First edition, one of 230 numbered copies on Auvergne paper, ours one of 75 not-for-sale copies, the only printing after 10 copies on China and a few hors commerce copies; this copy specially printed for René Daumal.
Frontispiece illustrated with an original lithograph by Étienne Cournault.
Very faint, insignificant foxing to the margins of the covers.
A handsome copy complete with its original wraparound band.
Exceptional and superb signed autograph inscription dated 27 December 1936 from René Daumal to his future partner Véra Milanova : « à Véra Milanova – à toi Véra, d'abord ces anciens mensonges (que je n'ai pu nourrir qu'en ton absence) pour leur faire une sépulture définitive ; puis ces quelques ombres de vérités que tu m'as aidé à comprendre ; mais surtout, Véra, je préfère te dédier une grande page blanche, neuve, invisible, où nous écrirons sans mots notre histoire. Prends ce petit tombeau d'un ancien René Daumal, de la main de ton Nasha. 27 décembre 1936. »
First edition, one of the review copies stamped "M.F." on the front cover and numbered in the colophon.
Small restored tears to the spine and upper part of the front cover, slight traces of creasing to the margins of the front cover.
Precious inscribed copy signed by Louis Pergaud to J.H. Rosny jeune, one of the historic members of the Goncourt Prize jury. Pergaud had won the 1910 Goncourt for his collection of short stories De Goupil à Margot.
First edition, with no deluxe paper copies issued.
Half aubergine shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands decorated with triple gilt compartments, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges. Contemporary binding.
This collection of poems is followed by essays on Henry Murger by Théophile Gautier, Jules Janin, Arsène Houssaye, and Paul de Saint-Victor.
Our copy is enriched with an autograph note signed by Henry Murger, informing his correspondent that he will visit him soon.
First edition.
Half brown shagreen binding, spine faded with five raised bands, date gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, contemporary binding.
Minor foxing, mainly at the beginning of the volume.
Signed autograph inscription from the Goncourt brothers to Mr. Simon.
First edition, no deluxe paper copies issued.
Complete copy with its illustrated dust jacket, showing as usual a few small marginal tears, two repaired tears at the foot of the spine, and a faint dampstain on the verso of the rear cover.
Rare signed and inscribed copy by Georges Brassens: "à yoyo amical souvenir georges brassens."
First edition, one of the numbered copies from the special issue reserved for friends, contributors, and subscribers of Les Lettres Nouvelles.
Spine faded, scattered marginal foxing.
First edition on ordinary paper.
Half red morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed with gilt fillets and decorated with double gilt panels, gilt lettering at the foot of the spine reading "Ex. de Sainte-Beuve", double gilt fillets on the marbled paper boards, small black spots on the covers, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, gilt edges.
Scattered foxing.
Precious autograph inscription signed by Auguste Brizeux: "A Sainte-Beuve, au poète et à l'ami. A. Brizeux."
First edition, no copies printed on deluxe paper.
Pleasing copy.
Signed autograph inscription from Robert Badinter: "Pour Claude Moncorgé, affectueusement, son cousin. Robert."
Ami, tu veux / Devenir poète / Ne fais surtout pas / L'imbécile / N'écris pas / Des chansons trop bêtes / Même si les gourdes / Aiment ça
First edition.
Contemporary half red shagreen over marbled paper boards, (a few discreet repairs), spine in six compartments, date to foot, marbled paper-lined endpapers and pastedowns, covers preserved, top edge red.
A very handsome autograph inscription signed by Victor Hugo to Alphonse Daudet.
Mrs. Daudet's collection stamp to first endpaper.
Victor Hugo represented for Alphonse Daudet, as for the other writers of his generation, the incontestable master of the Pantheon of the arts. His benevolent attention runs through Daudet's work, often listed side by side with Rousseau, Byron, Sand and Delacroix.
If during Daudet's childhood and youth, Hugo, an exile of enormous stature in Guernsey, remained a distant ideal, "almost above humanity", his return to France allowed him finally to meet the master. Around 1875, just after his first works appeared, Alphonse and Julia Daudet were thus invited to Hugo's house; Hugo was living with Juliette Drouet at the time.
From then on, they become frequent visitors to the house right up to the poet's death. Hugo helped with the young Léon Daudet's education, his grandson Georges' best friend and, later, for a short while, Jeanne's husband.
In her Souvenirs d'un cercle littéraire [Memories of a Literary Circle], Julia Daudet talks of their friendship of ten years with "the idol of lyric France":
"I can see Victor Hugo at the end of his great table: the aged master, a little cut off, a little deaf, presiding with god-like silence, the little absences of a genius on the verge of immortality. His hair all white, his face colorful, and his eyes like an old lion's that would occasionally flash with ferocious bursts of force. He is listening to my husband and Catulle Mendès, between whom there is a very animated discussion on the subject of the youth and celebrity of famous men and their charm for women...During the debate, we moved through to the salon, with Hugo musing beside the fire, famous, omni-present and a demi-god, but perhaps still missing his youth a little, as Mme Drouet sleeps softly."
The friendship between this great Romantic writer and one of the masters of the nascent naturalist school is testimony to Hugo's sharpness who, even during his glory days, preserved a special and benevolent attention for modern literature, no matter how far removed it was from his own lyricism.
This inscription from Hugo to Daudet on a work considered - along with Le Pape [The Pope] and La Pitié suprême [The Supreme Compassion] - a "philosophical testament" by Henri Guillemin, resonates strongly, the passing of the writer's political and moral responsibilities to a devoted disciple.
Provenance: Alphonse Daudet, his sale at Sicklès (1990, IV, n°1200) then Philippe Zoummeroff's sale (2 Avril 2001).
An extract from Memories of a Literary Circle by Julia Daudet :
"How could I forget that first visit to his, in the rue de Clichy, in a modest apartment so out of proportion to his glory, to the image of his glory that we had, which would have filled entire palaces. He got up out of his chair beside the fire, opposite Madame Drouet, his old friend...I was shocked by how small he was but soon, after he had greeted me and begun talking to me, I felt him very big indeed, very intimidating. And this timidity that I felt then, I would always feel towards him, the result of my great admiration and respect, something akin to that for an absent god, that my parents had inculcated within me for inspired poets. I could never overcome that wobble in my voice whenever I would reply to his kind words, and I was shocked to hear women, over the course of almost ten years, when admitted to his presence, regale him with their personal matters and their everyday chatter.
That evening, when he had introduced me, all in a flutter, to Madame Drouet, she said to me with her most charming grace: 'This is the old people's bit, you know, and you're far too young for us. But Monsieur Victor Hugo will introduce you to his daughter-in-law, Madame Lockroy; only he is qualified to do so.'
So I was conducted to the other end of the room, of an average size, but which seemed to be cut in two by a table bearing a bronze elephant, most majestic - Chinese or Japanese, I think. In any case, it served to make two little most distinct groups which nonetheless communicated easily without blending one into the other.
At this moment of his return, Victor Hugo was feeling exulted and was full of stories which he told with an inexhaustible verve whenever politics did not invade his dinner table too much. And how graceful his welcome, what noble manners and what a fine grandfatherly smile under his hair, that I saw grow whiter and whiter as he approached eighty. All the poets used to come to the salon in the rue de Clichy, and later to the house in the Avenue d'Eylau. But was this change of scene really necessary? It seemed to be a step down in the health and then in the spirits of the grand old man. And yet, he always loved to host his friends and the welcome in this open house was not the least of its charms for, gathered around the table, garnished at one end with the Master's two grandchildren, the company still looked for direction from their host's eyes and he himself sometimes struck a vein of memories so vibrant, so wonderfully recounted, that we were all bowled over the entire evening. Mme Drouet grew quietly older beside him, covered by two bandanas whose aspect was a little faded and melodramatic, right up until the day where a merciless illness broke her delicate beauty and made her the suffering effigy painted by Bastien Lepage, who died under the same tortures. Towards the end, the Master would glance sadly at her empty plate and noble, ravaged face during these intimate dinners.
'Madame Drouet, you're not eating, you must eat, take heart.'
Eat! She was dying. Did he know it? Was the great old man, so strong and so hardy, trying to fool himself, as he saw his companion of fifty years go?
In the big living room, a handsome portrait by Bonnat hung, with a paternal attitude, and an immense bust by David presided. The little living room was decorated with striped and colored wallpaper, which seemed to have been chosen for Dona Sol. In the garden connected to the verandah by a platform of two steps, Leconte de Lisle, Meurice and Vacquerie, Paul de Saint-Victor, the smiling Banville reappeared, Flaubert and Goncourt talked, Mallarmé, Léon Cladel, François Coppée, Catulle Mendès, and Clovis Hugues, shadows in a vanished Eden. Then there were Léon Glaize, Gustave Rivet, Pierre Elzéar, and tiny Mme Michelet distributing roses at a party, as well as ambassadors, diplomats, the Emperor of Brasil, and painters, sculptors, and so many politicians I can't remember all their names!
These are my direct impressions of one of the soirees we attended, Alphonse Daudet and I, one snowy evening, when our horse stumbled three times during the trip over as we were crossing the Esplanade des Invalides:
I can see Victor Hugo at the end of his great table: the aged master, a little cut off, a little deaf, presiding with god-like silence, the little absences of a genius on the verge of immortality. His hair all white, his face colorful, and his eyes like an old lion's that would occasionally flash with ferocious bursts of force. He is listening to my husband and Catulle Mendès, between whom there is a very animated discussion on the subject of the youth and celebrity of famous men and their charm for women. Alphonse holds that in a salon full of all sorts of talented people of all ages a very young man, the unknown author, the overlooked poet will get female attention if he is handsome. Catulle Mendes answers that he would, firstly, remain unnoticed, and that all women went in for celebrity, which seems to me more correct. Fortunately, women not only have the eyes in their heads, but also the eyes of their souls and their hearts. For intellectual women, the looks of an artist or a great poet don't matter - it's the reflective aspect, the tormented features of a man who lives his emotions. They go for talent, to suffering that passes, and they hardly think about physical beauty. Now you could say that they seek out famous authors motivated by personal ambition, but the other feeling, that attracts them to tempting youths, seems to me even less respectable.
And I laugh at the pretention of these two charming debaters in labeling and analyzing us. Talking about 'women' is like talking about 'birds': there are so many different species and types, whose song and feathers are so completely different!
During the debate, we moved through to the salon, with Hugo musing beside the fire, famous, omni-present and a demi-god, but perhaps still missing his youth a little, as Mme Drouet sleeps softly. Her fair white hair covers her delicate head like the two wings of a dove, and the buttons of her blouse follow the pattern of the soft, almost resigned, breathing of an old woman sleeping.
It was soon after this evening that that great gathering took place in which all Paris marched past, on the Avenue d'Eylau, the windows of this little bedroom that was now home to a deathbed, in May 1885, full of roses and plainly furnished, as it is represented in the Victor Hugo Museum in a room in the poet's former apartment on the Place Royale.
Very evocative, this old corner of the Marais, especially if we consider that Victor Hugo wrote almost all his historical works there. We can picture the poet at work in the early morning hours, to which he kept, the high windows of the houses all identical and in the same style, stretching all the way around the square, guarding the memory of the tournaments, the duels, promenades and uprisings of several generations now vanished beneath these thick, ancient arcades, which keep no trace of fleeting humankind.
We had dinner at Victor Hugo's house the week before he died. He told us as we were coming in, more pale that usual, and tottering as he walked:
'I'll be going soon, I can feel it'. Then he squeezed Georges' shoulder: 'Without this one, I would have gone long ago.'
I will never forget his slightly solemn and prophetic tone - I was struck by a sadness and presentiment. I felt the dispersal of this unique centre of the world that could never come together again!"
First French edition, no deluxe paper copies issued.
Minor, insignificant spotting to the edges.
A handsome copy.
First edition, one of 42 numbered copies on Japan Barjon paper, one of the deluxe issue, with 8 additional copies on Japan reserved for the author.
Introduction by Francis Scarfe and preface by Jean-Jacques Mayoux.
Rare and attractive copy of Kenneth White’s first book, complete with two photographs by Marie-Claude White.
First edition on ordinary paper.
Bradel binding in half grey percaline, smooth spine decorated with a central gilt ornament, gilt double fillet and date at foot, brown shagreen title-piece, cat's-eye patterned paper boards, blue paper endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Jean Richepin to Léon Deschamps.
First edition, of which there were no large paper copies.
Complete with dj (slightly sunned at edges of spine and covers), small tears to head of upper cover.
Handsome autograph inscription, signed and dated by Canetti to Raymond Queneau : " Für Raymond Queneau aus Freude über eine unerwartete Begegnung, Juni 1951 [for Raymond Queneau, the pleasure of an unexpected meeting, June 1951]".
First edition printed in 245 numbered copies, the only printing after 10 copies on heavy paper.
Bradel binding in half blue cloth, smooth spine decorated with a gilt floral motif, double gilt fillet at foot of spine, red morocco title label with a very small defect, marbled paper boards, wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.
Inscribed and signed by Paul Fort.
First edition, one of 15 numbered copies on Hollande Van Gelder paper and signed with the publisher's initials.
Full green morocco, the spine in five compartments, the first cover inlayed with a large and superb plate by Marguerite Lecreux of a horn sculpted in Cameo, featuring a sailboat with its sails unfurled, on the calm sea appears an engraved silverfish set under the plate of the horn and visible in transparency, pastedown in silk decorated with a submarine pattern (coral, jellyfish, starfishes and algae) framed in morocco embellished with quintuple gilt fillets, endpages of iridescence cloth, the following pages in marbled paper, the headband highlighted with a double gilt fillets, gilt roulette on the spine head, all edges gilt, typical Art Deco binding (circa 1910-1920) by Noulhac together with Marguerite Lecreux.
First edition, one of 340 numbered copies on Holland paper, the only deluxe paper issue.
Bound in brown half morocco with corners, smooth spine, marbled endpapers, original wrappers preserved.
Some discreet restorations to the spine and joints.
Our copy, with full margins, retains the folding genealogical table of the Rougon-Macquart.
First edition, large octavo, illustrated with 78 engravings together with 12 chromotypographic plates by George Roux and 2 coloured maps.
Publisher’s binding by Hetzel in full red cloth signed A. Lenègre, with the "portrait collé" design: the upper cover signed Souze, polychrome, depicting various means of transport (balloon, locomotive, ships), with a sepia-toned portrait of the author mounted at the centre, and various navigational instruments highlighted in gilt in the foreground; lower cover of type "e" as recorded by Jauzac; spine decorated with several gilt and coloured illustrations; original blue endpapers; one upper corner slightly crimped; all edges gilt. HF catalogue at the end.
Some light scattered foxing.
A maritime adventure recounting a treasure hunt, leading the hero from Tunisia to the Gulf of Guinea, then to Scotland, the island of Spitzbergen, and finally to Sicily.
First edition, one of the review copies.
Slight sunning at head and foot of spine, without seriousness.
Precious signed presentation from Francis Ponge: "Pour Marthe et Henri Calet leur ami. Francis Ponge."
First edition on ordinary paper.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands framed by gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge.
Scattered foxing, a few reading marks in red and blue pencil in the margins of certain paragraphs, printed stamp of the Armand Colin bookshop on the title page.
First edition, of which no copies were printed on deluxe paper.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, combed paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge, original wrappers preserved.
Scattered foxing, some reading marks in red and blue pencil in the margins of certain paragraphs, ink stamps of the Etienne Vion bookshop and stationery in Amiens on the title page, a library shelfmark at the head of the title page.
First edition on ordinary paper.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge, original covers and spine preserved.
Scattered foxing mostly affecting the edges.
First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on Holland paper.
Some minor foxing, two tears and slight losses to the spine.
Paul Léautaud’s handwritten signature beneath the colophon.
First edition on ordinary paper.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, a small tear at the foot of the spine, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge.
Scattered foxing.
First edition, published at the author’s expense and in a small print run.
A few minor spots of foxing.
Bradel binding in full paper echoing the work’s gilt checkered cover, smooth spine, red morocco lettering-piece, fragile original wrappers preserved, gilt edges, binding signed by Thomas Boichot.
Rare signed autograph inscription from Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam to the Marquis de Monthec.
Partly original edition, expanded with a preface and entirely unpublished fragments.
Bound in contemporary half black shagreen, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt dates at the foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers, gilt edges.
Some foxing, mainly at the beginning and end of the volumes.
Complete with the folding table bound at the beginning of the second volume.
Partly original edition, with no mention of a deluxe paper issue.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands tooled with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges, contemporary binding.
Pleasant copy.
First edition.
Bound in black half shagreen, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt dates at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges.
Some foxing, mainly at the beginning and end of the volumes.
Preface by Prosper Mérimée.
First edition, one of 1,000 numbered copies on offset.
A fine copy.
Illustrated with 10 drawings by René Magritte.
First edition, one of 10 numbered copies on Holland paper, deluxe issue.
Some minor foxing mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.
Inscribed and signed by Maurice Genevoix to Jacques Gommy: "... en pensant aux forêts qu'il aime, avec les hommages et les amitiés de Maurice Genevoix."
Partly first edition.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, date gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, combed paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges.
Some scattered foxing.
Edition largely original.
Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges.
Some foxing, chiefly at the beginning and end of the volume.
First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only deluxe copies after 17 on Hollande.
Bradel binding in full beige cloth, smooth spine, red morocco title-piece, upper wrapper preserved, sprinkled edges, modest binding.
First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on alfa vellum, the only copies on deluxe paper.
Slight sunning at the foot of the spine.
A handsome copy.
First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on alfa vellum, ours being No. 1, the only copies on deluxe paper.
Rare and handsome copy.
First edition, one of 13 numbered copies on pure rag Rives vellum, the tête-de-tirage.
Rare and handsome copy.
Partly original edition, entirely revised.
Some foxing.
Rare copy preserved in its original wrappers.
First edition, one of 137 numbered copies on pure thread vellum, the deluxe issue following 80 on Montval.
A pleasant copy.
Fine signed autograph inscription by René Bazin: "Pour monsieur Dubois en très amical hommage. Cette vie d'une sainte - agressive et qui du reste n'avait pas la foi - Hervé Bazin. 18.9.52."
First edition, one of 10 numbered copies on Japan paper, the deluxe issue.
Bradel binding in half chocolate-brown morocco with bands, smooth spine, date gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, brown endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, gilt edges, binding signed Honnelaître.
First edition published under the pseudonym Cévennes and completed under oppression in Paris on August 1, 1944.
Pleasant copy.
First edition.
Illustrated with 16 drawings by Georges Adam.
A superb copy of this rare booklet by Louis Aragon, a true "anti-clerical, anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist, anti-patriotic" (Pierre Juquin) catechism for the children of the exploited working masses.
"On June 25, 1932, the Imprimerie centrale completed printing for the Bureau des éditions et de diffusion, 132, Faubourg Saint-Denis, Paris, a beautiful pamphlet, now a bibliophilic rarity [...] On the cover, a large red star - an important and recurrent image in Aragon's work - appears imprinted on children's brains. Sixteen quatrains, droll and didactic, punctuated for ease of reading, alternate with drawings by Georges Adam, whose nearly expressionist mockery, reminiscent of Rouault's paintings, overturns taboos and myths." (Aragon. Un destin français 1897-1939)
After breaking with the Surrealists, Aragon threw himself wholeheartedly into the Journal de la lutte antireligieuse. He wrote this pamphlet from Moscow and published it on the Party's presses, to ignite the fervor of proletarian youth. French poet Jacques Prévert would later follow a similar path with his play Émasculée conception. Anticlerical activism within French Communist associations was in full swing at the time: every symbol and events of religious life were reinterpreted through the lens of class struggle. "Red baptisms" were organised, forming a community of "Godless" children (drawing their name from the Association of Godless Workers) who corresponded with their Soviet counterparts.
Aragon contributed to these new rituals with this particularly radical children's book, deemed excessively antipatriotic by Maurice Thorez, which he would later disavow at the end of his life.
First edition, an advance (service de presse) copy.
Covers and spine very skillfully repaired.
Handsome autograph inscription from Pierre Drieu La Rochelle to Henri Béraud.
