Signed Books, Presentation Copies

Remarkable autograph letter signed by Charles Baudelaire to Auguste Poulet-Malassis, publisher of Les Fleurs du Mal, dated 28 February 1859 and written in Honfleur. 64 lines in black ink, some passages underlined, housed in a modern black half-morocco folder.

Baudelaire appears preoccupied with the “ Sainte-Beuve/Babou affair,” one of the many controversies following the Fleurs du Mal trial, in which the writer Hippolyte Babou accused Sainte-Beuve of failing to defend Baudelaire during the proceedings.
Excerpts from this letter were quoted by Marcel Proust in his celebrated Contre Sainte-Beuve, where he lamented Sainte-Beuve’s cowardice during the trial of Les Fleurs du Mal and the undue esteem Baudelaire continued to show him.

One of the most magnificent letters by Fernand Léger

A fabulous handwritten letter by the painter Fernand Léger, written on the front line during the Battle of Argonne, addressed to the Parisian art trader Adolphe Basler.
92 lines in black ink, four pages on a double leaf, dated 28 May 1915 by Léger.
The handwritten letter is presented with a half forest green morocco chemise, green paper boards with a stylised motif, endpapers lined with green lamb, slip case lined with the same morocco, the piece is signed by Goy & Vilaine.
The letter was chosen for Cécile Guilbert's anthology, Les Plus Belles Lettres manuscrites de Voltaire à Édith Piaf, Robert Laffont, 2014.

First edition, one of 500 copies on ordinary paper.
Spine sunned, small tears and two marginal lacks on the covers, a small dampstain to head of first cover, occasional foxing as usual.
Retaining its advertising band.
Handsome autograph inscription signed by René Char to Alexei Remizov : "... dont la rencontre est mieux qu'un moment d'émotion".

Exceptionally rare autograph satirical poem by Louis Aragon, entitled Distiques pour une Carmagnole de la Honte, written between September 1944 and February 1945. 26 lines penned in black ink on a single leaf, with a note from the author in blue ink at the foot of the page.
Our manuscript belongs to a group of thirteen poems composed during the first half of 1945, intended for publication in a poetry anthology (Aragon, published by Pierre Seghers in Paris, Collection “Poètes d’aujourd’hui” no. 2, 20 July 1945). It was sent by Aragon as a working copy to his editor and friend Claude Roy. This autograph poem is the only known manuscript of the Distiques, with neither manuscript nor proofs held in the extensive Triolet-Aragon archives at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

First edition of which there were no grand papier (deluxe) copies, an advance (service de presse) copy.
Small foxing on covers marginally and slightly sunned, one joint cracked and glued down to foot, a small tear to head of spine.
Illustrated, as frontispiece, with a drawing by Etienne Dinet.
Handsome autograph inscription signed by Etienne Dinet to Georges Rochegrosse : "A G. Rochegrosse cordial souvenir de son vieil ami."