First edition, for which no copies were issued on deluxe paper.
Spine lightly wrinkled, a small loss at the foot of the lower board; otherwise a pleasing copy.
Signed autograph inscription by Maurice Genevoix.
First edition of the French translation by Edouard Chavannes of an extract from the Journal of the Peking oriental society.
Contemporary Bradel-style binding in full grey percaline, smooth spine decorated with a gilt fleur-de-lis, double gilt fillet at the foot, cherry shagreen lettering-piece with surface scuffing, partially toned endpapers.
This was the translator’s first scholarly publication devoted to this treatise, which forms the twenty-eighth chapter of the celebrated Shiji (Historical Records) by the first true Chinese historian, Sima Qian (145–86 BCE).
These records constitute the first systematic synthesis of...
First edition of the French translation prepared by J. de Rey-Pailhade and Henry-Joseph Sauvaire, issued in a small printing as an offprint from the Journal asiatique.
A few small spots of foxing; a pleasing and uncommon copy.
Half green cloth, smooth spine with red morocco title-label, ‘œil-de-chat’ patterned paper over boards, sprinkled edges.
Illustrated with two double-page plates outside the text.
Born in Marseille, Henri Sauvaire (1831–1896) began his career in the consular service before turning to Near-Eastern archaeology.
On the half-title, a presentation inscription in the hand of Henri-Joseph Sauvaire to the archaeologist...
First edition (only three copies recorded in the CCFr: BnF, Lyon and Montpellier).
Blank spine split with small losses, a few instances of foxing.
The sole edition of this small, learned and appealing dissertation.
Paul Saint-Olive (1799–1879), engraver and contributor to the Revue du Lyonnais, was a tireless seeker of curiosities (cf. Vingtrinier (Aimé): Paul Saint-Olive, archéologue lyonnais, Lyon, 1877).
Signed autograph inscription by Paul Saint-Olive to Doctor Girard on the inside of the upper cover.
First edition, printed in a small number, of this scarce offprint from the Revue archéologique, illustrated with 11 figures in the text and 3 folding plates.
Only two copies recorded in the CCF (Quai d'Orsay and Strasbourg).
The architect of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Christophe-Edouard Mauss (1829-1914), had been entrusted with several archaeological missions in the Levant (Salonica, Smyrna, Alexandria), before being appointed by the French government to Jerusalem (1862-1874) to restore the Church of Saint Anne.
He also developed a keen interest in ancient metrology, on which he published several monographs.
A pleasing copy.
Autograph...
Rare first edition of this fervent—indeed visionary—appeal to bring the Orient under the sway of the combined powers of the State and the Christian religion, informed by such an overtly Eurocentric outlook that the work is almost unreadable today, yet remains an eloquent record of the illusions prevailing in the West in the mid-nineteenth century.
Corners restored at the outer tips of the boards, some scattered foxing, and a stain to the right margin of the upper cover.
In an admirably prophetic vein, the author exclaims: "La civilisation chrétienne, qui ne cesse d'agrandir son cercle, ne s'arrêtera pas devant le Coran, et ce n'est pas la loi de Mahomet qui présidera au...
First edition.
Minor losses at head and foot of the spine, which is slightly sunned; a few small spots of foxing.
Alongside a distinguished career in the colonial troops, in Senegal and Indochina, General Henri Frey (1847–1932) also cultivated literary and scholarly ambitions. This unusual thesis was, of course, neither substantiated nor taken up subsequently …
On the upper margin of the half-title, an autograph inscription by Henri Frey to Commandant Étienne Lunet de Lajonquières [here spelled Jonquières] (1861–1933), of the Marine Infantry, archaeologist and ethnographer, and also a key figure in the organisation of the preservation of Historical Monuments in...
Fourth separate issue of this memoir. The text first appeared in the Description de l’Égypte, before being reissued in several offprints (cf. Meulenaere p. 80.)
Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, under temporary green paper covers, spine restored, minor marginal losses and a few tears to the covers, internally in pleasing condition.
At the head of the front free endpaper, autograph inscription by Du Bois-Aymé “à son honorable collège et ami Monsieur Etienne”.
Du Bois-Aymé (1779-1846), who embarked on the Tonnant, travelled to Egypt as a student of the École Polytechnique. He sat his examinations there, at the same time as...
First edition (cf. Playfair, 533; Tailliart, 2295).
Spine cracked with small tears, some foxing.
General considerations on the colonisation of Algiers, its aims and its results. On the Arabs. The various systems of occupation, etc.
At the head of the front wrapper, an autograph presentation inscription from Amédée Hippolyte de Brossard to Marshal Clausel.
Illustrated edition with 6 plates hors texte, including one folding map; French text with an English translation.
Only the introduction is in English, the remainder of the volume being devoted to a sound scholarly publication of the accounts of Cartier’s three voyages.
Repaired tears at head and tail of the spine; spine and boards lightly sunned.
Henry Percival Biggar (1872–1938) was an archivist at the Public Archives of Canada and a leading authority on the history of New France.
Copy from the library of the archivist Charles Bourel de La Roncière (1870–1941), a specialist in maritime and colonial history, with, on the front free endpaper, an autograph...
First edition printed in a small number of copies of this offprint from the Journal asiatique.
Unlettered spine with restorations; scattered foxing.
Abel Bergaigne (1838–1888), one of the leading Indologists of his time, was Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Linguistics at the Sorbonne.
His interpretation of the Rig-Veda remains authoritative.
On the upper wrapper of the first cover, a signed autograph inscription by Abel Bergaigne to the academic and statesman Charles Lenient (1826–1908).
Illustrated first edition, featuring at the end of the volume two plates of inscriptions printed on tinted grounds.
Some tears and small losses to the corners of the spine and boards; the interior remains in pleasing condition.
Abbé Bargès (1810–1896), a native of Auriol, pursued an unconventional career marked by his exceptional command of Eastern languages (Hebrew, Arabic), and devoted himself in particular to epigraphy, while also engaging with other fields of study.
The Phoenician world held a special fascination for him, as he long defended the Punic origins of Marseille, and published six monographs on Phoenician-language inscriptions between 1847 and 1888; the...
First edition of this monograph devoted to Punic inscriptions discovered in Tunis and its surrounding area.
Small marginal tears to the spine and boards, which also show some light spotting.
Abbé Bargès (1810–1896), a native of Auriol, pursued an unusual career grounded in his exceptional command of Oriental languages (Hebrew, Arabic), and specialised in epigraphy while also engaging with a wider range of disciplines.
The Phoenician world was of particular interest to him, as he long upheld the Punic origin of Marseilles, and he published six monographs on inscriptions in the Phoenician language between 1847 and 1888; the present work forms part of this...
First edition, printed in a very small run as a separate issue.
No copies recorded in the CCFr or WorldCat.
Our copy is presented in its original wrappers, preserved under the original cream paper dust wrapper.
Oxford antiquary and numismatist, William Sandys Wright Vaux (1818–1885) was also closely associated with the Oxford Movement.
On the front cover, autograph inscription from William Sandys Wright Vaux to Count Melchior de Vogüé (1829–1916), the renowned French archaeologist.
Rare first edition constituting a denunciation of bullfighting by René-Marie-Alexandre de Sémallé (1822-1894), geographer chiefly known for his contributions to the "Bulletin de la Société de géographie" between 1868 and 1883.
Contemporary aubergine half sheep, smooth spine ruled in gilt with double fillets, a few rubs to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, trace of a removed bookplate to one pastedown, wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.
A few light foxing spots.
Signed autograph inscription by René de Sémallé at the head of the upper wrapper.
First edition of this advance extract from "Annam – Numismatic Studies", an ouvrage not due to appear until 1905.
A rare and pleasing copy, despite
Autograph presentation inscription from Albert Schroeder to Jean-Calixte-Alexis Auvergne, Resident-Superior in Annam from 1897 to 1898, and again from 1901 to 1904.
First edition, privately printed in a small number of copies as an offprint from La Patrie of 16 and 18 November 1883.
The CCFr records copies only at the BnF, the Bibliothèque Thiers and Compiègne.
\nContemporary navy-blue half morocco over marbled-paper boards, with corners, spine with five raised bands, boards framed with blind fillets, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original front wrapper bound in, corners rubbed, top edge gilt.
Some foxing.
The text is a funeral tribute to Odilon Barrot’s last surviving brother, who, like him, was both a lawyer and a politician, though as staunchly Bonapartist as his elder brother was a leading figure of left-wing...
First edition (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1557.)
Contemporary half black shagreen, smooth spine decorated with triple gilt fillets and gilt floral ornaments, slight rubbing to the spine ends, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, bumped corners, speckled edges.
The sole edition of this survey, which in fact constitutes the French adaptation, by a librarian of Sainte-Geneviève, of three highly detailed articles written by the English diplomat Thomas Francis Wade (1818-1895), then attached to the secretariat of Lord Elgin.
Their contents were brought together in The Chinese Army : Containing Notices of Its Bannermen, Hánkiun, and Luhying Divisions: With Details...
Rare first edition of this virtuoso plea in defence of Prince Pierre Bonaparte (1815-1881), first cousin of the Emperor, in the case of the assassination of the journalist Victor Noir [Yvan Salmon], which took place on 10 January 1870 and caused an immense scandal.
According to the CCF [Catalogue Collectif de France], copies are held only at the BnF, Compiègne and Versailles.
Smooth spine, unlettered, small corner losses to the boards, some foxing.
The High Court of Justice, the only body empowered to try a prince of the Emperor's family, convened at Tours on 21 March 1870 and heard counsel for the civil party recall the accused's unfortunate past record (he was said to...
First collective edition.
Not recorded in Chahine, nor in any bibliography consulted.
Contemporary full black sheep, spine richly gilt with decorative motifs, joints rubbed, sides elaborately blind-stamped with a wide central panel within a quadruple gilt fillet border, blue moiré silk endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle border to the pastedowns, gilt rules to the edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.
Spine restored, dampstaining at the beginning and end of the volume, restored marginal tear to the title page.
This work comprises a collection of brief biographies of figures involved in the conflicts and negotiations surrounding the struggle for...
First edition with a folding plate at the end of the volume.
Spine and boards with losses, front cover starting to come loose, black stains to the upper cover.
At the express request of Napoleon III (who remains the dedicatee of the work despite the printing date), the archaeologist Léon Heuzey (1831-1922) undertook in 1861 his second archaeological mission to Macedonia (he had already carried out excavations there in 1855): the Emperor, then engaged in writing his Jules César, took a particular interest in the battlefields of his hero in the East (notably that of Pharsalus).
The mission took place in a difficult geopolitical context and had to be curtailed...
First edition, illustrated with a large folding map (hors texte) at the end of the volume.
Half black morocco binding, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and dotted tooling; light rubbing to the spine. Marbled paper boards, speckled edges, contemporary binding.
Scattered foxing.
Unique edition of this scarce monograph, among the earliest works in French on Albania, at the time still part of the European territories of the Ottoman Empire.
Hecquard (1814–1866) is better known for his travels in Africa, but he served as French consul in Albania from 1862 onward, which explains the writing of this work.
Signed presentation...
First edition, printed in a limited run, of this extract from the Revue britannique of February 1880.
Only three known copies in the CCF (BnF, INHA, and Sorbonne).
This copy is presented in its original wrappers, with a blank temporary cover.
Pamphlet adorned with in-text black-and-white illustrations.
In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri were minor deities worshipped in mystery cults across several regions of Greece, particularly on the islands of Samothrace, Lemnos, and Imbros.
These deities, little understood even by the Greeks themselves, were remnants of an Aegean past influenced by Phoenician culture, yet they later became protectors of...
First edition.
Bradel binding in full blue paper-covered boards, smooth spine, red morocco title label.
Only two copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Bibliothèque Thiers).
This rare text constitutes an extract from a larger work which appears not to have been published, the opening title bearing Chapter 15, Des Places fortes, and an advertisement on p. 139 indicating Chapter 16, De la Stratégie.
The work concludes with an interesting list of French fortified places, with an indication of the garrisons required for their defence.
Son of the celebrated René-Louis de Girardin d'Ermenonville, Lieutenant-General Count Alexandre-Louis-Robert de...
First edition of the first and only published part, illustrated with figures in the text and one plate printed separately as a frontispiece.
This is an offprint from the Revue archéologique.
The sole and uncommon edition of this essay exploring a possible Far Eastern influence on Amerindian civilizations.
Gustave d'Eichthal (1804-1886), a Saint-Simonian, was born into a German Jewish family but converted to Catholicism at the age of thirteen; he notably contributed to the emergence of new social sciences such as ethnology and anthropology.
Unbound copy, a few minor spots of foxing.
At the head of the half-title page, an autograph inscription signed by...
First edition in book form, bringing together six contributions previously published in the Revue des Deux Mondes. The archaeologist Albert Dumont (1842-1884) here records his impressions from journeys undertaken during his stay at the French School at Athens.
Signed autograph inscription by Albert Dumont to the spiritualist philosopher Adolphe Franck (1810-1893) at the head of the half-title page.
The ink of the autograph inscription has faded, minor losses to the foot of the first leaves, occasional light foxing.
Rare first edition.
No copies recorded in CCF or WorldCat.
A copy preserved in its original wrappers with printed green covers, showing a few marginal losses to the corners; internally in pleasing condition.
A rare document relating to a dispute arising from the wreck, off Saint-Domingue on 9 April 1834, of the vessel Courrier de la Vera-Crux (laden with bales of cotton), involving the Bordeaux shipowners Balguerie et Cie, the insurers Aguirrevengoa and Uribarren, the captain, and the various consignors. Appended is a copy of the grounds and operative part of the judgment of the Commercial Court.
At the head of the upper cover, signed autograph inscription...
Rare first edition.
According to the CCF, the only recorded copy is held by the BnF.
Spine restored and rebacked, small marginal losses to the wrappers, front wrapper relaid, internally in very good condition.
Autograph inscription signed by Claude-René-Jacques David de Pénanrun to Odilon Barrot (1791-1873), in his capacity as "President of the Decentralisation Commission".
Indeed, the elderly Orléanist, despite having withdrawn from political life, had accepted, following a meeting at the Tuileries Palace with Napoleon III, the chairmanship of an extra-parliamentary committee tasked with examining decentralisation projects (1869).
Rare first edition of these engaging memoirs on the mathematician Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier (1768–1830), Secretary of the Institut d'Égypte and Prefect of Isère from 1802 to 1815 (cf. Tulard 302.)
Bound in half blond calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, chainwork and garlands, red morocco title label, rubbing to the joints, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns of laid paper, speckled edges, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.
Occasional light foxing.
Work illustrated with a folding plate (the Dendera Zodiac).
Jacques-Joseph Champollion-Figeac (1778–1867) served as his secretary in Grenoble.
At the head of...
First edition, privately printed, of this offprint from the August 1811 issue of the Magasin encyclopédique.
Our copy is offered disbound, with a few minor foxing spots of no consequence.
Illustrated with one engraved plate hors texte, this pamphlet concerns a Byzantine boxwood triptych then preserved in the Library of Grenoble.
Autograph presentation inscription from Jacques-Joseph Champollion-Figeac to the painter Pierre Revoil (1776-1842).
First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Benito Juárez (cf. Palau 25905.)
Contemporary half red shagreen over marbled boards, spine in five compartments with raised bands, decorated with double gilt-ruled panels and gilt floral tools, a few minor abrasions to the spine, gilt gothic initials and gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, the upper cover enhanced with a large aubergine shagreen title-piece lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, corners worn, small defects to the edges, speckled edges, contemporary binding.
The finest biography of Juárez, published less than two years after his death: "Esta obra es la más documentada y completa que existe sobra...
First edition of this colourful verse drama featuring the Conquistadors and Montezuma.
Not listed by Lorenz.
Contemporary green half calf, smooth spine tooled with gilt dots and fillets and blind fillets, some rubbing to spine, marbled-paper boards with small areas of loss and traces of recolouring, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.
The Avignon-born author had previously published, in 1830, a verse comedy entitled "Les débuts en province". Cf. Bourquelot I, 150.
Our copy is enriched with numerous manuscript corrections in the author’s hand, together with a signed autograph presentation inscription by Paul Barbe on the recto of the final...
Rare pre-first edition offprint of Charles de Gaulle's article Les Origines de l'armée française, published in issue 520 of the Revue d'Infanterie in January 1936. This 44-page text appears two years later as the first chapter of his celebrated work La France et son armée, published by Plon in 1938. Presentation copy signed by the author "to M. Jean Auburtin": "With profound and faithful friendship. C. de Gaulle."
Blue wrappers slightly sunned at extremities, spine and upper...
Collected edition commissioned by Louis XV following the success of Catilina, containing Crébillon's 9 tragedies and his academic discourses, without Le Triumvirat, which appears only in certain copies. This is the first collected edition of the dramatist's works, published under the author's supervision.
Two volumes bound as one in marbled calf, spine with five raised bands richly decorated with small gilt floral tools, triple gilt fillet border on boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt inner dentelle, red edges. Discreet restorations to the joints, corners, and top spine-end, with some loss to the gilt tooling at...
First edition, with no deluxe paper copies issued.
A few faint spots to the margins of the endpapers.
Rare dated and signed presentation copy from Didier Schuller to Jean La Mannerie and his wife.
First edition.
Some foxing to spine and boards.
Precious dated and signed autograph inscription from Irène Delmas, president of the National Association of Former Female Deportees and Prisoners of the Resistance (ADIR): "A monsieur Massin avec l'amitié et la reconnaissance des Anciennes Déportées de la Résistance. IRDelmas Présidente de l'ADIR. Paris 13 Novembre 1957." (To Mr. Massin with the friendship and gratitude of the Former Female Deportees of the Resistance. IRDelmas President of ADIR. Paris 13 November 1957.)
Our copy is exceptionally enhanced with the signatures of several members of the editorial committee of the Association of...
First edition, one of 350 numbered copies on handmade paper, ours unnumbered, the only deluxe copies.
Half-shagreen red binding, spine with five raised bands highlighted with gilt dotting and decorated with double gilt fillets, small stains on spine, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns, front cover preserved, corners very slightly bumped, speckled top edge, contemporary binding.
Precious autograph inscription dated and signed by Marcel Bleustein, who took the pseudonym Blanchet during the Resistance, to Paul Verneyras.
Press man, union activist and politician, Paul Verneyras joined the Resistance from 1940 by participating in the...
First edition printed in small numbers of this offprint from the Mercure de France published on May 15, 1920. OCLC does not locate any copies in North America and only three in Europe (Bnf, Bibliothèque Doucet, Universitätsbibliothek Basel).
Covers with frayed margins, second cover partially shaded, one small piece of paper missing from the right margin of a page due to the fragility of the paper.
Signed and inscribed copy to painter Bernard de Blois: “En sympathie de voisin de logis et d'esthétique. Canudo 1922.” [”In sympathy as a neighbor of lodgings and aesthetics. Canudo 1922.”]
Extremely rare first edition of the libretto of...
