Mademoiselle Irnois

First edition in volume form, one of 133 numbered copies on pure paper reimposed in Tellière quarto format, ours one of 8 hors commerce lettered copies, from the deluxe issue.
Our hors commerce copy bearing the letter "b" was traditionally reserved for Jean Schlumberger, one of the 6 founders of the NRF.
Handsome copy despite the first two signatures which tend to come loose.
Foreword by Tancrède de Visan.
At the head of the half-title page, manuscript note by Jean Schlumberger, as a gift to his friend Joseph Breitbach for his 58th birthday, quoting a verse by Jean de La Fontaine from the fable "Les deux amis": "... Un songe, un rien tout lui fait peur quand il s'agit de ce qu'il aime. La Fontaine. Pour l'anniversaire de Jospeh 61. J.S." ("...A dream, a trifle frightens him when it concerns what he loves. La Fontaine. For Joseph's birthday 61. J.S.")
Provenance: from the libraries of Jean Schlumberger then Joseph Breitbach.
In 1929, the German writer and francophile Joseph Breitbach came to France and settled in Paris two years later. His books banned in Germany from 1933, he then applied for French nationality in 1937 while returning his German passport, making him stateless. Arrested in 1939 as a German native, Jean Schlumberger secured his release, sealing the beginning of a long friendship.