Verba Volant, Scripta Manent (Epistolary Art)

The first edition, which appeared in plain covers
This copy has a chemise of half blue morocco over blue marbled paper boards and slipcase of blue marbled paper edged with blue morocco
Foxing, an angular lack to the first blank endpaper, traces of folds to plain covers
Very rare autograph inscription from François-René de Chateaubriand: “De la part de l'auteur [from the author]” to head of half-title
A precious, unsophisticated copy enriched with an autograph inscription from the author.

First edition, one of 40 numbered copies on Chine, tirage de tête.
Light foxing to some extended edges, a good copy with good margins.

First edition, one of 15 numbered copies on Japon, tirage de tête along with 10 Madagascar hors commerce.
Half black morocco, spine in six compartments, marbled paper boards, pastedowns and endpapers of papier uni, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, binding by Goy & Vilaine.
A very good copy in a handsome binding.

New illustrated edition, with frontispiece in the first volume of a portrait of Madame de Sévigné engraved by Dequevauviller.
Half raspberry calf bindings, spines with four raised bands set with gilt garlands decorated with fleurons and typographical motifs stamped in blind, black calf title and volume labels, raspberry cardboard boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, two corners slightly bumped, elegant contemporary romantic bindings.
Some minor foxing.
Handsome copy, complete in 12 volumes, in charming and elegant contemporary romantic and decorative binding.

Sixth edition with some parts in first edition as entirely revised.
Half brown calf bindings, smooth spines ornamented with gilt dots, brown morocco title-labels and author's name, gilt friezes at head and foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, elegant contemporary bindings.
The text is preceded by a study on Mérimée by Hippolyte Taine.
Handsome copy free from any foxing and perfectly established.

First edition, published by Pierre-Simon Ballanche, of the intimate correspondence of Louise-Adélaïde de Bourbon, known as Mademoiselle de Condé, addressed to her friend the Marquis Nicolas-Louis Magon La Gervaisais. It contains 2 letters of 4 pages each, in facsimile.
Contemporary binding in full glazed blue calf, smooth spine decorated with geometric compartments and gilt dentelles, gilt frames and fleurons in the corners on the boards, gilt striations on the corners, gilt floral roulette framing the pastedowns, all edges gilt.
Manuscript notation in pen on the half-title.

First edition.
Bound in half straw yellow shagreen, spines with five raised bands set with black fillets decorated with double black compartments at whose centers the gilt cipher of the great bibliophile Roger de Cormenin is repeated four times, navy blue morocco title and volume labels, light scratches of no consequence at head of joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edges gilt, near-contemporary bindings.
Work illustrated with two portraits of Prosper Mérimée by A. Leveille as frontispieces to the volumes.
Provenance: from the library of Roger de Cormenin, son of Louis de Cormenin who was the confidant and secretary of Théophile Gautier and also the intimate friend of Gustave Flaubert.
A handsome copy.

First edition of the French translation, one of 20 numbered copies on Hollande, tirage de tête.
A very good copy.

First edition, one of 20 numbered copies on Japan paper, the only deluxe copies.
Letters written by George Sand among others.
A small lack at head of spine, handsome copy with full margins.

(Draft typescript of letter to Jean-Paul Sartre, with autograph corrections and with a second version of the first page, and typescript with autograph corrections of "Le monde en question (Cours du monde)" (project for La Revue internationale)

Set of five typescript leaves, rectos only (with the exception of one leaf recto-verso), with corrections in red and black ballpoint pen in Maurice Blanchot's hand.

This important collection bears witness to the exchanges between Maurice Blanchot and Jean-Paul Sartre around the famous "Déclaration sur le droit à l'insoumission dans la guerre d'Algérie" and the publication project that resulted from it, La Revue internationale. Known as the "Manifeste des 121," this declaration, signed by numerous intellectuals and artists and published on September 6, 1960, had been drafted by Dionys Mascolo and Jean Schuster, assisted by Maurice Blanchot, in anticipation of the trial of the Jeanson network (a group of French militants supporting the FLN) and with the aim of informing public opinion about the protest movement against the Algerian War and its anti-democratic excesses. Among the signatories was, of course, Sartre.
The manifesto had made many personalities aware of the influence they could exercise in public debate, even in the course of History. It was in this context that in autumn 1960, Maurice Blanchot, Dionys Mascolo and Elio Vittorini decided to create a review that would be not literary but critical, whose purpose would be to continue this action. They sought the help of Jean-Paul Sartre, whose extraordinary aura would benefit the publication favorably.
In his letter to Sartre, Blanchot attempts to convince the philosopher to join the project: "Vous m'avez rappelé ce que j'ai dû dire quelquefois et que j'ai toujours intimement pensé : que la Déclaration ne trouverait son vrai sens que si elle était le commencement de quelque chose." ["You reminded me of what I must have said sometimes and what I have always intimately thought: that the Declaration would only find its true meaning if it were the beginning of something."] "[...] Je voudrais dire mon sentiment propre : je crois que si nous voulons représenter, comme il faut, sans équivoque, le changement dont nous avons les uns et les autres le pressentiment, si nous voulons le rendre plus réel et l'approfondir, dans sa présence mouvante, c'est seulement à partir d'un organe nouveau que nous pourrons le faire. A partir de là, si l'on voit Sartre, et d'autres avec lui parmi les 121, décider de s'exprimer en cette forme choisie délibérément comme nouvelle, chacun " ["I would like to express my own feeling: I believe that if we want to represent, as we should, unequivocally, the change that we all have a premonition of, if we want to make it more real and deepen it, in its moving presence, it is only from a new organ that we will be able to do so. From there, if we see Sartre, and others with him among the 121, decide to express themselves in this form deliberately chosen as new, everyone"] "[...] comprendra que vraiment nous entrons dans une nouvelle phase et que quelque chose de décisif a lieu qui cherche à s'affirmer." ["will understand that we are truly entering a new phase and that something decisive is taking place that seeks to assert itself."] But Sartre would refuse to commit to the review.
However, during the first six months of 1961, Blanchot devoted himself body and soul to the project, hoping it would come to fruition. The typescript included here, "Le monde en question (Cours du monde)," reveals the table of contents he envisioned for the first issue: texts on destalinization, the situation of the German press, intellectual compartmentalization in France and Italy, hunger strikes, and the Berlin Wall and utopia. The review would never see the light of day, to the great despair of Blanchot who was deeply enthusiastic about the idea of collective and international writing.
The final version of Blanchot's letter to Sartre would be published in the dossier devoted by the review Lignes to the project of La Revue internationale (no. 11, September 1990).

Important testimony on the follow-up that Blanchot wished to give with Sartre's help to the "Déclaration sur le droit à l'insoumission dans la guerre d'Algérie."

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Precious dated and signed autograph inscription from Louis Weiss to Jacques Benoist-Méchin: "... en souvenir de nos années de jeunesse..." ["...in memory of our youth..."]
Covers slightly and marginally browned at foot.

First edition of which there were no large paper copies.
A good copy.

First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on "pur-fil" paper, most limited issue. The book Camus dedicated to his friend René Leynaud.

 

Rare and handsome copy.

First edition for each volume.
Full brown morocco bindings, smooth spines double framed in gilt, headpieces lined in gilt, boards elaborately framed in gilt, beige morocco pastedowns framed in gilt, brown moiré silk free endpapers, following free endpapers in mould made paper, all edges gilt, original soft covers preserved, superb contemporary bindings signed by M. Lortic.
The first volume contains two original ink drawings by Prosper Mérimée: the first, captioned and signed in the lower right corner depicting the Duke of Brunswick, the second a tree and a wooded landscape with a handwritten inscription in Russian "Grâce à Dieu" and "Gloire à Dieu, gloire à vous".
A very fine set, magnificently bound by M. Lortic.

Third edition illustrated with 10 plates hors-texte including a frontispiece by Dalbou after Hoüel, 5 plates hors-texte by Laurent after Favray and 4 folding plates hors-texte by Laurent after Massit. The first three volumes contain all the letters on Greece, the last contains other opuscules by the author: Essays on Tibullus's Elegies (followed by their translation), The Seasons and Light Poetry.
Numerous floral headpieces and tailpieces (flower baskets, carnations...).
Contemporary full marbled blonde calf binding. Smooth spines decorated with green morocco title and volume labels, small gilt floral fleurons, and gilt dentelle at tail. Triple gilt frames on boards. All edges marbled. Headcap of first volume abraded. Some wormholes on spines of second and third volumes. Tail joint split on first volume. Six corners bumped. Surface abrasions. Some pale corner dampstains. Worming affecting the entire lower right corner of the third volume. Handsome overall appearance of the copy.
Broader than its title suggests, the Literary Journey to Greece contains numerous information about the Turks, Armenians and their customs, and naturally the peoples of Greece. The letters are the work of a merchant residing in Constantinople, Monsieur Guys, addressed to an art lover, Bourlat de Montredont. Deeply devoted to literature and research on Antiquity, the author in his description of Greece, its customs and practices, draws his material from ancient writers by establishing constant parallels with modern Greece, showing how much all of Greek literature is found in it. Each letter focuses on a subject, many deal with art, but some more specific ones cover furniture, jewelry, makeup, festivities, proprieties, baths, architecture, and naturally, a domain of particular interest to the author: commerce and navigation. Some letters are additions, and treat customs among the Turks, Jews... An ambitious project by a man anchored in the reality of his time (and who spent more than 30 years in the Levant), the Literary Journey to Greece identifies in modern Greece all the heritage of Antiquity, and makes modern Greeks the direct heirs, descendants of ancient Greeks. The author thus renews interest in travel to Greece. Before its time, it is one of the first works of anthropology.

First edition, illustrated with a figure by Gravelot engraved by Allianet, a headpiece by Eisen and a tailpiece by Choffart, engraved by De Longueil. Fine printing, on deluxe paper.
Full brown sheep binding early 20th century signed Champs. Smooth Jansenist spine with gilt title and date. Minor rubbing to headcaps. Handsome copy. Blin de Sainmore composed this letter from Sappho after Ovid's heroic epistle on the same subject; Sappho writing to her lover before going to join him. The edition is enhanced with verses by Sappho translated by Boileau and Blin de Saimore. The composition of these editions by Blin de Saimore is very similar to those of Dorat, even using the same artists for ornamentation. Engraved bookplate E. Valton. 1880.

First edition, one of 15 numbered copies on Japan paper, ours unjustified, deluxe copy.
Bradel binding in half lilac cloth with corners, smooth spine, lilac shagreen title-label, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.
Work illustrated with 2 unpublished photographic portraits of Ernest and Alain Renan.
Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 10 numbered copies on Japon, tirage de tête.
A rare and good copy.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies.
Very slight dampstains to spine, otherwise a handsome copy complete with the color reproduction of an autograph letter with drawings by André Derain.

First edition, one of 31 numbered copies on Hollande, tirage de tête.
Spine wrinkled, slight traces of marginal fold to lower cover, a good copy.