First edition of this important work on former French Indochina, comprising:
On the half-title page of Volume VI, signed autograph inscription by Auguste Pavie: "A l'ami Vitoux, hommage affectueux. A. Pavie."
Accompanying this set is: "Carte de l'Indo-Chine dressée par MM. les Capitaines Cupet, Friquegnon et de Malglaive membres de la Mission Pavie."
Printed in Paris by Augustin Challamel in 1893 (broadsheet, folded and linen-backed, with some foxing).
The map is housed in a modern half green cloth portfolio with tips, red oasis title label, red board covers, and a red full-cloth slipcase, designed to match the text volumes.
"A pioneer of new routes in Cambodia and Laos, and a key figure in French expansion in Indochina, Auguste Pavie (1847–1925) holds a privileged place among the explorers of this region. Born in Dinan, he joined the army at seventeen, served in Cochinchina with the Marine Infantry (1868), and was sent to Cambodia in 1875 (…). In 1876, he was commissioned by the Governor of Indochina to create a new map of Cambodia, taking advantage of the construction of a telegraph line between Phnom Penh and Bangkok (…). In 1885, Le Myre de Vilers, recognizing his abilities, appointed him to the delicate post of French Consul in Luang Prabang, where he was to defend the rights France had inherited from Annam over Laos (…). From Luang Prabang, Pavie undertook a series of journeys across Laos from 1887 to 1889, regions that Mouhot and F. Garnier had only briefly explored. His investigations focused on three main directions: east (Tran-Ninh, Plain of Jars); northeast (Hua-Panh); and north (Sip-Song-Chau). It was in this last area that Pavie concentrated his efforts, seeking safe routes to Tonkin in order to open up Laos and firmly link it to France's other Indochinese possessions (…). From 1888, Pavie was no longer alone. He surrounded himself with military collaborators—Cogniard, Cupet, Malglaive, Pennequin…—and civilians such as the young diplomat Lefèvre-Pontalis and the brilliant biologist Le Dantec. Within a few years, the Pavie Mission, a veritable geographical service, would number some forty members, not counting the many indigenous auxiliaries. Dispersed in small groups along different routes, the mission members multiplied the leader's efforts, covering considerable ground. Thus, in 1890–1891, surrounded by a large team of geographers, naturalists, doctors, ethnographers, and economists, Pavie successfully completed a vast territorial survey intended to establish the future borders between French Indochina, China, Siam, and Burma (…). The scientific results of this collective enterprise, unparalleled in the French Empire, were impressive. Extending far beyond Laos, the investigations covered Tonkin, Annam, Cambodia, and southern China. In total, some 600,000 km²—an area larger than France—were surveyed and partially mapped, and 70,000 km of land and river routes were recorded (…). Truly multidisciplinary, the Pavie Mission encompassed all fields of knowledge, neglecting neither history, nor literature, nor folklore…" (Cf. Numa Broc, Dictionnaire illustré des explorateurs français du XIXe siècle, Asie, pp. 366–368).
First edition, one of 12, 13, or 14 numbered copies on Whatman paper depending on the volume, the only deluxe paper copies. The first three volumes had no limited deluxe paper issue and are from an edition of 3,000 copies each. The Whatman copies are as follows:
- 12 copies for volumes seven, eight, nine, twelve, and thirteen,
- 13 copies for volumes four, five, six, ten, and eleven,
- 14 copies for the final four volumes.
Half dark brown morocco with bands, smooth spines, author, title, and volume numbers tooled in palladium, vellum-style boards, plain endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved for every volume, top edges in palladium (uncut for the Whatman copies), bindings signed by René Kieffer (binder’s stamp and label on the first endpaper of each volume). Head of vol. 2 lightly rubbed.
Copy belonging to Charles Péguy’s collaborator André Bourgeois, administrator of the Cahiers de la quinzaine (literary magazine which published this novel). It exceptionally contains valuable bound-in manuscript notes by Romain Rolland and Péguy.
This exceedingly rare set in first edition is handsomely bound by the great René Kieffer. It contains every volume issued on deluxe paper - these being "deuxième exemplaire de souche", i.e. name copies of the administrator after Charles Péguy's copy and before the printer's.
New edition and the first printing of Jacques Tardi’s illustrations.
Publisher’s white boards, smooth spine.
A handsome copy.
Presentation inscription, dated and signed by Jacques Tardi to Joëlle Passani, with an original black-felt drawing depicting a sorrowful-faced Bardamu in a small vignette.
First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on Outhenin-Chalandre pure wove paper for each volume, the only deluxe paper issue after 10 copies on Japon and 30 on Hollande.
In original wrappers. Very good overall condition; two covers show a few minor surface marks.
Pleasant and uncommon set, untrimmed and with full margins, complete in 27 volumes.
First edition of the French translation by Isabelle Rivière, one of 33 numbered copies on pur fil de Voiron, ours being one of 5 hors commerce copies, reimposed in quarto Tellière format, the only deluxe copies.
A handsome and rare copy.
First edition and first printing of Lucien Laforge’s pacifist illustrations, one of 400 deluxe copies on special matte red paper from the Barthélémy paper mills, the only deluxe issue announced.
Some light wear, otherwise a very good copy of this fierce anti-militarist pamphlet in which runs "comme le grésillement du fer rouge marquant à vif la chair pâle et grasse du Bourgeois repu de morts" (Paul Vaillant-Couturier in L'Humanité).
First edition, one of 160 numbered copies on pur fil, the only deluxe paper issue.
Half red shagreen binding with corners, spine with four raised bands framed by black fillets, gilt date at foot, boards covered in moiré-effect paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.
A handsome copy in an attractive binding.
Second issue, printed in March-April 1917, one month after the first edition published in February of the same year.
Publisher's red cloth.
Exceptional inscribed copy signed by H.G. Wells to André Citroën: “To André Citröen who has to do his share in making a new world out of a very shattered old one. From H. G. Wells.”
The inscription echoes the chapter of the book entitled New arms for old ones, in which Wells describes the armament factory created by Citroën to remedy the French artillery weakness. Reconverted at the end of the war, the factory will become the first Citroën automobile manufacturer.
First edition for which no grand papier (deluxe) copies were printed.
Small marginal pieces missing at the top of the first board, a clear remnant of adhesive paper at the bottom of the first endpaper.
Copy complete with the facsimile at the end of the volume.
Precious handwritten inscription signed by Gabriele d'Annunzio to Natalie Clifford Barney: « à miss Barney et au Temple de l'Amitié attentive, cette légère torpille ‘sine litteris' est offerte par la ‘tête d'ivoire'. Gabriele d'Annunzio » (“To Miss Barney and the attentive Temple of Friendship, this light ‘sine litteris' torpedo is offered by the ‘ivory head'. Gabriele d'Annunzio”
Very beautiful testimony to the friendship between Gabriele d'Annunzio and Natalie Clifford Barney, who probably met through the painter Romaine Brooks, temporary lover of the “ivory head” but also of the Amazon for more than fifty years.
In 1909, Natalie Clifford Barney acquired the Temple of Friendship at 20 Rue Jacob and set up her literary salon, which would be held every Friday and would welcome the greatest literary and artistic personalities of the time: Salomon Reinach, Auguste Rodin, Rainer Maria Rilke, Colette, James Joyce, Paul Valéry, Pierre Louÿs, Anatole France, Robert de Montesquiou, Gertrude Stein, Somerset Maugham, T. S. Eliot, Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob, André Gide, Nancy Cunard, Peggy Guggenheim, Marie Laurencin, Paul Claudel, Adrienne Monnier, Sylvia Beach, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, Françoise Sagan, Marguerite Yourcenar... and, of course, Gabriele d'Annunzio whom she greatly admired.
She paid tribute to him by devoting a chapter of her Aventures de l'esprit (1929) to him: “D'Annunzio, a precious little old ivory object, works with the constancy of a monk who watches over his God.”
First edition on ordinary paper.
A small nick on the spine, slightly split at the foot.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Jean Giraudoux to André Gide: "... avec gratitude..."
First edition of this work published in Toulouse, cradle of aeronautics.
Precious and rare signed autograph inscription by Clément Ader to René Fonck, « l'As des As » of French aviation, who achieved the highest number of aerial victories during the First World War: « à monsieur René Fonck membre du Comité de Direction de l'Aéro-Club. En souvenir du 2 mars reconnaissant hommage. »
This remarkable dedication was most likely written on 2 March 1922 on the occasion of a banquet held by the Aéro-Club de France at the Palais d'Orsay, celebrating the award of the Commander's insignia of the Légion d'honneur to Clément Ader, the first Frenchman who, as early as 1890, attempted flight with his prototypes named « Éole » and « Zéphyr ». This final tribute marked the pinnacle of the career of this brilliant inventor, from whom the French army had nonetheless turned away after the unconvincing demonstration flight of his « Aquilon » at Satory in 1897.
A rare and desirable copy, enriched with an exceptional signed autograph inscription from the father of aeronautics to René Fonck, the military hero of French and Allied aviation, nicknamed « l'As des As » during the First World War with seventy-five confirmed victories to his credit.
First edition, no copies printed on deluxe paper.
Illustrated, a pleasant copy
Precious and very fine autograph inscription, dated and signed by Samuel Mbajum: "Paris, 30 June 2014, au ministre Bernard Kouchner, avec ma sympathie pour votre combat humanitaire, en espérant que vous m'aiderez à plaider le plus largement possible la cause de ces oubliés de l'histoire franco-africaine, et aussi des débats sur la commémoration de la Grande Guerre."
First edition of the second orientalist bibliography compiled by Henri Cordier (1849–1925), following his Sinica (1878–1895).
The first four volumes are bound in full red cloth, smooth spines (spine of the first volume slightly faded), marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern bindings.
The fifth and final volume, published in 1932, is in original wrappers.
Copy from the library of the Indologist Émile Sénart (1847–1928), with his printed ownership stamps on the title pages of volumes three and four.
Rare complete set in five volumes.
First edition with all first printing features, one of the press copies.
Exceptional presentation copy inscribed by the author to the famous singer Yvette Guilbert, to whom Céline himself sang and offered one of his scandalous compositions, “Katika la putain,” [Katika the Whore] later renamed “À Nœud coulant” [With a Slipknot"] "A madame Yvette Guilbert en témoignage de ma profonde admiration. LFCéline.”
Beneath Céline's inscription, the actor Fabrice Luchini added: “A Yvette Guilbert in memoriam. FLuchini” ; and on the half-title, actor Jean-François Balmer wrote in turn: “Merci en bon voyage. JFBalmer.”
With pasted-in entry tickets to their respective performances of Voyage au bout de la nuit at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées for Luchini, and at the Théâtre de l’Œuvre for Balmer.
First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only deluxe copies.
First endpaper slightly and partially toned, without consequence.
A handsome copy with full margins.
First edition, one of 40 copies printed on pur fil paper, this one numbered 1, the only copies on deluxe paper.
Complete with the folding map at the end of the volume.
A handsome and rare copy, untrimmed, of this work dedicated "To the glory of those who fell and those who prevailed, workers, soldiers, and commanders."
Preface by Marshal Franchet d'Esperey.
First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies.
Bound in red half shagreen with corners, spine with four raised bands framed by blind fillets, sides covered in gilt-effect paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt on witnesses.
A handsome copy in an attractive binding.
First edition, one of the review copies.
Half shagreen binding with corners in burgundy, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, date gilt at foot, slight but harmless fading to the spine and margins of the boards, gilt-embossed paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine (restored) preserved, top edge gilt.
Rare dated inscription by Georges Duhamel signed with his real surname: "A Paul Souday hommage dévoué. GDuhamel avril 1918."
Our copy is further enriched with an autograph letter dated 16 December 1918, mounted on a stub, addressed to Paul Souday—though not mentioned by name—in which Duhamel expresses the joy and honour he felt at having recently been awarded the Prix Goncourt (Civilisation 1914–1918 was awarded the prize on 11 December 1918) for this work: "... le prix Goncourt me fait plaisir, mais moins encore que les quelques cordiales poignées de mains que je reçois à cette occasion."
Georges Duhamel expresses his high regard for his correspondent: "Vous m'avez déjà et très énergiquement témoigné votre sympathie. Soyez sûr que cette sympathie m'est chère. Et comme, en outre, elle m'est un guide précieux, je ferai tout ce que je pourrai pour la conserver et la mériter."
First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
A handsome copy, uncut.
First edition, one of 110 numbered copies on Marais vellum, ours unnumbered but duly justified at the foot of each spine "Marais" and watermarked, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
A tear to the upper right corner of the rear cover of the last volume.
Handsome complete set in 6 volumes; the author deliberately halted the writing of this work, which deals as much with history as with military history and was originally intended to comprise ten volumes.
First edition of the French translation, one of 60 numbered copies on Arches laid paper, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Very fine copy.
First edition, one of 15 copies on Japan paper, the deluxe issue.
Minor foxing to the edges of the covers, otherwise a desirable and uncommon copy with all edges uncut.
Lettre autographe signée de Pierre Drieu la Rochelle. Une page à l'encre noire sur un feuillet. Traces de plis transversaux inhérentes à l'envoi.
L'écrivain offre une très belle analyse de ses vers inspirés du front, rassemblés sous le titre provocateur de Fond de cantine, paru en 1920. Il demande l'avis de la poétesse Renée de Brimont, petite nièce de Lamartine, qui publia également à la Nrf : "Merci Madame de la décision très fine de ces vers me coupent comme un regret. Que chacun se retire dans soi-même. Que puis-je espérer que vous pensez de ces rythmes militaires [...]".
Esthétique et rare lettre de Drieu la Rochelle.
First edition in French, one of 8 numbered copies on Imperial Japan paper, ours being one of 3 hors commerce copies, deluxe printing.
Some foxing to boards and certain deckled edges.
A rare full-margined copy.
First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on hollande paper, deluxe issue (only the first volume numbered).
Each volume includes a historical introduction by Philippe De Gaulle.
Ex-libris pasted to the front of each volume.
A very fine copy with wide margins, complete in twelve volumes of this important work, commencing in 1905 and concluding in April 1969.
