Masterpieces of Literature

First edition reserved for subscribers only, one of 400 numbered copies on handmade Lana laid paper, the only issue along with 10 copies on Arches laid paper.
Autograph signature of the author on the justification page.
Handsome copy.

First collected edition of the works of François-René de Chateaubriand, each volume decorated with a frontispiece engraved by Charles Thompson depicting a young woman seated on a stone engraved "Chateaubriand, Œuvres complètes" and contemplating the horizon. The author contributed largely to the publication of this edition through the organization of the whole and by writing new prefaces for all the texts. As he writes himself these prefaces are more pieces of autobiography than prefaces.
Binding in half brown calf strictly contemporary Restoration period. Spine with raised bands decorated with 2 blind stamps, roulettes at head and tail and on the bands. Brown calf title label and volume labels. Lack at tail of volume 4. Volume 5 bis, lacks to joints at head, surface wear at tail. Volume 5 ter, upper joint split at head, accident at head with lacks, tail headcap worn. Surface wear at tail of volumes 9 and 10. Volume 11, surface wear at tail with small lack. Volumes 18 and 19, surface wear at tail. Volumes 23, 24, 27 and 28, surface wear at tail. Head of volume 28 rubbed. Supplement to volume 22 rubbed. Apart from some rare worming, set superbly fresh on fine laid paper (but often foxing on endpapers).
Fine series with minimal defects of this important first collected edition of Chateaubriand's works.
The set breaks down as follows:
-Essai sur les révolutions, in 2 volumes. V1 and 2. 1826.
-Mélanges historiques, in 1 volume. V 3. 1827.
-Etudes historiques, in 4 volumes. V 5, 5 bis, 5 ter. 1831.
-Voyages en Amérique, in 2 volumes. V 6 and 7. (with second numbering 1 and 2). 1827.
-Itinéraire, in 3 volumes. V 8, 9 and 10 (with second numbering 1 to 3). 1826. Binder's error in volume 2, the second part begins at p. 17, and the beginning of this second part is bound later, at the end of this part.
-Génie du christianisme, in 5 volumes (second numbering from 1 to 5). 1826 - 1827.
-Atala, René and Le dernier Abencerage, in 1 volume. 1826.
-Les Martyrs, in 3 volumes (second numbering from 1 to 3). 1826.
-Les Natchez, in 2 volumes (this being the first edition of this early work by Chateaubriand). 1826.
-Mélanges littéraires, in 1 volume. 1826.
-Mélanges et poésies, in 1 volume. 1828.
-Discours et opinions, in 1 volume. 1826.
-Mélanges politiques, in 2 volumes (second numbering 1 to 2). 1826 and 1828.
-Polémique, in 1 volume. 1827.
-De la liberté de la presse, in 1 volume. 1828.
-Table, in 1 volume. 1831. (conjugate leaves)
- Appendix to 22nd volume, without volume numbering. Moïse. 1831.
Between the first deliveries by subscription and the last, a year passed, and depending on the date when the order for the works was placed it could take longer, it therefore goes almost without saying that the volumes do not always bear the same dates, the publisher drawing from his stocks and reprinting to honor orders, thus the dates extend from 1826 to 1831. For example, the two volumes constituting the Mélanges littéraires are the first from 1826 and the second from 1828...
19th-century armorial bookplate of a baron, 2 greyhounds flanking the shield

First edition of each volume, with print runs varying from 297 to 1,250 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe copies along with the reimposed editions.
Spine of the fifth volume split, printed "nrf" mention scratched on the back cover of the first volume of the seventh part.
Rare and handsome complete set with publisher's slip.
Autograph inscription dated 1929 and signed by Roger Martin du Gard, on a loose leaf: tribute from the author, absent from Paris, to Robert de Saint-Jean.

First edition, one of 88 numbered copies on pur fil paper, deluxe copies after 13 on Holland paper.
Rare and very handsome copy.

First edition, on ordinary paper, of the theatrical adaptation of the author's masterpiece.
Bradel binding in full moiré-patterned paper, smooth spine, mustard morocco title-label, covers with marginal restorations preserved, binding signed by Thomas Boichot.
Handsome copy attractively bound.
Signed autograph inscription from Jules Renard to Xanrof.

New edition of the French translation, one of 300 numbered copies on Rives laid paper, deluxe copy.
Light sunning to head and foot of spine, handsome copy with full margins.
Work illustrated with wood engravings by François-Martin Salvat.

New Edition. In-text drawings by Neuville and Benett, Bertrand, Bayard and Marie, 7 colour chromotypographs by Benett.
Publisher's cloth binding “Au globe doré” on the first cover (Jauzac), with the second cover of type "Engel h". Upper corner of the first cover a little creased. Spine ends skillfully restored. Volume very lightly warped. Some small foxing.
One of Jules Verne's most famous titles, in which a London gentleman bets with his club to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. Jules Verne's mythical title, one of the most popular adventure novels ever written, has known many film adaptations.

New edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Japan paper, deluxe copy.
Handsome copy despite two small light stains on the first cover.
Work illustrated with engraved wood head- and tailpieces by Francis Ferrand.

New edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Japan paper, deluxe issue.
Handsome copy.
Work illustrated with wood engravings in head- and tailpieces by Henri Chapront.

New edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Japan paper, deluxe issue.
Handsome copy.
Work illustrated with wood engravings in head- and tailpieces by Henri Chapront.

First edition of the French translation established by André Gide and printed in 300 numbered copies on Rives paper.
As is generally the case, some light black spots affecting certain leaves in the margins.
Rare and fine copy with unfaded blue covers.

First edition, one of 697 numbered copies on pur fil paper.
Precious autograph inscription signed by the author to Geneviève Stewens, wife of Christian Sarton du Jonchay.
Son of Charles Sarton du Jonchay, then garrisoned in Algeria, Christian Sarton du Jonchay enlisted at fourteen in the Algerian Auxiliary Spahis Regiment commanded by his father. After numerous adventures, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre and became, at only fifteen, the youngest quartermaster sergeant in France. After serving in various cavalry regiments and chasseur battalions, he was wounded in July 1918 and ended the war with seven citations, as lieutenant and knight of the Legion of Honor. At the end of the First World War, he chose to continue his military career and volunteered, in 1921, to serve during the Syrian Campaign, again earning several distinctions. A serious shoulder wound that left him partially disabled forced him to turn to aviation, first as an observer, then obtaining his pilot's license on August 17, 1927. After an assignment to the 2^nd Aviation Regiment in Strasbourg, he joined the New Aircraft Group, precursor to the CEMA aerial equipment testing center, as commander of the Light Aircraft Section. However, after failing at the War College, he retired in 1933. Du Jonchay then joined Caudron-Renault, the aviation subsidiary of the major automobile company. He became, with his American wife Gene - dedicatee of this copy - a figure in the fashionable society revolving around aviation.
Fine copy.

Victor HUGO
Les Misérables
A. Lacroix & Verboeckhoven & Cie, Bruxelles 1862, 14,5x22cm, 10 bound volumes.

First edition without statement published concomitantly with the Pagnerre's Paris edition.
Bound in half blue sheepskin, spine in four compartments decorated with double gilt fillets, blue paper plates, marbled paste-down and endpapers, mottled edges, English bindings of the time.
Scattered foxings, title page of the third volume slightly and marginally soiled, paper plates a little rubbed and a few tears on some edges, some joints repaired.
The first edition of Les Misérables was legally created by three different publishers, Pagnerre in France, Lacroix in Belgium and Steinacker in Germany, under the aegis of the official publisher A. Lacroix, Verboeckhoven & Cie.
The question of the prevalence of one edition over the other has long stirred the bibliophilic world and bibliographers remain divided on this thorny issue. Carteret and Vicaire, for example, ensured that the Paris edition should be preferred, whereas Vanderem and Clouzot placed the Belgian edition first. More than just a matter of chronology, this bibliographical dispute reveals the complexity of the concept of the first edition and the symbolic importance its holds for literary history and, in particular, for this masterful work which is among the most important in world literature.
Strangely, without this question really being settled, the Brussels edition is commonly described as pre-Paris, whereas the Leipzig edition is simply ignored. Les Misérables would, therefore, be published on 30 or 31 March with Lacroix and 3 April with Pagnerre.
The arguments of this Belgian precedence are, however, all refutable, and from 1936, Georges Blaizot had demonstrated its fragility.
The first argument is based on a letter by Victor Hugo addressed to Lacroix from 1865 and in which the poet himself called the Belgian edition “princeps” “first”: “Typographiquement, il faut se régler en tout sur l'édition belge princeps des Misérables, en dilatant plutôt qu'en resserrant” “Typographically, it is necessary to be totally attuned with the first Belgian edition of Les Misérables, expanding rather than tightening” he wrote on the subject of the Travailleurs de la mer which will be published in 1866. Yet, Hugo's designation is by no means a bibliographical indication, as Georges Blaizot explains, denouncing the abusive interpretation of P. de Lacretelle and Dr Michaux: “ Le poète précise un point, un seul, très simple, très clair, très précis : l'édition belge princeps (c'est-à-dire la première parue des éditions belges) doit servir de type aux éditions futures. Il dit cela, il dit bien cela, il ne dit que cela.” “The poet specifies one point, one, very simple, very clear, very precise: the first Belgian edition (i.e. the first published of the Belgian editions) must serve as a type for future editions. He says that, he says that clearly, he says only that.” (Georges Blaizot in Le Bulletin du bibliophile et du bibliothécaire, 1936). Indeed, a more modern in-12 edition will follow the famous in-8 edition in October of the same year.
The second argument is more significant. It is based on a letter by Adèle Hugo to her husband recounting the extraordinary affair of the French publication four days before the scheduled date.
This letter will be partially reproduced in 1904 in the complete works published by Meurice and Simon, with the supposed date of “[31 March 1862]”. In it, Adèle recounts the reasons for the French publishing haste: “Auguste [Vacquerie] nous apprend que Les Misérables paraissent sous trois jours. Étonnement mêlé de satisfaction. Auguste me raconte qu'ils comptaient faire paraître Les Misérables le 7 avril ; que le matin [Noël] Parfait était accouru effaré chez [Paul] Meurice lui dire qu'il sortait de voir aux mains de [Paul] Siraudin, un exemplaire des Misérables qu'il avait acheté la veille à Bruxelles.” “Auguste [Vacquerie] tells us that Les Misérables will be published in three days. Astonishment mixed with satisfaction. Auguste tells me that they intended to publish Les Misérables on 7 April; that in the morning [Noël] Parfait had run in alarm to [Paul] Meurice to tell him that he went out to see a copy of Les Misérables in the hands of [Paul] Siraudin that he had bought the day before in Brussells.”
This testimony and the dating of the letter in these publisher's notes are no doubt at the origin of the assertion that the Belgian publication came first. In fact, it is undeniable that on this date, the French edition has not yet been published since the printer Claye will not deposit the two Parisian volumes at the National Archives until the next day, 1 April 1862. The Lacroix edition would therefore, in this sense, be the true “first”.
Adèle's letter was not, in fact, written on 31 March, but over three days: “commencée dimanche (donc le 30 mars) et finie aujourd'hui [mardi] premier avril” “started Sunday (therefore 30 March) and finished today [Tuesday] first of April”. She would therefore assume the existence of paper bound volumes in Brussels from 29 March (and certainly not on 30 March, which was a Sunday). Yet, at the same time, Hugo and Lacroix were in the midst of epistolary negotiations to settle this delicate issue of the next publication date: “ Mon cher maître, écrivait Lacroix le 30 mars, nous avons tout combiné pour le 4 avril, […] il faut qu'à Paris l'ouvrage paraisse aussi cette semaine” “My dear sir, Lacroix wrote on 30 March, we have everything together for 4 April, [...] the work must also be published in Paris this week”. For his part, Hugo, on 1 April, warned his publisher: “on prétend que le livre qui ne peut […] paraître à Paris que le 7, paraîtra le 3 partout ; de sorte que Paris, cœur du succès, serait servi le dernier. Ce serait là une faute incalculable. Paris servi après tout le monde, c'est le succès attaqué à sa source” “it is claimed that the book, which cannot [...] be published in Paris until the 7th, will appear everywhere on the 3rd; so that Paris, the heart of success, would be served last. This would be an incalculable mistake. Paris served after everyone else is attacking success at its source”.
While in Paris, Meurice, Vacquerie and Pagnerre speed up the French publication to counter the Belgians who “ont tenté de jouer un tour” “tried to play a trick” on the French, as Adèle reports to her husband, in Guernsey; Hugo raises the tone with his publisher by hammering home the importance of the French edition: “ la simultanéité, bien ; mais s'il devait y avoir une priorité, c'était pour Paris” “simultaneity, fine; but if there were to be a priority, it would be Paris”.
What about the Brussels publication in March? There is no other mention, other than Siraudin's affair (told by Adèle who takes it from Vacquerie recounting Parfait's words to Meurice) that seriously confirms this theory. The Belgian newspapers, the Parisian clan's main concern: “les journaux de Paris ne se soucieraient pas d'annoncer ce livre […] après les journaux belges et de devenir leur déversoir et leur succursale” “the Paris newspaper would not worry about announcing this book [...] after the Belgian newspapers and becoming their outlet and their branch”, did not yet form any link to this highly anticipated book, other than Indépendance Belge which announced in turn on 30 March: “En vente chez tous les libraires” “For sale in all bookshops” and on 1 April: “Demain paraît enfin la première partie des Misérables” “Tomorrow the first part of Les Misérables is finally published”. In accordance with Hugo's editorial strategy, the first extracts of the work will not be published until 2 April, notably in Le Temps, which the day before announces the simultaneous publication in France and Belgium on 4 April, and in Le Journal des Débats, where the article signed Jules Janin was in fact written by Meurice, due to the urgency described by Adèle: “Je ne puis parler du livre ce soir puisque je ne le connais pas, dit Janin, faites vous-même la chose, Meurice.” “I cannot speak about the book this evening since I don't know it, said Janin, do it yourself, Meurice.”.
Was there then really a Belgian publication in March, or were the few copies that probably circulated before the official and simultaneous publication in France and Belgium an isolated and insignificant accident? Studying Hugo's correspondence shows that as a result of a bad “trick” by the Belgians, it is simply a question of a confusion of dates attributable to... Victor Hugo himself. It is indeed Hugo who sent false intentions of simultaneous publication on 7 April to Vacquerie and Meurice, while he had rushed Lacroix for everything to be ready on 4 April. Thus, he sowed doubt and misunderstanding among the two publishers. (cf. Bernard Leuilliot, Victor Hugo publie les Misérables, p. 240)
The first two volumes, titled Fantine, will finally go on sale on 3 April, in France, Belgium, and also in Germany, and in several other countries that received copies printed by Lacroix. Probably, it was one of these advance paper bound copies to be shipped to Latin America that Siraudin obtained. Lacroix informed Hugo precisely on 30 March: “tout est tiré, tout était broché et les expéditions pour l'étranger en partie faites” “everything is printed, everything was paper bound and the shipments for foreign countries in part made”.
There is therefore no reason to assume any anteriority from one edition to the other. And it is in perfect harmony that Adèle, Charles, Paul de Saint-Victor, Vacquerie, Lacroix and Pagnerre will celebrate, on the evening of 3 April at Meurice's, the “ éclatante victoire simultanée en tous pays, le jour même de la mise en vente à Paris, à Bruxelles, à Londres, à Milan, à Naples, à St. Pétersbourg” “the brilliant simultaneous victory in all countries, the very day of release in Paris, in Brussels, in London, in Naples, in St. Petersburg” as Lacroix writes that very evening to the writer who had just become part of publishing history.

The success is such for these first two volumes that, as Victor Hugo feared, the Pagnerre's print run (6,000 copies according to Hovasse and 7,000 according to L.C. Michel in la revue anecdotique on 15 April 1862) sold out very quickly: “Le 6, on eût battu toutes les librairies de la rive gauche et de la rive droite, pour en trouver un exemplaire” “On 6 April, we would have scoured all the bookshops on the left bank and the right bank to find a copy”. Therefore, 1,000 copies of the 5,000 copies for Brussels intended for the Belgian and foreign market were obtained to create a false French “second edition”, which is in reality the Belgian first edition with a new title page. However, from 10 April, Pagnerre is obliged to undertake a new print run, which will be ready on the 17th thanks to the imprints carefully produced by the printer Claye during the first print run. Only the title pages were produced “on the mobile” in red and black with antique capitals “un des joyaux de son matériel typographique” “one of the jewels of its typographic material”. In all, if we are to believe the probably overly optimistic figures (according to Hovasse) from La Revue anecdotique and the publishers' correspondence, the different print runs of this first part will be almost 15,000 copies at the Parisian address and 12,000 at the Brussels address, with the addition of 3,000 copies printed in Leipzig at Steinacker. The latter, published in small format, also from 3 April, would undoubtedly deserve greater attention, because in addition to participating in the first editions, they respond to an urgent request from Hugo to immediately offer an inexpensive edition to allow everyone to access his work, such as the one introduced by Lacroix shortly after. On the other hand, the second and third parts will be published with a slight delay, on 15 May in Paris, and between 16 and 19 May in Brussels, due to an unfortunate steam engine accident (cf. letter from Lacroix to Hugo on 11 May 1862). Fortunately, on 30 June, Brussels and Paris will be perfectly synchronised to publish the last four volumes.
However, the concept of the first edition is not only a matter of date. Those who defend the Belgian theory highlight that it is to Brussels that the corrections of the proofs are sent and that, as Vicaire paradoxically affirms, Pagnerre is only the “custodian” of the genuine and sole publisher, Lacroix et Verboeckhoven & Cie.
From 1936, Georges Blaizot retorted in Le Bulletin du bibliophile that Pagnerre in no way took Lacroix's work on deposit, but that he “a véritablement établi, imprimé et vendu une édition des Misérables” “genuinely established, printed and sold an edition of Les Misérables”. Reducing Pagnerre to a territorial relay actually requires the complexity of the editorial affair of this major work to be ignored, the stake of which is not merely a financial matter for the exiled poet.
With Napoléon le Petit and Les Châtiments, Hugo demonstrated to the imperial power that the banishment of man in no way weakened the power of his word. On the contrary, this island exile could only echo that of an illustrious predecessor. The State's only weapon is therefore censorship. And it is the sword of Damocles that will henceforth control the publication strategies of Hugo and his publishers. In 1856, the publication of Les Contemplations was thus the dress rehearsal for Les Misérables: collaboration of publishers, simultaneous publication in France and in Belgium, only one correction of proofs... Hugo even thought of dividing the publication to dupe the censorship: “La 1ère livraison paraît ; c'est le premier livre, Aurore, une géorgique, une bucolique, une églogue. On se jette dessus avec d'autant plus d'avidité qu'on craint que l'ouvrage ne soit interdit et que c'est presque du fruit défendu. Que fera le gouvernement ? Arrêtera-t-il cela ? quoi ! ce livre, Aurore : cette poésie fleur de mauve et rose tendre ? – il serait inouï, fabuleux, grotesque, ineffable de ridicule ; et en même temps que les frais de la tentative du côté des éditeurs seraient six fois moindres, l'odieux de l'instruction serait pour l'empire dix fois plus grand.” “The first delivery is published; it is the first book, Aurore, a georgic, a bucolic, an eclogue. We hurl ourselves on it with all the more greed given that we fear that the work will be forbidden and that it is almost forbidden fruit. What will the government do? Put a stop to it? What! this book, Aurore: this tender purple and pink flower poetry? – it would be incredible, fabulous, grotesque, outrageously ridiculous; and at the same time the cost of the attempt on the side of the publishers would be six times less, the unbearable instruction would be ten times greater for the Empire.”
These precautions, undoubtedly unnecessary for the wise collection of poems that is Les Contemplations, will be the matrix of the publication of Les Misérables, a huge alarm call against the inequalities which could only fuel the anger of the Imperial Institution.

It was therefore necessary that Hugo's great work descend upon the world in one big wave. If censorship prevented the work from being published in Paris, it would come from everywhere else, and if the borders were closed, it would already be in the capital. Multiple printing, synchronisation and division of the work were the key to the success of this skilful game of cat and mouse. Added to this threat was the more mundane threat of counterfeiting that had to be taken aback. One month after the release of Fantine, the first two volumes of the novel, nearly ten pirate editions were circulating in Europe
Albert Lacroix would have liked to undertake this epic alone and distribute his copies in France, as he did for the rest of the world. Hugo, despite Hetzel's insistence – who had been courting him for a long-time to obtain this Holy Grail – had explicitly chosen this unknown and inexperienced young Belgian publisher, to the detriment of his usual partners. Lacroix and Verboeckhoven are the only publishers and they make it known on every volume, Belgian or French. Thus, the title pages of the Parisian edition are inscribed “éditeur : Lacroix et Verboeckhoven & Cie” “Publisher: Lacroix et Verboeckhoven & Cie”. And La Revue Anecdotique comments: “L'édition française originale de Paris n'a été faite que pour éviter les formalités de douane.” “The first French edition from Paris was only made to avoid customs formalities.”
However, the reality is more complex and if Lacroix had not been able to impose its address at the foot of the title pages of the Parisian edition, it is because Pagnerre is not merely a relay of the Belgian publisher. On the contrary, Pagnerre is, in fact, the first holder of the publication rights of Les Misérables.
Indeed, in 1832, Hugo signed a first agreement with the publisher of Notre-Dame de Paris, Gosselin, promising his next “roman en deux volumes in-8” “two-volume, in-8 novel”. Then in 1848, together they specified, by a new contract, the title of this novel: Les Misères “dont le rythme [d'écriture] est devenu celui d'une période d'achèvement” “whose [written] rhythm has become that of a period of completion” (Leuilliot, p.18). However, the revolution in 1848, then the poet's exile, put an end to the “ livre des Misères” “book of Misery”, the imminent publication of which Charles Hugo announced in L'événement on 31 July 1848. Thus, when twelve years later, Hugo resumed his work with these words: “14 février (1848) (ici le pair de France s'est interrompu, et le proscrit a continué :) 30 décembre 1860 Guernesey.” “14 February (1848) (here the peer of France is interrupted, and the outcast continued:) 30 December 1860 Guernsey.”, he is still linked to his former publisher, whose successor is none other than Laurent Pagneer.
The heir to the Gosselin-Renduel house is no stranger to Victor Hugo since he was one of the three associates (with Hetzel and Lévy) who published Les Contemplations and is still the publisher of Hugo's son, François-Victor.
Therefore, Victor Hugo sold his novel to Lacroix, provided that he negotiates with Pagnerre to purchase the rights to Gosselin and Renduel's successor. “J'ai vendu aujourd'hui Les Misérables à MM. A. Lacroix et Verboeckhoven et Cie, de Bruxelles, pour 12 années moyennant 240.000 fr. argent et 60 000 fr. éventuels. Ils acceptent le traité Gosselin-Renduel. Le contrat a été signé ce soir.” “Today I sold Les Misérables to Messieurs A. Lacroix and Verboeckhoven and Co. of Brussels for 12 years for 240,000 francs cash and a further potential 60,000 francs. They accept the Gosselin-Renduel agreement. The contract has been signed this evening.”. However, rather than sell his rights, Pagnerre preferred to exchange with Lacroix his 1832-1848 agreement for the exclusive distribution right in France. The symbolic value of Pagnerre's edition does not in any way give way to that of Lacroix, and the Parisian publisher is linked to the very origins of the novel through its history.
As for the proofs, they were corrected on the Belgian print at Lacroix's will, despite Hugo's insistence: “Songez quel avantage il y aurait pour vous à m'envoyer les épreuves de l'édition de Paris” “Think of the benefit there would be for you in sending me the proofs to the Paris edition” (Letter to Lacroix on 12 January 1862). Even if Lacroix pretends to ignore this proposal, the fact remains that the right sheets must be sent to Meurice to perfect the work: “Il importe que l'édition parisienne soit page à page et ligne à ligne identique à l'édition belge. La rapidité et la sûreté des corrections sont à ce prix, et de cette façon Meurice pourra donner les bons à tirer. Autrement, je serais obligé de demander la dernière épreuve de chaque feuille.” “It is important that the Parisian edition be page by page, and line by line, identical to the Belgian edition. The speed and safety of the corrections are at this price, and in this way Meurice can send the goods to print. Otherwise, I would have to request the last proof of each sheet.”
Finally, an archive of the Victor Hugo collection tells us that the author had explicitly asked Lacroix about the proof of the title page with the two editions, Brussels and Paris, being placed facing each other on one common title page: “Je crois qu'il faudrait mettre sur deux colonnes en regard Paris Pagnerre | Bruxelles A. Lacroix en répétant cela sur la double édition de Paris” “I think that we should put Paris Pagnerre | Bruxelles A. Lacroix on two facing columns, repeating this on the Paris double edition”.
However, even if Lacroix did not (voluntarily?) accept the proposition (although he took into account the other corrections on the page), the meaning of this note is clear: for Hugo, there are not two editions, but only one, the printing of which had to be divided into two strategic places for reasons that were political (the risk of censorship of this masterful book), social (the international distribution of a work with universal scope) and economic (the risk of counterfeit of the greatest novel of the 19th century).
In 1936 Georges Blaizot concluded that the two editions were twin sisters. In that, he refuted the old rumour claiming that, in the Parisian edition, “un certain nombre de phrases ayant paru dangereuses pour la France, ont été modifiées” “a certain number of phrases that seemed dangerous to France have been changed” (Vicaire). This belief, however, is attributable to an unfortunate error by Victor Hugo himself who, on 24 December 1865, wrote to Verboeckhoven: “Il va sans dire encore que si un mot ou une ligne semblait dangereuse pour Paris, il faudrait l'éliminer, comme on a fait pour Les Misérables, édition Claye” “It goes without saying that if a word or a line seemed dangerous to Paris, it would have be eliminated, as was done for Les Misérables, Claye edition”. Yet Georges Blaizot highlights that this was an incorrect memory of Victor Hugo and that, thanks to careful rereading by Meurice and Vacquerie, who “tenaient avant tout à ce que l'édition de Paris ne fût pas inférieure à l'autre” “were above all concerned that the Paris edition was not inferior to the other”, there was no unilateral cut. “Victor Hugo aura ignoré ou oublié ce détail” “Victor Hugo will have ignored or forgotten that detail” (Dr Michaux quoted by G. Blaizot).
However, there are many differences (which escaped the attention of these bibliographers) between the two editions, but this was not to the detriment of the Parisian version, quite the contrary. It is indeed his best friend and factotum Paul Meurice, who, during Hugo's eighteen years of exile, was responsible for the publication, proofreading and corrections of Victor Hugo's works in France and, therefore, the Pagnerre edition of Les Misérables, on which the writer communicated his final, not light, but substantial, corrections. These corrections will also be sent to Lacroix, but too late, and the Belgian publisher warned Hugo that these will only appear in the second edition.
Thus, the Pagnerre edition was enriched with two modest but significant reflections that are lacking in the Brussels edition, in the important Waterloo chapter: “ Le fond de ce prodigieux capitaine, c'était l'homme qui, dans le rapport au Directoire sur Aboukir, disait : Tel de nos boulets a tué six hommes ; Tel point du champ de bataille dévore plus de combattants que tel autre, comme ces sols plus ou moins spongieux qui boivent plus ou moins vite l'eau qu'on y jette. On est obligés de reverser là plus de soldats qu'on ne voudrait. Dépenses qui sont l'imprévu.” “The foundation of this wonderful captain was the man who, in the report to the Directory on Aboukir, said: Such a one of our balls killed six men; Such a point of the battlefield devours more fighters than another, as these more or less spongy soils that drink more or less quickly the water that we throw on to it. We are forced to give back more soldiers than we would like. Expenditure that was unexpected.”.
More than twin sisters, therefore, the two prints are one and the same editorial work that carries and embodies the ubiquity of their tremendous author. Alone on his rock, and yet omnipresent, Hugo invades the public, poetic and political space with a universal romantic tragedy that crosses continents (no less that nine translations in progress from April 1862). A true slap in the face for the Empire Napoleon III, Victor Hugo's work immediately and irretrievably became a founding secular myth, illustrating the republican motto of 1848 and 1879: Liberté – égalité – Fraternité (Freedom, Equality, Fraternity).

First edition on ordinary paper with the mention "premier tirage" at the colophon despite a mention of 14th edition at the foot of the back cover.
A small tear repaired at head of spine, handsome copy.
Autograph inscription dated and signed by Hervé Bazin to Jean Raudin: "... en espérant une amicale et fructueuse collaboration. Hervé Bazin.

Edition of the French translation by Desaintange (Ange-François Fariau de Saint-Ange (1747-1810)), with the French version alongside the Latin. The very famous illustration comprises a portrait of Desaintange, a frontispiece, and 139 figures by Eisen, Moreau Le Jeune, Gravelot, Monnet, Boucher and engraved by Massard, Simmonet, Née, Leveau, Ponce, Binet, De Longueil... Most by Eisen and Moreau Le Jeune. Complete with the leaf showing placement of engravings after the title of volume I.
Contemporary binding in full blonde sheep marbled in green and brown. Smooth spine decorated with 4 compartments in grotesque style (stars and small tools), with roulettes at head and foot (wide Empire-style roulette at foot). Vine-motif border frame. Title and volume labels in blonde sheep. Loss to upper joint at head of volume I with 3cm split. One cut to headcap of volume I. Loss to upper joint at head of volume 2. One gathering in vol. II p.55 largely detached, and protruding by a few millimeters. Scattered pale foxing. A good copy.

Rare first edition decorated with ornamental headpieces, letterheads and culs-de-lampe.

Posterior binding in full red morocco, Jansenist spine, gilt date at the foot, marbled endpapers, frame of gilt roll-tooling on the pastedown endpapers, all edges gilt.
A very beautiful copy of one of the most famous plays in the French repertoire. It was played for the first time on 13 December 1669 at the Hôtel de Bourgogne and received a mixed reception. At the head of this edition is a preface by the playwright responding to his critics:

“Of all the works that I have given to the public, there is none
that attracted more applause and nor more critics that this one. [...] What is missed by the spectators may be noticed by the readers.”

Pléiade Library edition printed on Bible paper.
Publisher's full grained green sheepskin binding, blue top edge, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets.
Fine copy complete with its glassine wrapper, dust jacket and soft slipcase.

Bibliothèque de La Pléiade edition printed on India paper.
Publisher's binding in full blue grained sheep, blue top edge, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets.
Fine copy complete with its glassine, dust jacket and slipcase.

The very first "Newton-Edition" by Thomas Newton, Samuel Barrow (physician to King Charles II), Andrew Marcel and Joseph Addison.
Illustrated with two frontispiece portraits of Milton and six full-page plates for each volume.
Contemporary full calf bindings, spines with five raised bands tooled in gilt, red and black morocco title labels. Fine restorations to spine-ends, joints and corners.
A very fine copy with full margins of this unusual edition, in its original contemporary English binding.

First edition printed in 2020 numbered copies on Téka paper.
Spine slightly wrinkled and lightened as usual, handsome copy.

First edition, posthumous, on Holland paper.
Contemporary full marbled brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Red morocco title label, black morocco volume label. A slight lack to the lower joint at the tail. Signs of rubbing. Scuffing to the upper board with a lack of leather. One corner slightly bumped. Pages 247 and 257, lacking the right corner of the margin. Paper generally fresh. This copy has been bound in a single volume, following the 1772 edition of Diderot's Works in 6 volumes (Volume VI, II). Good copy.
The introductory text, in memory of Diderot, is by Jakob-Heinrich Meister, friend of Necker and successor to Frédéric Melchior Grimm at the Correspondance littéraire.
The novel, conceived from 1765, appeared in serial form in this review from 1778 to 1780. The published version was not, however, definitive, since Diderot constantly expanded it until his death, and the work which, in 1771, counted 125 pages, reached 200 in 1778, 208 in 1780, 287 in 1783. Yet the work, well before its French publication, was already known in Germany thanks to Schiller's translation (in 1787 in his review Thalia). Following this version, Doray de Longrais gave a French version of the same story. In 1792, Germany discovered the complete text thanks to a new translation, that of Mylius. Finally, in 1796 the original text was published in France, from a copy presumably provided by Grimm or Goethe.
An unclassifiable work that freed itself from all novelistic rules, the book draws its plot from the picaresque novel and inherits the freedom of a book that profoundly influenced Diderot: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, by Sterne.

Illustrated edition with 120 original drawings by Daniel Vierge, one of 100 numbered copies on China paper.
Half tawny morocco binding with corners, spine with five raised bands set with double gilt fillets decorated with double gilt compartments, the compartments enriched with mosaic morocco pieces in red, blue, brown and green, gilt fillet frame on marbled paper boards, combed paper endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine preserved (front cover entirely sunned), top edge gilt, contemporary binding signed Stroobants.
Handsome copy in perfect condition.
The work is complete with the portrait of Daniel Vierge as frontispiece, engraved in mezzotint, and the "remarque" by Daniel Vierge on the half-title page.
Our copy includes a suite of four unpublished original watercolors by Daniel Vierge engraved as etchings by G. Noyon, here in three states including pure etching and proof with remarque.
At the end of the volume and following, the prospectus written by Edouard Pelletan is included.
Manuscript signature of Daniel Vierge below the justification page.

First edition, on ordinary paper, of the French translation by Philippe Jaccottet.
Spine and boards marginally sunned as often.
Rare complete copy in 4 volumes.

Edition illustrated with 16 original color etchings by Edouard Chimot, one of 25 copies on Imperial Japan paper, deluxe copy after 46 other Japan copies variously enhanced.
Full red morocco binding, spine with four large raised bands set with gilt fillets, burgundy watered silk endpapers and pastedowns, frame of triple gilt fillets on the pastedowns, following endpapers of marbled paper, all edges gilt, original wrappers preserved, slipcase with red morocco entry, moiré-effect paper boards, marbled paper interior, superb full morocco binding signed Vaissière relieur castrais.
Our copy contains the three states of the 16 plates hors-texte and an original color drawing signed by Edouard Chimot as indicated in the justification page.
Fine copy perfectly established in a signed full morocco binding with an original color drawing by Edouard Chimot.

Edition illustrated with 7 original wood engravings by Jules Léon Perrichon and a portrait of Denis Diderot by Bernard Naudin, one of 20 numbered copies on Japan paper, deluxe copy.
Bradel binding in full boards with overlapping flaps in vellum style, endpapers and pastedowns of gold and silver effect paper, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt on deckled edges, contemporary binding.
Fine copy, well complete, at rear, with its duplicate suite on China paper of the original woodcuts and the double state of the frontispiece portrait.

Illustrated edition with 8 original full-page engravings after Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret by Le Rat. 120 numbered copies on vélin satiné, our copy one of 100 nominative.
Beige morocco by Marius Michel, mint green morocco doublures, framed with a gilt floral frieze decorated with inlaid morocco pieces and fillets on the boards, moiré silk endpapers, original wrappers preserved, double gilt fillets on the edges, all edges gilt, case lined with morocco, moiré paper boards, superb binding signed Marius Michel.
Bookseller's ticket label glued on a guard.
Our copy includes a suite of 8 full-page etchings.
A very nice copy superbly set by Marius Michel in doubled morocco.

Edition illustrated with 6 original engravings and 6 original wood-engraved vignettes by Jean-Emile Laboureur, and printed in 575 numbered copies on Arches laid paper.
Half blue morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands set with gilt fillets decorated with double gilt compartments ornamented with gilt geometric motifs, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, contemporary binding signed Canape.
Handsome copy perfectly executed.

First edition in French, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Work illustrated by Rapeno.
Handsome copy.

This illustrated edition originally appeared from Curmer but the frontispieces of each tale were only printed in black whereas they have been printed in bistre in this edition. The text of the tales is entirely engraved in italics and superbly printed on strong laid paper. The illustrations in the text are finely engraved on steel, they are due to the imagination of Pauquet, Marvy, Jeanron, Jacque, Beaucé, Jules Compagnon, and engraved by Monin.
The 15-page notice on the life and works of Perrault by Paul Jacob appeared for the first time in the 1836 edition, the same is true for the dissertation in fine on fairy tales.
One general title in bistre and 9 frontispieces in bistre; each page of each tale entirely engraved with text and composition framing the text or as headpieces, tailpieces...
Publisher's binding in half dark green shagreen. Spine with false raised bands richly decorated with ornate compartments. All edges gilt. White glazed watered paper for the endpapers. Signs of rubbing. 2 frontispieces partly detached. Some small scattered foxing on paper that is quite white with full margins. A handsome copy.
"It is one of the most beautiful illustrated books of the 19th century and perhaps the rarest in fine condition..." Carteret (Le trésor du bibliophile romantique et moderne). This edition is very rare and is encountered only very infrequently, just like the one published by Curmer, it found itself, as Carteret affirms, in the hands of children with little bibliophilic sense.

Edition consisting of a facsimile reproduction of the Jehan Dupré edition printed in the 15th century (1493), one of 250 numbered copies on laid paper, the only print run with 80 other deluxe copies (20 on extra-strong laid paper, 10 on Rose paper and 50 on China paper).
Publisher's full cardboard binding in imitation vellum in the manner of medieval bindings, smooth spine, first cover illustrated with a reproduction of a woodcut, one lower corner slightly bumped.
Work illustrated with reproductions of woodcuts and engraved initials.
Three margin restorations to three leaves using adhesive pieces, stains and two blue ballpoint pen reading marks in margins of one leaf.
Rare and handsome facsimile beautifully illustrated with woodcuts and engraved initials in the manner of incunabula from the end of the 15th century.

Second collected edition of Victor Hugo's works published by Furne after the Renduel edition of 1833-1836; it is illustrated with 35 steel engravings. Les contemplations published in 1856 (first edition with a mention of second edition) was added to this edition. The Furne edition spans from 1840 to 1846. Le Rhin indeed appears in first collected edition at this date.
This edition, originally published in installments, was verified and corrected by Hugo himself. It was initially intended to form only 12 volumes (which are most often found alone); volume 9 bis was added later where Ruy Blas is reprinted, and the 3 volumes of Le Rhin following. Furne had bought out the Renduel bookshop, the first publisher of Hugo's complete works from 1832 to 1840, as Hugo's writings then stood.

Contemporary half tawny shagreen binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 4 fleurons in blind-tooled compartments. Gilt titles and volume numbers. Light traces of rubbing. Some pale scattered foxing on an overall very fresh set, on white paper, very attractive. The binder did not number the entire set, only the works occupying several volumes.

Handsome set, very homogeneous.
Details: Volume I: Odes et ballades. XLV+387 pages, frontispiece and 1 plate
Volume II: Odes et ballades - Les orientales. 446 pages, frontispiece and 1 plate
Volume III: Les feuilles d'automne - Les chants du crépuscule. 423 pages, frontispiece and one plate
Volume IV: Les voix intérieures - Les rayons et les ombres. 434 pages, frontispiece and one plate
Volume V: Notre-Dame de Paris 1. 372 pages, frontispiece, title and 3 plates
Volume VI: Notre-Dame de Paris 2. 426 pages, frontispiece and 6 plates. (This second volume is dated 1850, while the first is dated 1844)
Volume VII: Cromwell, drame en cinq actes. 500 pages, frontispiece and 4 plates
Volume VIII: Hernani - Marion de Lorme - Le Roi s'amuse. 513 pages, frontispiece and 4 plates
Volume IX: Lucrèce Borgia - Marie Tudor - Angelo. 449 pages, frontispiece and 4 plates
Volume X: La Esmeralda - Ruy Blas - Les Burgraves. 390 pages
Volume XI: Han d'Islande. 583 pages
Volume XII: Bug-Jargal - Le Dernier jour d'un condamné. VI+443 pages
Volume XIII: Littérature et philosophie mêlées. 406 pages.
Volume XIV: Le Rhin 1. 381 pages,
Volume XV: Le Rhin 2. 446 pages
Volume XVI: Le Rhin 3. 352 pages
Volume XVII: Les Contemplations. Autrefois 1830-1843. Statement of second edition. 359 pages
Volume XVIII: Les Contemplations. Aujourd'hui 1843-1856. 408 pages.
Volume X was published after Volume XII and bears the volume number IXbis on the half-title, Volumes XI and XII bear the volume numbers X and XI, always on the half-titles.

First edition of each volume, with print runs varying from 297 to 1,250 numbered copies on pure thread paper, the only deluxe copies along with the re-imposed editions.
Light foxing and a tear at the head of the spine of the second volume, printed collector's stamps on the title pages of the fifth, sixth and seventh volumes, some foxing at the foot of the first leaves of the sixth and seventh volumes.
A rare and handsome set.

First collected edition. First illustrated edition and the only edition acknowledged by the author. 6 charming figures by Barth, Garnier, engraved by Saint-Aubin and Choffart. The extremely rare first edition of Atala dates from 1801. René first appeared in Le génie du christianisme in 1802.
Contemporary blonde calf binding with tree calf effect. Smooth spine richly decorated with 2 compartments with grotesque motifs (waves), 2 daisy tools, rolls at foot. Long-grained morocco title-label. Edges gilt. Decorative border on boards with series of framing fillets. Decorative gilt board-edges. Slight surface wear to upper joint at head, traces of rubbing, nibbled area along lower joint at title-label level. Very fine paper freshness.
Definitive text carefully revised by the author. According to Carteret, this edition would not be, as is often claimed, the first authorized by the author.

First edition, one of 100 copies on Dame Blanche wove paper, deluxe issue.
A fine copy.

Rare first edition, with the wrapper and title page dated 1874.

Half black morocco binding with corners, spine with five raised bands, date at foot, gilt fillet on boards, combed paper pastedowns and endpapers, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, binding signed Alix.

Printed in 1869 by Lacroix, this edition was not released for sale for fear of censorship. Only about ten copies were stitched and given to the author (five have been recorded to date). In 1874, Jean-Baptiste Rozez, another Belgian publisher-bookseller, acquired the stock and published the work with a wrapper and cancel title page dated 1874, without publisher's imprint. It was in his bookshop that the poets of the Jeune Belgique would be the first to discover this text. A literature of vertigo at the limits of the bearable, of adolescent excess, of total darkness, Maldoror, or the epic of a figure of evil wandering through the world, became famous thanks to the Surrealists who made it a true aesthetic manifesto. 

A fine copy elegantly bound.

First edition, one of the 175 numbered copies on pur fil, the "tirage de tête" (first deluxe copies).
Nice copy.

First printing of the 109 color miniatures by Henry Lemarié, one of the numbered copies on Rives laid paper for each volume.
Small traces of soiling on the inner flaps of the slipcases which also have small paper lacks to the corners.
Handsome and rare set, lacking three of its slipcases, which was originally intended to comprise six tales but of which only three were published.

Grasset | Paris 1948 | 12 x 18.5 cm | bound in a chemise and slipcase

First edition, one of 23 numbered copies on pure wire, the “tirage de tête”.

Bound in olive green morocco, gilt date at the foot of the spine, plates embellished with tan morocco panel stamps with geometric outlines, the inside of which have been laid with strips of brown morocco appearing like both snakeskin and the outline of a closed fist, all edges gilt, preserved wrappers and spine, chemise in half olive green morocco in strips, white paper boards, slipcase lined in olive green morocco, white paper boards, elegant and spectacular binding signed D. H. Mercher.

A very rare and beautiful, perfectly set copy.

Illustrated edition of 14 original vignettes of Hermine David, one of the numbered copies on vellum from the Marais, ours one of the 14 literates comprising an original drawing signed by Hermine David , a series of vignettes on Japan and a colored suite with hand by Hermine David , head print.
Beautiful copy.

First edition.
Publisher's full blue cloth binding, smooth spine, red top edge, the illustrated dust jacket of our copy is not the original one.
Gift inscription in pen and a library shelving indication at the head of an endpaper.
Work illustrated by Studley O. Burroughs.

First edition for each of the volumes with print runs varying from 297 to 1,250 numbered copies on pure thread paper, the only deluxe copies along with the reimposed copies.
Spines and front covers of volumes 4 and 6 partially sunned, one endpaper foxed, otherwise handsome set.

First edition, one of 339 numbered copies on "pur-fil" paper, only deluxe copies ("grand papier") after 1 China and 39 laid "pur-fil" paper reimposed.
Very nice copy.
Half morocco binding.

Bibliothèque de La Pléiade edition printed on Bible paper.
Publisher's full green grained sheep binding, blue top edge, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets.
Complete with its cellophane wrapper, dust jacket and soft slipcase.

First edition.
Full green sheep bindings, strictly contemporary. Smooth spines richly decorated with Restoration-era tools. Black sheep title and volume labels. Large decorative blind stamp on boards and gilt ruling frame. Ruling on edges. Spines uniformly faded. Signs of rubbing. 2 corners slightly bumped. Scattered foxing, quite pronounced on the second title page and some pages, mostly in the outer margins, the whole showing rather clean. One tear p. 179 in volume 1, without loss.
Handsome copy in full decorated Romantic binding.

First printing of Grandville's illustration. A frontispiece on flying China paper and 450 wood-engraved vignettes in-text, and 5 hors texte, the four titles of the four voyages and the literary allegory as frontispiece to the notice. New translation, biographical and literary notice on Jonathan Swift by Walter Scott.
Contemporary grey glazed calf half-binding in Romantic style. Smooth spine with a long Romantic tool and 2 mirrored tools, with fillets. Light traces of rubbing. Some scattered foxing, mainly marginal. Handsome copy.
"This complete illustration occupies one of the first ranks in Grandville's work." (Carteret, III, 578). This very beautiful illustrated Romantic work is extremely rare in fine condition. It is printed on tinted laid paper." Carteret III, 578.

Edition illustrated with 14 original woodcuts by Henri Laurens, one of 125 numbered copies on Montval laid paper, the only issue after 25 Japan or China.
Fine copy despite minor worming of no consequence to the first endpapers and half-title page.

The rare and sought-after first edition, according to Clouzot, especially in contemporary binding
Contemporary half black shagreen binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 4 ornamental tools and various fillets, dotted on the bands, doubled at the headcaps, in blind to delineate the compartments. Black morocco title label. A slight tear at foot with small lack. Traces of rubbing to headcaps and on boards and edges. Micro crack to lower joint at head over 1cm with tiny lack to headcap. Very fresh copy, free from foxing, with very white paper, except for the first half-title and endpapers.
Handsome copy.

First edition, an advance (service de presse) copy.
Spine slightly sunned, otherwise nice copy.
Foreword by Raymond Queneau.
Retaining its advertising band : "Par l'auteur de "J'irai cracher on vos tombes".
Rare and handsome autograph inscription signed by Boris Vian to Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud : "Pour Madeleine, for Jean-Louis with mon amitié."

First edition, one of 210 numbered copies on vélin pur fil paper, the tirage de tête after 35 Hollande paper.
Spine and covers slightly and marginally sunned, not serious, spine with a fold to foot.

First edition, one of 115 copies on laid paper Lafuma-Navarre reimposed in Tellière quarto format, ours one of 10 hors commerce lettered copies, deluxe issue.
Spine slightly sunned, small tear at foot of first board, otherwise a handsome copy.

First edition, one of 122 copies on laid paper Lafuma-Navarre reimposed in Tellière quarto format, deluxe issue.
Spine slightly sunned, two small crease marks on boards, otherwise a handsome copy.

First edition, one of 122 copies on laid Lafuma-Navarre paper, reimposed in Tellière quarto format, ours one of 10 hors commerce lettered copies, deluxe copy.
Spine very lightly sunned, slight tear to margin of front cover, otherwise handsome copy.

First edition, one of 108 copies on vergé pur fil paper Lafuma-Navarre re-imposed in Tellière quarto format, the tirage de tête.
Spine discolored with small tears on the headpieces, otherwise nice set.

First edition, one of 108 copies on laid Lafuma-Navarre paper, reimposed in Tellière quarto format, deluxe copy.
Spine very lightly sunned, handsome copy.

First edition, one of 339 numbered copies on pur fil, the only large paper copies after 1 Chine and 39 vergé pur fil re-imposed.
A very nice copy.

First edition illustrated with 43 plates including a frontispiece and a title-frontispiece (all plates are bound consecutively, after the preliminary pages, half-title, title page, preface and table of contents). MCCCXXXVII on title page. The plates bear no captions; the first 27 have pagination at bottom of page, the following bear no indication and appear to be before lettering (with pencil pagination notation). Our volume possesses several features attesting to the very first printing: Line 29 p. 260: "holding"; p. 341 line 1: "inbe-licate"; p. 342 line 5: "S. Veller"; p. 432 the F of Posthumous papers of is poorly printed. The engraved title is in second state with Tony Weller's name above the porch, the first state having simply Veller.
Contemporary full black sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with 3 blind tools, one gilt tool and multiple fillets. Double fillet frame on boards. One tear at head. Overall very rubbed with scratches on boards. 2 corners cut, the other 2 bumped. The errata leaf, frontispiece and engraved title bear old restoration tape on inner margin, the errata leaf also has two smaller ones laterally. All engraved plates have browning all around the engravings, the frontispiece and engraved title being covered with it. The outer margin of the frontispiece has been torn away. All printed pages are very clean unlike the engravings, the paper being very different.
The posthumous papers, as with all Dickens's works, first appeared in parts from April 1836 to November 1837, then in volume form. Written by a 24-year-old Dickens, the work propelled the writer into a glory from which he never descended. The reception of the work was immense and very popular; it was claimed at the time that only the Bible and Shakespeare's works exceeded The posthumous papers in circulation.

First edition, printed on vélin d'Angoulême paper, with the usual misprints and including the six condemned poems, one of the few copies given to the author and “intended for friends who do not deliver literary services”.
Full emerald morocco binding, signed by Marius Michel, original wrappers preserved.

Exceptional inscription to a childhood friend, banker and intellectual, one of the rare contemporary inscriptions that were not motivated by judicial necessity or editorial interests.
Indeed, even the few examples on papier hollande were largely devoted to strategic gifts in order to counter or reduce the wrath of justice that, in June 1857, had not yet returned its decision. Poulet-Malassis will hold a bitter memory of it: “Baudelaire got his hands on all thick paper copies and addressed them to more or less influential people as a means of corruption. Since they have not got him out of trouble, I believe he would do well to ask for them back.”
Baudelaire's correspondence makes it possible to define quite precisely the different types of inscriptions the poet made on the publication of his collection. He himself sent a list to de Broise to mention those to whom the press deliveries were dedicated, mainly possible judicial intercessors and influential literary critics. The poet then requires “twenty-five [copies] on ordinary paper, intended for friends who do not deliver literary services.” A letter to his mother tells us that he only got twenty. Some of them were sent in June 1857 to his friends, including one for Louis-Ludovic Tenré. Others were saved by the poet or offered late like the ones for Achille Bourdilliat and Jules de Saint-Félix.
If Tenré, this childhood friend whom Baudelaire has just found again in December 1856, is honored with one of the poet's rare personal copies of the Fleurs du mal publication, the three misprints he immediately noticed having been carefully corrected by hand, it is not on account of a service delivered or in anticipation of an immediate benefit. However, as always with Baudelaire, neither did he send his masterpiece to his boarding companion from Louis-le-Grand school as a simple “reminder of good friendship.”
As early as 1848, Louis-Ludovic Tenré took over from his father, the publisher Louis Tenré, who, like other major publishers, moved into investment, providing loans and discounts exclusively for those in the book industry. These bookseller-bankers played a key role in the fragile publishing economy and contributed to the extreme diversity of literary production in the nineteenth century, supporting the activities of small but bold publishers and liquidating other major judicial clashes.
In December 1856, Baudelaire tells Poulet-Malassis that he had deposited an expired banknote with this “old school mate,” which Tenré, out of friendship, agreed to accept. It was the initial advance for “the printing of one thousand copies [of a collection] of verses entitled Les Fleurs du Mal.” With this copy hot off the presses, Baudelaire then offers Tenré the precious result of the work discounted by his new banker. It is the beginning of a long financial relationship. Amongst all of Baudelaire's discounters, Louis-Ludovic Tenré will be the poet's favorite and the only one to whom an autographed work will be sent.
Nicolas Stokopf, in his work Les Patrons du Second Empire, banquiers et financiers parisiens, dedicates a chapter to Louis-Ludovic Tenré and evokes the privileged relationship between the poet and this unusual and scholarly financier, Paraguay consul and Latin America specialist, also the author of a significant work, Les états américains, published for the 1867 Exposition Universelle, of which he was a commissioner.
Even the poet's countless financial hazards will never cause lasting damage to their agreement. The trust this publisher's son he puts in Baudelaire is down to Tenré's interest in literature, as is evidenced by this excellently preserved copy given to him by Baudelaire. Quoted many times in his correspondence, and in his “carnet” – a kind of poetic diary written between 1861 and 1863 – Louis-Ludovic Tenré quickly became the main financial interlocutor for the poet whose life is, nevertheless, affected by the fear of his creditors.
“There is an astounding incoherence between Baudelaire's blinding intelligence and the chaos of his material life. He spends his time in his correspondence chasing money, his letters are almost exclusively about that. He is incapable of managing a budget of 200 francs per month and is in debt everywhere, even though he is not entitled to it, since he is under guardianship. Worse still: his annuity serves him only to pay the interest on the loans he takes out at very high rates. It is a vicious circle: he himself digs his own financial black hole.” (Baudelaire, Marie-Christine Natta).
The 1857 signed copies of Fleurs du Mal are amongst the most prestigious works and have for a long time had a prominent place in major private collections (Marquis du Bourg de Bozas, Jacques Doucet, Sacha Guitry, Pierre Berès, Colonel Sickles, Pierre Bergé, Bernard Loliée, Pierre Leroy, Jean Bonna, etc.).
This work's utmost importance in the history of literature, well beyond French literature, as well as the particular history of its publication, have contributed to the early interest in the first edition and even more so for the rare copies given out by the author.
In 1860, during the auction of all of Custine's property, who died in August 1857, the poems of a salacious poet dedicated to a writer of poor moral standards were little appreciated. However, by 1865, Baudelaire himself states that “for two years we have been asking everywhere [Les Fleurs du Mal], and in sales, they make quite a lot”. And by 1873 and 1874, the Gautier and Daumier library sales mention their precious copies and “the handwritten ex-dono” with which they are adorned.
Since then, the inscribed copies have been described and referenced, which has enabled bibliographers to count and allocate 55 copies of the first edition of Fleurs du Mal that were handed out by Baudelaire. Amongst them, some have been destroyed (like Mérimée's copy, during a fire at his home), others are only mentioned in the correspondence of the person to whom they are dedicated, but were never known (particularly the copies given to Flaubert, Deschamps, Custine and Molènes), several of them only made a brief appearance in the nineteenth century before disappearing (amongst which we include the copies of Honoré Daumier, Louis Ulbach and Champfleury). Finally, some major international institutions, libraries and museums acquired them very early on for their collections (including those of Saint-Victor, Le Maréchal, Nadar, Pincebourde, etc.).
Since the Second World War, only thirty or so copies of Fleurs du Mal featuring an inscription by Baudelaire have appeared in libraries, on public sale or in bookshop catalogs, each time being subject to specific attention from all of the professionals, international institutions and bibliophiles that have been informed.
Perfectly set, with its wrappers, in a Jansenist binding by one of the major bookbinders of the end of the 19th century, Louis-Ludovic Tenré's very beautiful copy, one of twenty reserved for the author, enriched with precious handwritten corrections and given by Baudelaire on publication, appears as a remarkable witness to the specific conditions under which this legendary work was published.

Illustrated edition with 12 hors-texte watercolors as well as 225 vignettes and ornaments by Maurice Leloir.
Half blue morocco binding with corners, spine with five raised bands showing minor rubbing, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, binding signed by Champs.
Some foxing.
Preface by Guy de Maupassant.

La volonté de puissance. Essai d'une transmutation de toutes les valeurs [Will to power], Mercure de France, Paris 1903, 13x18,5cm, 2 volume in original wrappers.
First edition of the French translation, one of 12 numbered copies on Hollande paper, the only grand papier (deluxe) copies.
One small trace of folding, not serious, to lower cover of the second volume, endpapers very slightly and partially shaded.
Nice and rare copy with untrimmed edges.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on Lafuma pure wove paper, the only deluxe copies after 40 on Rives laid paper.
This novel was awarded the Prix Goncourt, which the author declined. The previous year, in the pamphlet La Littérature à l'estomac, Julien Gracq had denounced the commercial system of literature, in particular criticizing literary prizes.
A very handsome copy.

First edition for each of the volumes with print runs varying from 297 to 1,250 numbered copies on pure laid paper, the only deluxe copies along with the reimposed ones.
Two spines slightly sunned, rare light worming on four endpapers, otherwise handsome set.

Edition illustrated by Georges Thomas as well as fleurons and vignettes by Percy Macquoid, one of the rare copies printed on pink paper.
A large tear to the margin of the back board.
A full-margined copy.

First edition very sought-after according to Clouzot.
A little light spotting, two ink stains on title and half-title page.
Rare copy in its original wrappers.

First edition, one of 40 numbered copies on vélin pur fil paper, the tirage de tête (deluxe copies).

Full morocco, covers and spine preserved, slipcase, elegant binding signed by Semet & Plumelle.

Provenances: mostly from Robert Desprechins' library with his ex-libris drawn by Jean Cocteau, and by Louis de Sadeleer with his engraved ex-libris.

A very nice copy beautifully bound morocco signed by Semet & Plumelle.

Rare and highly sought-after first edition (...) of which only a portion of the copies contains a preface (cf. Clouzot). The important account of the lawsuit concerning The Lily of the Valley that precedes the novel was not retained in subsequent editions and is often lacking in a number of the copies published by Werdet.

Copy complete with both the preface and the account of the lawsuit that opposed Balzac to the publisher François Buloz. Contemporary half green sheepskin bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt romantic typographical motifs, gilt fillets at heads and tails, marbled paper boards, paste paper endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, contemporary romantic bindings. Some minor foxing, bookseller's descriptive label pasted at head of front pastedown of the first volume.

Exceptional copy in an elegant contemporary binding.

First edition on ordinary paper.

A few small spots of foxing, and a faint dampstain along the right margin affecting most leaves of the volume.

Black 3/4 morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed in black, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards framed in gilt, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers preserved and bound on stubs, top edge gilt, slipcase trimmed with black morocco, marbled paper slipcase boards, binding signed P. Goy & C. Vilaine.
Very rare signed and inscribed copy to Madame Charpentier, his publisher’s wife: "... son bien dévoué et respectueux..."

New edition of the French translation by Pierre Loti and Emile Vedel.
Signed autograph Emile Vedel Dr. Belières enriched with the handwritten signature of Pierre Loti.
A small lack filled Length of a flat, traces of folds in margins flat.

[Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason]
Plon, Paris 1961, 5 1/2 x 8 1/16 ”, original wrappers.
First edition, of which there were no grand papier (deluxe)copies, an advance (service de presse) copy. A second, revised, edition appeared in 1972.
Spine slightly bowed, retaining dj, dj with a few tears and lacks to plastic film cover.
Handsome autograph inscription signed by Michel Foucault, at the time a young teacher, on his first important work, taken from his doctorate.
A very rare advance copy, which could be said to have taken the place of the grand papier (deluxe) copies.

First edition, one of 200 numbered copies on alfa, the only deluxe copies after 25 Madagascar.
Spine wrinkled and faded with a restored tear at foot, a lack at foot of first board, some foxing affecting mainly the margins of certain leaves, worming to boards.

First edition, one of 210 numbered copies on alfa paper, the tirage de tête after 15 on Hollande paper and 60 on pur fil paper.
A good copy.

Fourth edition, partly first edition as it was significantly expanded. The first three, similar to each other, appeared during 1688. The fourth edition is therefore considered the second first edition. It appeared simultaneously at the Parisian publisher Etienne Michallet, who had indeed shared his privilege with Amaulry since the first editions. Title page in red and black.
Half vellum 19th-century binding with corners. Spine with raised bands decorated with roulettes. Brown shagreen title label. Upper joint split at tail for 8 cm. Small split in vellum at lower joint at head. Rubbing.
This fourth edition is the first to have been completed, it indeed contains 764 remarks against 420 in the first and those that followed.
The writing of the Caractères begins in 1670, but it is only after 17 years of work that La Bruyère decides to publish the Caractères, he is however so unsure of success that he gives precedence to his translation of Theophrastus's Characters in the first editions and it will be necessary to wait for the fifth for the work of the Caractères to assert itself before that of Theophrastus, and for La Bruyère to finally sign the edition with his name.

New edition illustrated with 19 figures outside the text drawn by Gravelot and engraved by Le Roy.
Full olive green calf bindings, smooth spines slightly rubbed, decorated with typographical motifs, double gilt fillets and roulettes, fine hatching on the headcaps, joints slightly cracked at head and foot otherwise slightly rubbed, gilt roulettes framing the boards and pastedowns, blue speckled marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt roulettes on the leading edges, all edges gilt. Contemporary bindings.
Handsome copy in contemporary binding.

Later edition of the works of Pierre Corneille with a commentary by Voltaire.
Contemporary half green Russia over paper boards (a little rubbed), spine with gilt Restoration typographic motifs.
A little foxing.
The set is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author drawn and engraved by Auguste de Saint-Aubin and 25 hors texte figures by Jean-Michel Moreau.
A very good complete set of the works of Pierre Corneille in contemporary half Russia.

New edition printed on laid paper and illustrated with a frontispiece drawn by Bernard Picart dit le Romain and engraved by Vinkeles. Also includes two allegorical figures by van der Meer (as frontispiece to l'Epitre and l'Art poétique), 6 figures after Picart re-engraved by Vinkeles for Le Lutrin and four title vignettes by van der Meer and one by F. de Bakker.
Contemporary bindings in full speckled blonde calf, smooth spines decorated with red straight-grained morocco title and volume labels, fleurons and triple gilt fillets, gilt striations on headcaps, gilt fillets on leading edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges speckled blue. Gilt initials at foot of spines.
Headcap of volume 1 slightly rubbed, discreet worming on tailcap of volume 1 and on title label as well as at foot of joint of second board of volumes 3 and 5, traces of rubbing on boards, slight lack to first board of volumes 1 and 3, small dark stains on spine and second board of volume 1, corners somewhat rubbed. Very small wormhole to upper margin of leaves of volume 2.
Fresh copy, free from foxing.

Illustrated with original vignettes by Jean Gigoux.
Half dark green morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands richly decorated with gilt compartments and fleurons, gilt date at foot, top edge gilt retaining deckled edges. Binding signed Champs.
Work illustrated, as frontispiece, with a portrait of the author on China paper as well as 600 vignettes here in first printing by Jean Gigoux.
Some rubbing to joints, otherwise a handsome copy.

Rare and sought-after first edition, noted by Clouzot, particularly desirable in a contemporary binding.
Half brown shagreen bindings, spines with four raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and double gilt panels, strictly contemporary bindings.
It seems the binder was not a regular reader of the great writer, as he stamped "T. Gaultier" as the author on the spine.
A very handsome copy in notably appealing condition.

First complete collected edition and first illustrated edition. The first edition of Dom Garcie de Navarre, L'Impromptu de Versailles, Dom Juan ou le Festin de Pierre, Les Amans magnifiques, and La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas. With thirty copper engraved illustrations by Jean Sauvé after Pierre Brassart, 9 of them included in the pagination.
19th-century red full morocco binding, spines with five raised bands, date gilt at foot, double gilt fillets to edges of covers and spine-ends, large inned gilt dentelle, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Bindings signed M. Lortic.

An exceptional copy of the famous 1682 edition housed in a very elegant binding by Marcelin Lortic, who succeeded his father Pierre-Marcellin Lortic - Baudelaire's binder.

First edition, one of 36 numbered copies on vélin pur fil, this N°1, the only large paper copies
Grained sharkskin-effect leather by Alain Devauchelle (dated 2004), various shades of pink with glittering effect, no title to spine, a triangle of mother of pearl applied to centre of upper cover, maroon suede pastedowns and endpapers, covers and spine preserved, half maroon calf chemise with flaps, author and title in palladium, maroon suede lining, the slipcase edged with maroon calf and lined with grey felt
A fine copy in an important artist's binding evoking the esoteric nature of the book.

First edition, one advance (service de presse) copy.

Handsome autograph inscription from Raymond Radiguet to Léon Daudet: « A monsieur Léon Daudet avec ma profonde admiration. »

Raymond Radiguet fait la connaissance de Léon Daudet par l'entremise de son frère Lucien Daudet, très lié à Jean Cocteau depuis sa jeunesse. Radiguet avait nourri pour Léon Daudet, alors député de Paris et membre de l'Action française, une fervente admiration qui s'était muée, très peu de temps avant son propre décès, en critique acerbe.
L'origine de ce brusque revirement se trouve dans le scandale provoqué par le suicide du fils de Léon Daudet, Philippe, en novembre 1923 : le député, pour sauver son honneur, soutient la thèse d'un assassinat politique par des membres de la Sûreté Générale, à qui il reproche leurs idées républicaines. Radiguet, touché par la mort de l'adolescent, est révolté par l'attitude du père et, dans un mouvement d'humeur, écrit dans son journal : « Léon Daudet. Il est trop protégé par la République. Le déploiement de forces fait autour de lui, non par [les] Camelots du Roi, mais par le Gouvernement. Son assassinat serait peut-être deuil national, mais n'attristerait pas beaucoup ni profondément. Ce qui fait que je ne l'aime plus, c'est qu'on l'aime trop, c'est qu'il est comme les autres hommes politiques - un peu mieux, oui - Léon Daudet, c'est la Troisième République. Charles Maurras est mieux, quoique pas admirable, mais s'il est vulgaire, sa vulgarité est d'une époque antérieure à celle de Léon Daudet. » (RD, Œuvres complètes, Paris, 1993).

Rare témoignage de l'admiration juvénile de Raymond Radiguet pour le maurassien Léon Daudet.

First edition of Charles Nodier's commentary and first printing of the frontispiece and 8 illustrations hors-texte by Eugène Devéria, one of the rare copies printed on vellum.
Half brown morocco bindings with corners, spines slightly lightened with four fine raised bands set with gilt dots decorated with double gilt compartments richly decorated, gilt friezes at head and foot, traces of rubbing on joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners slightly bumped, contemporary bindings signed by Bibolet.
Some light foxing, library classification labels pasted opposite half-title pages.
Provenance: from the library of Paul Lacombe with his bookplates pasted on pastedowns.