ourselves to not trying to explain how we had come to that point? We were still there. And yet it was impossible. As soon as we began to tell it, we suffocated. To ourselves, what we had to say already seemed unimaginable."

Shortly after Gallimard’s reprint, this testimony received its most profound tribute from Maurice Blanchot:
"When man is reduced to the extreme deprivation of need, when he becomes ‘he who eats peelings,’ we see him reduced to nothing but himself, and man is revealed as he who requires nothing more than need itself to, by denying what denies him, preserve the primacy of human relation. One must add that need then changes, becomes radical in the literal sense, becomes a barren need, devoid of pleasure or content — a bare relation to bare life — and the bread one eats responds directly to the demand of need, just as need is immediately the need to live." (Maurice Blanchot, L'indestructible, in La Nrf n°112, 1962, reprinted in L'Entretien infini)

Presentation copies signed by Robert Antelme are of exceptional rarity.

First edition, one of 110 numbered copies on Marais vellum, ours unnumbered but duly justified at the foot of each spine "Marais" and watermarked, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A tear to the upper right corner of the rear cover of the last volume.
Handsome complete set in 6 volumes; the author deliberately halted the writing of this work, which deals as much with history as with military history and was originally intended to comprise ten volumes.

First edition, one of 135 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only deluxe copies.
A handsome copy.
Signed autograph note by José Cabanis on the half-title.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on Pur Fil du Marais, the only deluxe copies, alongside a few hors commerce also printed on Pur Fil du Marais.

A handsome and scarce copy of this anti-Gaullist pamphlet.

First edition of the French translation, one of 50 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe issue.
Attractive copy, with minor foxing to the spine.

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

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 110 copies printed on Arches wove paper, deluxe issue.
Handsome copy, untrimmed, illustrated with photographs.
Fine autograph inscription signed by Pierre Clostermann: "... en cordial hommage d'un \"chasseur\" des FADL qui maniait plus facilement son avion que la dédicace. Pierre Clostermann."

First edition, one of 275 numbered copies on Lana wove paper, the deluxe issue.

Illustrated with 31 hors-texte plates.

A fine, uncut copy, complete with its illustrated dust jacket.

First edition, with no copies issued on deluxe paper.

Two unobtrusive creases to the front cover, a well-preserved copy.

Illustrated content.

First edition, one of 450 numbered copies on Corsican paper.
A pleasant copy, despite the spine and covers being slightly and marginally toned, as often.

First edition.
Some foxing to spine and boards.

Precious dated and signed autograph inscription from Irène Delmas, president of the National Association of Former Female Deportees and Prisoners of the Resistance (ADIR): "A monsieur Massin avec l'amitié et la reconnaissance des Anciennes Déportées de la Résistance. IRDelmas Présidente de l'ADIR. Paris 13 Novembre 1957." (To Mr. Massin with the friendship and gratitude of the Former Female Deportees of the Resistance. IRDelmas President of ADIR. Paris 13 November 1957.)

Our copy is exceptionally enhanced with the signatures of several members of the editorial committee of the Association of Female Deportees and Prisoners of the Resistance or former deportees to Ravensbrück camp including: Geneviève Anthonioz De Gaulle and Catherine Goetschel-Franquinet.

Rare example of this propaganda leaflet published by the Nazi Occupier, which became the most iconic image of the Resistance. This smaller version of the famous Affiche Rouge features the poster on the recto and a paragraph on the verso castigating « l'Armée du crime contre la France » ("the Army of Crime against France"). It opens with accusations against the « rêve mondial du complot juif » ("the global dream of the Jewish conspiracy") and claims that « si des Français sabotent, pillent et tuent (...) ce sont toujours des juifs qui les inspirent » ("if Frenchmen sabotage, loot, and kill (...) it is always Jews who inspire them").
A discreet horizontal crease, otherwise superb condition for an ephemeral document.

Accompanied by the rare brochure entitled 'L'armée du crime' ('The army of crime') in the format of a newspaper illustrated with 14 pages of photographs.
A trace of horizontal fold. A fine copy.

« Car les volontaires des Forces Françaises de l'intérieur [...] tous également fiers d'avoir libéré leurs provinces sans appui direct des forces débarquées estiment n'en avoir pas assez fait et se sont lancés, dans un élan spontané vraiment admirable [...] à la poursuite des hitlériens qu'ils veulent reconduire qu'au Rhin. [...] Un bon nombre se servent de véhicules de réquisition ou de récupération. Tel est le cas du 8^e Dragons, groupe de reconnaissance motorisé de la colonne formée par les F.F.I. de Corrèze, qui arrive à Paray-le-Monial, le 7 septembre, en même temps que le 2^e Dragons. Le Chef d'escadron Merlat qui le commande se met aussitôt à disposition du lieutenant-colonel Demetz qui l'incorpore d'emblée à son groupement. » (For the volunteers of the French Forces of the Interior [...] all equally proud of having liberated their provinces without direct support from the landed forces believe they have not done enough and have launched themselves, in a truly admirable spontaneous surge [...] in pursuit of the Hitlerians whom they want to escort back to the Rhine. [...] A good number use requisitioned or recovered vehicles. Such is the case of the 8^th Dragons, motorized reconnaissance group of the column formed by the F.F.I. of Corrèze, which arrives at Paray-le-Monial on 7 September, at the same time as the 2^nd Dragons. Squadron Leader Merlat who commands it immediately places himself at the disposal of Lieutenant-Colonel Demetz who incorporates him straightaway into his group.)

First edition on ordinary paper.

Autograph inscription signed, in pencil, by Sacha Guitry to madame Simone Gerbert.
 

"For a few months now, we have been witnessing a regularised passive hunt for patriots, too highly noticed, it seems, at a time when risking their own life and that of their family's was not a shopfront item.
The odious thing about this way of acting is that it is strangely reminiscent of the Hitlerians. We dishonour, then we wait and see. Regardless of the esteem in which a person is regarded, a police visit always leaves a hint of ambiguity, it is believed. Vigilance more than ever, solidarity.” (7 December 1945 addressed by René Char to Francis Ponge)

The first and only edition of this legendary “Céreste Affair” poster printed by René Char with a very few copies and posted in the small village of Céreste, the heart of his resistance network. Paper slightly yellowed, some small marginal tears not affecting the text. 
Extremely rare, this poster is absent from all institutions and auction houses. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France itself only has a reproduction offered by Pierre-André Benoit.
The famous placard marks the end of the loving and combative relationship between René Char and the village of Céreste which was nevertheless Captain Alexandre's HQ and the birthplace of one of his most moving romantic adventures with his lover nicknamed “la Renarde” (the Vixen).

First edition, one of 350 numbered copies on handmade paper, ours unnumbered, the only deluxe copies.

Half-shagreen red binding, spine with five raised bands highlighted with gilt dotting and decorated with double gilt fillets, small stains on spine, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns, front cover preserved, corners very slightly bumped, speckled top edge, contemporary binding.

Precious autograph inscription dated and signed by Marcel Bleustein, who took the pseudonym Blanchet during the Resistance, to Paul Verneyras.
Press man, union activist and politician, Paul Verneyras joined the Resistance from 1940 by participating in the development of the Libération-Nord movement with Gaston Tessier. For his action during the occupation, Paul Verneyras was decorated with the rosette of the Resistance and made officer of the Legion of Honor.

Moving tribute from one Resistant to another Resistant.

 

First edition, one of 150 numbered copies on vellum, the only deluxe copy.
Bound in half red chagrin, spine with five raised bands set with gilt dotted lines and decorated with double gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, endpapers and flyleaves of mould-made paper, first cover preserved, speckled top edge.
A pleasant copy.

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on handmade vellum, the only deluxe copies.

Bound in half-red shagreen, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt dots and ornamented with double gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, front cover preserved, top edge speckled.

Preface by General Roques.

Handsome copy complete with its folding map at the end of the volume.
 

First edition, with the author's facsimile signature and date "october 1940" on the endpaper.
Split hinges, some foxing on the endpapers.
Publisher's sand-colored cloth binding, black title-label on the front cover.
Handsome copy of this notebook reproducing 82 sketches made in London air-raid shelters during the Blitz.