The Nectar and the Ambrosia: Legendary Gift Ideas

First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on bouffant vellum paper from the Salzer mills, ours being No. 1, the only deluxe paper issue.
Handsome copy of this work awarded the Grand Prix du Roman of the Académie française. 
 

First edition, one of 500 numbered copies on pure wove paper.

Bound in full sienna morocco, flat spine with a slight snag at head, date gilt at foot, moiré endpapers and pastedowns, single gilt fillet framing the pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, gilt edges, chemise edged in sienna morocco, slipcase of wood-grained boards lined with white felt, contemporary binding signed by Roger Arnoult.

Our copy is enriched with a signed autograph letter, one page, by Jean Cocteau mounted on a tab, dated April 1959, probably addressed to Pierre Benoit: "Nôtre Pierre fantôme... c'est autour de votre souvenir qu'on se réunit. C'est une chaîne bien étonnante que celle de cette affreuse et délicieuse cabane. Pensez moi. Je pense à vous. Je vous aime et je me résigne à vous aimer en rêve."

A fine copy, handsomely bound by Roger Arnoult, a graduate of the École Estienne, active until 1980, who worked with and for the greatest binders of his time such as René Aussourd, Anthoine-Legrain, Paul Bonet, Georges Cretté, Pierre-Lucien Martin...

First edition, one of 95 copies on pur fil, the only deluxe issue after 45 copies on Hollande.
A slight vertical crease on the front cover.
A handsome copy.

First edition printed with 750 numbered copies on Arches Velin and planned for the exhibition of Léger's works organised at the Louis Carré gallery from 19 November to 31 December 1954, for which the catalogue has been published only two years after the retrospective.

Work illustrated with original lithographs by Fernand Léger: 6 unpaged colour plates, two of which are double pages, 5 black and white unpaged plates and 10 within the text.

A beautiful copy despite slight rubbing to the caps.

First bilingual edition, one of 270 copies on Arches Ingres paper, including a photographic portrait of Ratna Mohini by her husband Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Rare and handsome 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 50 numbered copies on pur fil.
Spine slightly sunned, a small scratch to the front cover, corner creases at the preserved margins.
Rare copy as issued.

First edition.

Full red morocco binding, round spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons, slight rubbing on the caps, double frame of blind-stamped gilt fillets on the covers, with fleurons at the corners of the inner frame, edges slightly blunt, marbled paper endpapers and back covers, gilt edges and heads, very elegant 19th-century binding ‘a la Du Seuil’ signed Quinet on the first endpaper. 

Rare first edition of Chamblain de Marivaux's first theatrical success, The Surprise of Love, published four years before The Second Surprise of Love. This play, performed in the spring of 1722 before being published the following year in 1723, already contains all the essence of Marivaux's style, all its subtle gallantry. According to the Romantic poet Theophile Gautier, it is the author's masterpiece. 

First edition, no copies on deluxe paper issued.

3/4 brown half morocco binding, spine with color restoration, five raised bands framed in black, gilt date at foot, boards, endpapers and pastedowns in wood-grain style marbled paper, covers and spine preserved, gilt edges, an elegant binding signed Alix.

Manuscript ex-libris in black ink and a discreet restoration to the upper right corner of the first endpaper.

One of the very few copies bearing an autograph inscription—fewer than ten are recorded—of this first edition, containing the Marseillaise.
First edition illustrated with an engraved frontispiece by Charles-Étienne Gaucher after Jean-Jacques Le Barbier and four pages of engraved musical score at the end of the volume. La Marseillaise appears here in its true first edition, having first been pre-published in the Almanach des Muses in 1793 and circulated as separate leaves.
Contemporary half-sheepskin binding, smooth spine gilt-decorated with compartments, fleurons and fillets, red morocco title-piece, black pasteboard sides. Several manuscript and pasted ex-libris on the pastedown and endpapers. Spine restored, some foxing. The last two letters of the dedicatee’s name have been trimmed in the binding.
The work is enriched on the half-title with an exceptional autograph presentation by Rouget de L’Isle to a fellow artist of the Revolution: “M de La Chabeaussiè[re] / de la part de l'auteur.”
Rouget de Lisle and Poisson de la Chabeaussière, the recipient of the dedication, both embodied the revolutionary fervour and left their mark on the republican history of France through their writings.
La Marseillaise is presented here alongside other poems and songs. This first edition delivers the celebrated anthem in its original form: six quatrains, as written by Captain Rouget de L’Isle for the Army of the Rhine in April 1792, and proclaimed the national anthem in 1795 by the decree of 26 Messidor Year III.
As lyricists and men of letters, Rouget de L’Isle and La Chabeaussière were zealous servants of the Revolution but also victims of its excesses. At the time of this inscription, in Year V of the Republic, the two men were at the height of their glory: one as the author of the national anthem that thrilled revolutionary France, the other as the writer of the most widely disseminated republican catechism of the Revolution. Indeed, La Chabeaussière composed another major work of revolutionary heritage: a Catéchisme républicain, philosophique et moral, reprinted eighty-two times up to the Third Republic, which earned him a seat on the Commission exécutive de l’instruction publique. Like Rouget de L’Isle, he also achieved success as a lyricist and librettist, notably for the comic operas of Nicolas Delayrac. The history of La Marseillaise from its creation is interwoven with that of La Chabeaussière and of the composer Delayrac, whose heroic drama Sargines ou l’Élève de l’amour presents striking similarities with the anthem.
Neither La Chabeaussière nor Rouget de L’Isle, despite the fame of the Marseillaise, escaped the terrors of the Revolution. Declared “suspects,” they were both imprisoned in 1793, respectively at the prisons of the Madelonettes and of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After these dark hours, they resumed a more peaceful existence and continued to collaborate actively with the Almanach des Muses, which first published La Marseillaise in volume form.
Upon La Chabeaussière’s death in 1820, the copy embarked on a most romantic history. It still bears the inscription of its second owner, Édouard Gendron: “Ce livre a été acheté en 1821 – à un carrefour près la place de l’école de médecine, parmi un tas de ferraille.”
First publication by its composer of the most celebrated symbol of the French Republic: La Marseillaise. Its precious presentation brings together revolutionary poets whose intertwined destinies left an indelible mark on the history of France.

Complete set of 115 copper-engraved plates with an additional plate (116 plates), all printed on either laid or wove paper, all hand-colored with watercolor. Two entirely different plates 39 follow each other, in first issue: "Les Titus et les cache-folies" was published in the 1817 and 1822 sets, and the other "La Politicomanie" appeared in 1827. This is the most complete series, which also includes the 11 new plates published from 1818 to 1822, numbered 105 to 115.

According to Vicaire, the plates were probably all printed between 1801 and 1822, and only the text preceding the plates was reprinted in 1827.

3/4 long-grained cherry half-morocco, smooth spine elaborately framed in gilt lentghwise, gilt tooled center of spine, gilt lettered title at head of spine framed in gilt, marbled boards, marbled paper endpapers and flyleaves. Minor brown spots are mainly confined to the 24 pp. of text, with very few on the plates, mainly on the margins and versos.

A rare and famous collection of costumes, genre and entertainment scenes from the French First Empire and Restoration eras, with very wide margins and magnificently hand-colored at the time. A veritable encyclopedia of thrills, pleasures and pageantry, published by Pierre de la Mésangère, leading fashion editor at the turn of the century. This copy includes two versions of plate 39, both of which are extremely scarce.
 

Edition of wich no leading copies exists.
Binding of the editor in full black fabric.
Iconography.
Slips slightly warped in margins, the book that had stayed in a damp place previously, otherwise nice copy.

Rare autograph signed Kenzo Takada Gilles Brochard.

Illustrated edition by Grandville, engraved by Geoffroy, comprising 29 hand-coloured plates hors-texte in the first volume, and in the second, 23 hand-coloured plates hors-texte along with 2 black botanical plates illustrating the physiology of plants, "Horticulture des dames" and "Culture des fleurs." For this edition, the plates were re-coloured by Maubert, with fresher and more vivid tones, considered superior to the first edition. Accompanied by 3 pages of sheet music for the romance Le myosotis. 
Contemporary half blue shagreen bindings. Spines with raised bands decorated with three gilt panels. Some scattered foxing, title-page of volume 2 with spotting. A few leaves slightly protruding. Spines somewhat darkened. Signs of rubbing. Tip of one corner lacking. A good copy.

First edition, with no mention of deluxe paper copies.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Octave Mirbeau to his friend Jules Renard.
Blue pencil mark by Jules Renard on the front cover.
Our copy is further enriched with Jules Renard's celebrated ex-libris, designed and engraved by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Multi-colored autograph letter to Max Pellequer

Elegant multi-colored autograph letter by Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, signed and dated 'December 20, 1955'. A leaf in multi-color pencil (blue, green, orange and red).
Traces of transverse folds.
This "graphic" letter in the most literal sense constitutes a superb polychrome and artistic link in an epistolary chain that linked Picasso and his prominent patron for decades.

New edition.
Contemporary binding in half green shagreen, spine in four compartments set with gilt stippling, gilt fillets and gilt fleurons in the corner pieces, multiple blind tooled frames on the boards, white iridescent paper endpapers, all edges gilt.
Some leaves shorter in the bottom margin.

Handwritten inscription signed by George Sand on the first endpaper: “à mon bon ami Edmond Plauchut. G. Sand".

Today the only outsider to the family buried in the cemetery of the Nohant house, is Lucien-Joseph-Edmond Plau
chut (1824-1909) who began an epistolary relationship with George Sand in the autumn of 1848 when he was a voluntary expatriate after the fall of the Republic. Leaving for Singapore, he was shipwrecked off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands and was able to save only one cassette containing Sand's letters that he had preciously bound. These missives were his salvation: they allowed him to be collected, fed and laundered by a rich Portuguese admirer of the Lady of Nohant, Francisco Cardozzo de Mello.

After several journeys toward the Far East, and several exotic presents sent to his distant and yet so close friend, Plauchut finally met George Sand in
1861. In 1870, she paid a vibrant tribute to him in the preface of her novel Malgrétout.

Despite everything, she recounts the shipwreck of which he was a victim and expresses with emotion her friendship for this courageous friend. Plauchut, much loved by the Sand family – and particularly George's granddaughters who nicknamed him Uncle Plauchemar – was an integral part until his death in January 1909.

The handwritten signed inscriptions on La Mare au Diable are very rare, this one is from a superb provenance.

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on alfa, the only grands papiers (deluxe copies) after 5 pur-fil paper.

Bound in half green morocco, paste paper boards, marbled paper endpapers, wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, contemporary binding signed Lucie Weill.
Skilful and discreet repair to the top of a joint.
Illustrated with 6 vignettes by André Derain.

Handsome inscription signed by Antonin Artaud: “à Alice & à Carlo Rim que j'aime beaucoup parce que j'aime dans la vie tout ce qui est nature, franc et sans fard et la vie d'Héliogabale aussi est franche et sans fard et dans la ligne de la grande Nature. Antonin Artaud leur ami.” (“To Alice & Carlo Rim whom I love very much because I love in life all that is nature, frank and unvarnished and the life of Elagabalus is also frank and unvarnished and in line with the great Nature. Antonin Artaud their friend.”)

First edition, one of 12 numbered copies on Hollande, the only deluxe issue. 

Complete with the folding map at the end.

Full fawn morocco binding, five raised band spine, date at foot, comb-marbled paper pastedowns framed with a rich gilt roll, comb-marbled endpapers, gilt fillet to headcap, gilt fillet to leading edges, gilt roll to headcaps, original wrappers and spine preserved, all gilt deckled edges, housed in a fawn morocco-edged slipcase. Binding signed by Semet & Plumelle. 

Provenance: From the libraries of Dr André Chauveau, Lucius Wilmerding, and RBL, with their bookplates affixed.

A splendid deluxe copy of exceptional rarity. 

Edition from the year of the original, stating 78th thousand.
Copy complete with its wraparound band announcing the award of the 1965 Prix Renaudot.
A minute tear without consequence at the foot of one joint.

Autograph inscription signed by Georges Perec to Jean Berthou and his wife.

Second edition only one month after the first edition.
Spine lightly wrinkled, small signs of folding in the margins of the boards, a light mark on the second board.

Claude Couffon, a French specialist and translator of the major Spanish-speaking writers of the second half of the 20th century, translated Chronicle of a Death Foretold a few years later.
On the last page, below the colophon, Gabriel García Márquez specified an address in Barcelona, that of his famous literary agent for Spain: “c/o Agencia Carmen Ballcells Urgel 241, Barcelona, 11.”

Rightly considered as one of the most important works op the Spanish language, the novel by García Márquez, however, had difficult beginnings after a first refusal by the avant-garde Barcelona publisher Seix Barral: “This novel will not be successful [...], this novel is useless.”
García Márquez sent it from Mexico to the Argentinian publisher Francisco Porrúa who immediately perceived the power of this unknown Colombian writer: “It wasn't a question of getting to the end to find out if the novel could be published. The publication was already decided from the first line, in the first paragraph. I simply understood what any sensible publisher would have understood: that it was an exceptional work.”
Finished printing in May 1967, Cien Años de Soledad appeared in bookshops in June with 8,000 copies selling out in a few days. The second print on 30 June will have the same success, as will the editions that follow week after week. More than half a million copies were sold in three years.

Several copies were later inscribed by Gabriel García Márquez who over the years has become one of the most famous South American writers, translated into 25 languages. However, contemporary autograph inscriptions on the first prints are extremely rare, even more so to one of his French translators who will contribute largely to his international renown.

First edition, one of the review copies.
Preface by Raymond Queneau.
Rare and appealing copy.

Rare signed autograph presentation from Boris Vian to Marc Bernard.

First edition, one of 90 copies on Holland paper, ours being one of a few lettered hors commerce copies.
Bradel binding in half brown box, smooth spine, decorated paper boards, brown endpapers and pastedowns, original covers preserved, top edge gilt, binding signed by Goy & Vilaine.
Precious autograph inscription signed by Paul Valéry: « A Victoria Ocampo, - a sus piès de Vd - ce petit rien qu'elle a bien voulu désirer. »
A superb dedication that marks the beginning of the enduring friendship between the two writers, beyond all differences.
At Valéry's death in 1945, Victoria Ocampo would recall their first meeting in December 1928 during a writers’ dinner to which the young Argentine, newly arrived in Paris, had been invited.
A founding moment of their friendship and of the mutual admiration testified by their moving correspondence, it is against the measure of this first impression that Victoria Ocampo described her relationship with the poet and « les sentiments contradictoires que suscitèrent en [elle] la rencontre de l'œuvre et de l'homme qui la conçut : émerveillement, étranglement, admiration, accablement, bonheur. Effets, sur une Sud-Américaine, amoureuse du génie français, d'une des plus grandes intelligences européennes, lorsqu'elle s'en approcha - un peu tremblante - comme d'un feu qui vous attire et vous tient à distance du même coup. »
There is no doubt that Valéry’s impression was no less intense, since he addressed to her, soon after, this humble dedication reminiscent of Victor Hugo’s treasured inscriptions to Juliette Drouet « à vos pieds, Ma Dame ».
As the fallen poet’s epistolary confidante during the harsh years of war, Ocampo would pay him, at his death, a fervent homage « par-delà l'intelligence et la bêtise, par-delà la vie. Avec mon respect, mon culte, ma tendre affection si nouée à l'humain. Avec tout ce qui en moi, tant que je vivrai, ne cessera de le sentir vivant, ne cessera d'être le lieu périssable où son immortalité commence. »
A few small spots of foxing.
A perfectly preserved copy.

Edition published the same year as the first. Illustrated with a portrait of the author, three folding plates, a folding map of Longwood house and two folding maps.
Some foxing.

Full black calf bindings, smooth spines with gilt romantic motifs, boards with central motif in blind, boards ruled in gilt, a small restoration to the margin of the first volume's upper board, handmade endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, spine-ends ruled in gilt, contemporary romantic bindings.

Rare signed and inscribed copy to a veteran of the Napoleonic wars, on the title page of the first volume: "A Mr. Foucauld, ancien s. [sous] officier de la Grande Armée. Passy 19. 7bre 1840 par le Cte de Las Cases" [To Mr. Foucauld, former second officer of the French Imperial Army. Passy 19. September 1840 by Count de Las Cases]

This inscription by the famous memorialist dates from the year Napoleon's mortal remains were returned to France, a few days before the Belle Poule frigate arrived in St. Helena to collect the coffin. Las Cases inscribed this copy at a turning point in history, as the world was once again turning to the remote island where the Emperor was exiled and buried. A second resurrection was to occur with the triumphant return of the imperial coffin:

"Frozen sky, pure sun. - Oh! shines in history,
Of the mournful imperial triumph torch!
May the people forever keep you in their memory,
Beautiful day like glory,
Cold as the grave" (Le Retour de l'Empereur, Victor Hugo).
The famous compilation of memories and confidences of Napoleon in exile was considered from the beginning to be a true masterpiece which had a lasting effect on Napoleonic legacy. Inscriptions by Las Cases on his most famous work are extremely rare. Las Cases wrote these words to another faithful servant of the Empire, at a time when one of the most important events in Napoleonic history was unfolding: the long voyage of so-called “Mission des cendres”. Las Cases was to be part of this expedition and abandoned due to ill health. He was replaced by his son who had shared his captivity in St Helena and was to publish, like his father, an account of his journey with the Emperor's remains. Las Cases did, however, attend the lavish funeral ceremony at the Invalides, true to his words from the Mémorial: "The heavens blessed my efforts by allowing me to go all the way".

An exceptional copy with a rare meaningful signed autograph inscription, on the iconic work at the origin of Napoleonic mythology, handsomely set in a contemporary binding with Romantic gilt motifs.

Edition illustrated with 16 original watercolours by Auguste Leroux, engraved on copper by Delzers and Feltesse, one of 90 numbered copies on Imperial Japan paper.
Bound in navy blue half morocco with corners, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt pointillé and triple gilt panels with typographic motifs, gilt date at foot, gilt fillet borders on marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, gilt edges, contemporary binding signed by Bernasconi. 
As stated in the justification of the print run for the copies on Imperial Japan paper, our copy is complete with its two suites: one in colour with remarques and the other in colour.
In addition, our copy is exceptionally enriched with 2 original drawings by Auguste Leroux, one heightened with watercolour, signed with his initials and placed at the beginning of the volume, just after the justification of the print run. 
A fine copy, perfectly bound and enriched with two original drawings.

First edition of the French translation by Jean Dutourd, one of 86 numbered copies on pur fil, only grand papier (deluxe) copies. 

First edition (cf. Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306.)

Bound in full old red morocco, smooth spine decorated with fleur-de-lis panels, gilt roll tooling on the caps, triple gilt fillet framing on covers, gilt tooling along the edges, corners slightly rubbed, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.

Date handwritten in black ink at the top of the upper cover.

This rather rare almanac was published continuously from 1744 to 1789.

Provenance: From the library of heraldist Olivier Le Bas, with his bookplate mounted on a pastedown.

New edition, adorned with a portrait of the author by Daullé, three headpieces by de Sève engraved by Juste Chevillet, twelve plates engraved by Jacques Aliamet, Jean-Jacques Flipart, Noël Le Mire, Louis-Simon Lempereur, Dominique Sornique, and Jacques-Nicolas Tardieu, and thirteen vignettes and sixty tail-pieces, all by de Sève engraved by Jean-Charles Baquoy, Jean-Jacques Flipart, and Louis Legrand.

A superb copy of the first luxury edition of Racine, among the most sought-after, bound in the most sumptuous red morocco.

Contemporary full red morocco, spine with five raised bands and gilt compartments, triple gilt fillet border, corner fleurons, yellow morocco lettering pieces and volume numbers, double gilt fillets on the boards, marbled endpapers, double gilt fillet on the edges, gilt dentelle turn-ins, gilt edges. Occasional light foxing, mostly on the early leaves of the volumes; some browned pages; skilfully restored corners and joints; a few scratches.

The first edition, first printing, numbered in the press, with only 23 large paper copies on Hollande paper.
With a frontispiece portrait of Apollinaire by Picasso.
Discreet restorations to spine.

With a chemise of half red morocco over paper boards by Boichot, spine in six compartments, date to foot of spine, identical paper slipcase with red morocco edging.

 
Rare autograph inscription signed by Guillaume Apollinaire: “for Henri Ghéon whose poetry I am fond of, Guillaume Apollinaire”.
This copy also with five manuscript corrections by Apollinaire on pages 71, 77, 92, 110 and 189.
A good copy with a rare autograph inscription by the poet.

An autograph quatrain in black ink has been mounted on the verso of the frontispiece.

First edition.

Bound in full cherry red morocco, smooth spine richly gilt with romantic typographic ornaments, gilt roll tooling on the caps, boards framed with double gilt fillets and interlaced motifs with gilt corner fleurons, gilt AO monogram stamped at the center of the boards, gilt garland border on the pastedowns, moiré sky-blue silk endpapers and pastedowns, trace of a removed bookplate on one pastedown, gilt fillets on the edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.

The sections relating to the colonies are as follows: Martinique, pp. 199–203; Guadeloupe and dependencies, pp. 204–209; French Guiana, pp. 210–212; Bourbon, pp. 216–220; French settlements in Oceania, pp. 223–224.

Copy from the library of Antoine-Marie-Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier (1824–1890), youngest son of Louis-Philippe, with his gilt AO monogram stamped at the center of the boards. OHR 2590 (tool not listed).

A very handsome copy, finely bound in a period romantic binding with the Duke of Montpensier's monogram.

First edition, with a photographic portrait of H.G. Wells as frontispiece to the first volume.

Illustrated throughout.

Some minor foxing, mostly to the edges.

Contemporary black half-shagreen bindings with cornerpieces, spines with three raised bands, gilt-stamped marine anchors at the foot (a few showing some loss), and gilt medallions on the upper boards featuring the ocean liner Normandie with three inlaid red and black shagreen pieces representing its smokestacks; marbled endpapers and pastedowns, with small red dots in the upper corners of the first flyleaves. Bound at the time for the Normandie.

A handsome copy with distinguished provenance.

Edition established, annotated, and commented by Le Roux de Lincy and Anatole de Montaiglon. Deluxe printing limited to 395 copies on deluxe paper, this one of 40 on Whatman paper (No. 301), including three suites of the engravings: one in black on Japan paper, one in bistre, and one in sanguine.

Illustrated with a portrait by T. de Mare, a frontispiece by Dunker, and 76 figures after Freudenberg engraved by De Longueil, Eichler, Le Roy, among others. Includes head- and tailpieces. One chromolithographed plate depicting the arms of Marguerite de Navarre. All engravings are presented in three states, except the chromolithograph.

Contemporary full citron morocco binding signed by Allo. Spine with five raised bands, richly tooled with Marguerite de Navarre’s cipher repeated twice and fleur-de-lys motifs, framed in gilt compartments with various decorative tools and fillets. Her coat of arms stamped at the center of both covers, triple gilt fillet border. Lavish gilt dentelle turn-ins. A thin scratch to the lower board of volume II and a small surface crack along the lower joint of the same volume. A very well-preserved copy with only occasional light foxing. Edges untrimmed, causing the engravings to be slightly shorter than the text block.

A magnificent set in a masterly period binding.

New edition printed in 250 copies at the government's expense, intended to provide work for typographic workers (cf. Sabin 11841. Leclerc 697).

Contemporary half blue calf bindings, flat spines decorated with double gilt fillets and blind-stamped typographic motifs, gilt decorative rolls at foot of spines, restored with minor rubbing to the spines, marbled paper boards, hand-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Some occasional light foxing.

A rare copy, handsomely bound in contemporary bindings.

To our knowledge unpublished autograph letter signed by Ernest Hemingway to Roberto Herrera Sotolongo, 2 pages in blue ink on both sides of a sheet, and envelope postmarked September 19, 1953 with his autograph return address ("E. Hemingway...") on the back.

The letter begins in Spanish and continues in English, before ending with a few Spanish words signed "Mister Papa".

A magnificent letter from Hemingway to his Cuban friend and secretary, recounting his 1953 safari in Kenya. Hemingway reveals the true outcome of the hunt for the black-maned lion, a central theme of his posthumous novel True at first light (1999) later published as Under Killimanjaro (2005).

The writer shares his encounters with a giraffe and an impala, as well as unpublished spear hunts with the Masai, reconnecting with the emotions of his first African adventure twenty years earlier which had inspired classic parts of the Hemingway canon – The Green Hills of Africa, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Short happy life of Francis Macomber.

He also recalls a family tragedy: a rare attempt at reconciliation from his third child Gigi, who was suffering from gender dysphoria.

New edition of the Fables, more complete than previous ones, illustrated with a hand-coloured vignette on the title page and 110 hand-coloured half-page illustrations in the text, for a total of 111 engraved and coloured plates (cf. Rochambeau 305. Després, p. 142, no. 63).

Full olive calf binding, spine with gilt fillets, numerously tooled in gilt, gilt tooling to spine-ends, boards framed in gilt, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, inner gilt dentelle on pastedowns, all edges gilt, 20th-century binding.

Spine and covers faded, some foxing, a snag at head of rear cover. Lower right corners of pp. ix-xi restored.

An exceptional and finely watercoloured copy of this abundantly illustrated edition of the "Fables." The famous illustrations by Jean-Baptiste Oudry were recut and modified for this publication and are accompanied by explanatory notes intended for young readers.

The title vignette was also created from a fragment of the frontispiece of the first edition illustrated by Oudry.

First edition, one of 115 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies aside from 35 on pure thread.

Two small spots of foxing on the front cover, a discreet crease, a handsome copy as issued.
 
Rare and highly sought after in deluxe paper.

First edition, one of 80 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.

A handsome and rare copy.

First edition, very difficult to find complete, as the third volume was published eight years after the first two.

Bound in full mottled bronze-green calf, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt floral compartments, red morocco labels for title and volume number, gilt rolls on the caps, joints slightly rubbed, gilt roll-tooled borders on the covers entirely adorned with oblong geometric patterns in blind, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt Greek-key borders framing the pastedowns, bookplate mounted on the pastedown of the first volume, gilt fillets on the edges, all edges gilt, contemporary bindings.

Contains anecdotes about Rousseau, Poivre, Turgot, Helvétius, Benjamin Franklin, Holbach, Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld, the Marquise de Pompadour, Calonne, Necker, Beaujon…

A handsome copy attractively bound in a period decorative binding.

First edition, one of 249 numbered copies on B.F.K. de Rives, the only printing alongside 1 on Hollande and 24 on cream Renage vellum.

Illustrated with 4 original color lithographs by Rufino Tamayo.

This copy is further enriched with an additional suite of the 4 lithographs by Rufino Tamayo, usually reserved for the deluxe copies.
Printed stamps to the versos of each engraving: "Annulation d'estampille pour annulation de vente".

A rare and desirable copy.

Exceptional and Surrealist autograph inscription signed by Benjamin Péret to Toyen, inspired by the Aztec pantheon: "A Toyen la fille de Pilzintacutli, son ami Huitzilopochtli. Rectifions : son père est Xochipilli, l'autre n'esu qu'un intrus. Benjamin Péret 2 juin 1953."

Rare and highly sought-after first edition.
Contemporary binding in black half shagreen, flat spines richly decorated with gilt ornamental rolls, discreet and skilful restoration to the foot of one joint, black paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges. Discreet restoration to the lower hinge of the first volume.
Exceptionally clean copy, virtually free of foxing (a rarity according to Clouzot, who notes that most copies are usually heavily spotted).
Provenance: from the libraries of Saint-Germain (with printed crowned bookplate beneath the titles on the half-titles); Count de Bonvouloir (with his printed bookplate, Château de Magny in Calvados, above the title on the half-title of the second volume and above the next bookplate on an endpaper of the first volume); Charles-Albert Gigault de Crisonoy de Lyonne, with his bookplate mounted on a pastedown and endpaper; and more recently Max Brun, with his bookplate mounted on the front pastedown of the first volume.
Shelving labels mounted at the top of the rear pastedowns, minor losses to white paper and some corner stains on the endpapers.
A rare copy preserved in a strictly contemporary binding.

Autograph letter signed by Jean Cocteau, marked with his famous star, addressed to his great love, the actor Jean Marais. One page penned in black ink on a single sheet.
Traces of folds, horizontal creases inherent to mailing, two ink spots on the blank verso not affecting the text.
A magnificent love letter from Cocteau to Marais, who together formed one of the most iconic artistic couples of the 20th century. Set against the backdrop of turmoil and the German Occupation, their unbreakable bond is embodied in this letter of the writer, filled with desperate tones.

First edition, one of 74 numbered copies on Rives vellum, deluxe edition.

Beautiful copy.

First edition, one of 105 numbered copies on vélin neige, the only deluxe copies issued after 12 on pur fil.
Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 100 copies numbered on Renage wove paper, the only deluxe issue.

Bound in burgundy half shagreen with corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, date gilt-stamped at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, gilt top edge.

A handsome copy in an attractive binding.

New edition bearing a false statement of 128th edition.

Half heather red morocco binding, spine with five raised bands set with black fillets, gilt fillet frame on boards of Africanist-patterned paper, almond green paper endpapers and boards, original wrappers preserved, restorations to boards, top edge gilt, binding signed by Boichot.
Autograph inscription signed by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry on the half-title page: "Pour madame Capietto. En souvenir de quelques passages à Alger et, cette fois ci, d'une semaine bien mélancolique. Et avec toute mon amitié.
Antoine de Saint Exupéry." (For Madame Capietto. In memory of some visits to Algiers and, this time, of a very melancholy week. And with all my friendship. Antoine de Saint Exupéry.)







 

First edition featuring the celebrated original color stencil "Aidez l'Espagne!", printed on Arches paper by Joan Miró.
With literary contributions by Christian Zervos on Pablo Picasso's "Guernica", as well as texts by Jean Cassou, Georges Duthuit, Pierre Mabille, Michel Leiris, Paul Éluard, René Char...
Illustrated with numerous reproductions of works by Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró’s "Le faucheur".
Some rubbing and small tears to the spine, as often, a vertical crease to the rear wrapper, otherwise a fresh and well-preserved copy.

"On June 28, 1970, I attended the first New York Gay Pride March. The date marks the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which launched the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the U.S. We left from Christopher Street, a gay cultural mecca in Greenwich Village, and walked up 6th Avenue to Central Park. To end the day, a kissing contest was held in the middle of the park! It was a great moment of joy, love and freedom. This couple, who kissed for hours under an umbrella, obviously didn't care about photographers" (Interview with Clément Thierry, 2021)

First edition of the French translation of this rare and significant travel account.

Illustrated with 16 folding and full-page plates featuring numerous figures: landscapes, natural history subjects, elephant hunting scenes, and more (cf. Gay 2808).

Contemporary full brown calf, spine with five raised bands, gilt tooled compartments with double gilt frames and decorations, gilt rolls on caps, gilt fillets on board edges.

Spine expertly rebacked to style, repairs to p. 1 and several plates, occasional foxing.

"De toutes les anciennes relations de la Guinée, celle-ci est la plus estimable : elle est aussi très recherchée. C'est sur la Côte d'Or, sur celle des Esclaves et sur le royaume de Benin, assez imparfaitement décrits avant et après Bosman, que ce voyageur s'est particulièrement étendu". Cf. Boucher de La Richarderie.

A Dutch traveller, Willem Bosman lived during the second half of the 17th century. He spent fourteen years in Africa, where he successively served the Dutch West India Company as a factor on the Guinea Coast, and as chief director of the Axim and Elmina trading posts on the Gold Coast. He visited in detail the most notable locations across these regions, commissioned drawings of local fauna, and had maps made of the territories east of Elmina. Upon his return to Europe, he published his observations under the title Naauwkeurige Beschryving van de Guinese goud, land en Slaven-Kust, Utrecht, 1704, followed by a French translation the following year (Hoefer).

Provenance: from the library of Joseph M. Cleason, with his bookplate pasted on the inside board.

First edition, one of 62 numbered copies on madagascar paper, deluxe copy.
Some light foxing affecting mainly the edges.
Half dark blue morocco binding, spine with five raised bands, cat's-eye paper boards, combed paper endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, binding signed by Devauchelle.
Handsome copy beautifully executed.

First edition of the French translation, one of 150 numbered copies on pur fil, the only deluxe copies issued after 25 copies on Holland paper.

A fine copy with all edges untrimmed.

New edition, illustrated with drawings by de Neuville and Benett.
Publisher’s gilt-pictorial cloth binding known as “à un éléphant, titre dans l’éventail”, with Engel’s signature at the foot of the front cover plaque, spine featuring a lighthouse, rear cover of type “i” as defined by Jauzac, all edges gilt.
Headcaps very slightly compressed, faint trace of a removed label to the verso of the front board.
A handsome copy.
Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours is an adventure novel. It tells the story of an English gentleman, Phileas Fogg, who wagers he can travel around the world_

First edition, this one the no. 1 of 25 numbered copies on Japon, most limited deluxe issue.

Bound in grey half morocco, smooth spine, marbled paper boards, mould-made endpapers, original wrappers preserved, pastedown bookplate, top edge gilt, contemporary binding signed by L. Pouillet.

A rare and handsome copy in an attractive contemporary binding.

Original inscribed photograph portrait of Emile Zola. Original albumen paper print on cardboard bearing the stamps of the Eugène Pirou studio, rue Royale, Paris.

Signed and inscribed by Emile Zola to Otto Eisenschitz: "à M. Otto Eisenschitz / cordialement / Emile Zola".




 

Rare first edition of a lottery manual claiming to reveal the predictions of famous occultist Joseph Balsamo, Count of Cagliostro. Published during Cagliostro's imprisonment by the Inquisition, it is the first known of its kind using his name, and most certainly the only one printed during his lifetime.
We are able to trace only two copies in libraries (BnF and Kress Library).
Numerous illustrations including a frontispiece showing Cagliostro giving lottery predictions, as well as 15 plates containing 90 vignettes depicting dreams, each associated with a lottery number. Also contains a folding leaf on the influence of sunrise and sunset on the French Royal Lottery draws.
Preceded by a leaf with a pasted press clipping, with a note “Combinations of the Royal Lottery Games /Extract from the Paris-Journal of 18 8bre 1878”.
Bound with: a rare pamphlet by Alexandre Dumas-Fils, Histoire de la loterie : depuis la première jusqu'à la dernière loterie. La loterie des lingots d'or. Preceded by a leaf with an inscribed note Histoire de la loterie des lingots d'or.
Green half cloth, smooth spine, gilt title framed by a double fillet border, marbled paper boards. Spine-ends, corners and joints rubbed, scuffs to boards, foxing to edges. Damp stain in the margin of the first 6 leaves of the Manual.

First edition, one of 1050 numbered copies on bouffant alfa paper.
Publisher's binding after the original design by Paul Bonet.
Very handsome copy complete with its flexible cardboard slipcase.

A rare Belgian pirate edition in 8 tomes bound in 4, published shortly after the novel's first serial appearance in the Journal des débats from August 28, 1844 to January 15, 1846. Complete with all half titles and title pages. They are all dated 1845, except for the last two (vol. 7-8) dated 1846. The edition includes the misprint "Christo" for "Cristo", present in the pre-first edition of the Journal des débats, and corrected for the first time at the end of 1846 in the first illustrated edition.

Contem­porary brown half shagreen, spine ruled in gilt, gilt titles and volumes, brown marbled paper boards, marbled edg­es. Spines uniformly lightened, rubbed corners and edges with small paper and leather tears, scuffs to boards. One quire slightly sticking out in vol. 1, 2 and vol. 3, 4, others misaligned in the other 2 volumes.
Rare pirate pre-first edition of the greatest revenge novel of all time. Given the extreme rarity of the French first edition in book form, these pirate editions - either predating or simultaenously published with the first Parisian edi­tion - have become rare and highly sought-after.
Operating outside of French copyright law, Belgian publishers issued numer­ous books published in France as soon as they appeared in newspapers. Hau­man, the publisher of this pirate edition, made a specialty of publishing dozens of Dumas novels - sometimes even as pre-first editions, before the French ones. Only this pirate edition and three others, all Belgian (Méline et Cans, Lebègue, and Muquardt) were published sequentially, their volumes closely following the publication of new journal installments, even before the novel was fully issued serially.
Munro, Alexandre Dumas père, a bibliogra­phy of works published in French, 1825-1900.

Autograph letter most probably unpublished signed addressed by Juliette Drouet to her lover Victor Hugo, four pages written in black ink on a bifolium. 
Transverse folds inherent to mailing, fold joining the two leaves reinforced with a fine strip of pasted paper barely perceptible.
Absent from the very complete online edition of Juliette Drouet's letters to Hugo by the Centre d'Études et de Recherche Éditer/Interpréter (University of Rouen-Normandy).
Very beautiful declaration of love and admiration by Juliette Drouet, the day after Hugo's plea defending his son. Charles Hugo had been brought before the assizes, and condemned despite his father's intervention, for having valiantly castigated the execution of Claude Montcharmont.
Hugo's great love addresses this letter in troubled times, where father and son find themselves at the forefront of the scene for their abolitionist positions. Scandalized by the execution of Montcharmont, a 29-year-old poacher from Morvan, Charles Hugo publishes an article in l'Événement which earns him a trial for contempt of respect due to the laws: the Second Republic already exists only in name, and the press is subject to frequent attacks, further aggravated here by the notoriety of the Hugos. Victor wants to defend his son and delivers a plea that remains famous: "Mon fils, tu reçois aujourd'hui un grand honneur, tu as été jugé digne de combattre, de souffrir peut-être, pour la sainte cause de la vérité. A dater d'aujourd'hui, tu entres dans la véritable vie virile de notre temps, c'est-à-dire dans la lutte pour le juste et pour le vrai. Sois fier, toi qui n'est qu'un simple soldat de l'idée humaine et démocratique, tu es assis sur ce banc où s'est assis Béranger, où s'est assis Lamennais !" (My son, you receive today a great honor, you have been judged worthy to fight, perhaps to suffer, for the holy cause of truth. From today, you enter into the true virile life of our time, that is to say into the struggle for the just and the true. Be proud, you who are but a simple soldier of the human and democratic idea, you are seated on this bench where Béranger sat, where Lamennais sat!)
Despite Hugo's historic intervention, Charles is condemned to six months in prison and 50 francs fine - a decision that Juliette bitterly castigates, overwhelmed by anguish at the outcome of the trial: "J'ai beau savoir que cet arrêt inique est non seulement supporté avec courage par vous tous, mais accepté avec orgueil et avec joie par le plus directement intéressé dans cette malheureuse condamnation, la fatigue et l'inquiétude que j'ai éprouvé pendant toute cette interminable journée d'hier m'a laissée une douloureuse courbature physique et morale" (However much I know that this iniquitous verdict is not only borne with courage by all of you, but accepted with pride and joy by the one most directly concerned in this unfortunate condemnation, the fatigue and anxiety I experienced during all that interminable day yesterday has left me with a painful physical and moral ache). 


12 juin jeudi matin 7h

Autograph letter signed by Ger­maine de Staël and dated 9 Janu­ary 1809 to Julie Nigris, daughter of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Two pages written in black on a bifolium. Autograph address on verso, armo­rial wax seal traces and postmarks.
Usual folds, a tear with a small piece of paper lacking on the address page due to the opening of the seal.
Published as an addendum in Sou­venirs de Madame Vigée Le Brun, 1837, vol. III, pp. 264-265.

Germaine de Staël is eagerly awaiting her portrait as Corinne - her novel's heroine- she had commissioned from the famous Vigée-Lebrun. The letter is a precious link in the fascinating history of the painting the baroness would discover a few months later.

"Madam, I have given up on engraving the portrait of your mother. It is too expensive for my whim and I have just suffered a considerable lawsuit that is forcing me to make do with less. But would you be so kind as to tell me when Madam Le Brun will give me the portrait of Corinne? My intention was to send her a thousand écus upon receiving it, but as I have not heard from her, I don't know what to do.
Please be so kind as to get involved and negotiate what I want in this regard. Another pleasing negotiation would be your arrival to Switzerland this summer. Prosper says he will come. Wouldn't M. de Maleteste be seduced by this reunion of all his friends? I dare to count myself among them. Seeing him once, it seemed to me that I was meeting an old acquaintance."


Germaine de Staël addresses Vigée Le Brun's daughter Julie, inviting her and her mother to brighten up her exile. She also tried to gather at her home of Coppet her lover Prosper de Barante as well as Julie's, the Marquis de Maleteste. Dreading solitude, she was determined to invite a host of interesting personalities. Two years earlier, Vigée Le Brun had begun painting a portrait of the baroness depicted as the heroine of her latest novel Corinne. In-between portrait sittings with the baroness, the artist had met the famous members of the so-called Coppet group: Frederick of Prussia, writer Benjamin Constant and salonnière Juliette Récamier. De Staël had already requested a change as soon as the painter had started the canvas and asked for a different landscape in the background. Aware of the somewhat unprepossessing appearance of her model - neither she nor the baroness denied it - Vigée Le Brun created an ambitious portrait mixing antiquity-inspired attire with a furiously romantic allure. She managed to capture the baroness's inspired gaze instead of an expected neoclassical austerity. Despite her enthusiastic initial reactions, Germaine de Staël was not pleased with it and commissioned another portrait from local artist Firmin Massot. The latter produced a poor but faithful copy of the Vigée Le Brun's composition, except for her face and expression he smoothed out and made devoid of any emotion. The baroness's reaction illustrates the irreconcilable dilemma faced by women of letters at the beginning of the 19th century: torn between their identity as intellectual figures (which Vigée Le Brun had magnificently captured in this portrait), and the normative criteria of femininity Germaine de Staël wanted to align with.

A precious piece of correspon­dence, bringing together two illus­trious women - the patron and the artist, whose visions of femininity would soon oppose on either side of the easel.

Autograph letter dated from Liane de Pougy to the French archaeologist, curator of the Musée de Saint-Germain and professor of art history at the École du Louvre, Salomon Reinach, 56 lines written in blue ink on one double-sided sheet, written from her property at Clos-Marie in Roscoff where the famous courtesan stayed until 1926.
A small tear in the right-hand margin of the letter, inherent in the enveloping of the missive; another slight tear at the foot, without affecting the text.
Liane de Pougy marvels at the youthful vigor of Reinach, who had just turned 65: ' Many happy returns for your 65 years, which find you so young, so fresh, so green, with such playful (studious) feelings. My friend, your youthful morals hold the secret of your physical youth—as Rosa Josepha said, one sustains the other, one preserves the other—and this, seen head-on. ', while magnifying his radiant intelligence: 'To no longer produce, but to sit atop the high throne of your trophies, formed by all you have wrested from instinct to sacrifice to intellectuality. Why do people always say a well of knowledge instead of a luminous column, a sky, a sun, a star, etc.—in short, something that makes us lift our heads?'
She is waiting for her friend and former lover, the terrible and unfaithful Natalie Clifford-Barney:  'Natalie plans to come to Clos at the end of September. She has a wound to heal here—time, fortunately, has already done part of the work! I have sensitive feelings and, like a musketeer, a good heart but a bad temper. This is the 1st time the amazon has truly aimed at me... Let us speak of it no more'. Liane firmly expresses her wish not to be pitied or consoled for her romantic troubles:  'I have suffered in silence but without resignation. Do not speak of this to Nathanaël... Nathanaël means Philippe, Max Jacob claims, who lives and works near us in the most fascinating way... '.

A beautiful letter by the celebrated courtesan, actress, and writer Liane de Pougy, recounting with restrained candor her romantic disappointments with Natalie Clifford-Barney.
 

Autograph letter signed by Honoré de Balzac, addressed to his friend, the writer Charles de Bernard. One page written in black ink on a bifolium. On the verso of the second leaf appears the address of the recipient [Charles de Bernard du Grail], written in Balzac’s hand, along with postal stamps and the seal bearing the arms of the Balzac d’Entraigues family, which the author had appropriated.

A few minor holes not affecting the text; fold marks as usual from mailing.

Published in his correspondence (Paris, Calmann Lévy, 1876, CXIV, pp. 252–253).

Balzac wrote this letter four days after his very first meeting — and first kiss — with Madame Hanska in Neuchâtel, following many months of epistolary correspondence.

« J’ai été très heureux ici. Je suis très content de ce que j’ai vu, le pays est délicieux ; mais vous savez que Jupiter a deux tonneaux et que les dieux n’ont point de faveurs qui soient pures. » ["I have been very happy here. I am most pleased with what I have seen; the country is delightful. But you know that Jupiter has two jars, and the gods grant no favours that are untainted."]