A la recherche du temps perdu

First edition, rare first issue copy (printing error in the Grasset imprint, original soft cover dated 1913, publisher's catalog in-fine, no table of contents) for the first volume; first issue of à l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs without statement of edition, one of about 500 copies, the 2000 later issued copies bearing a false statement of edition on the cover, pasted label “majoration temporaire cinquante pour cent” on the spine of the preserved soft cover; first editions on pur fil for the following volumes, the only grands papiers (deluxe copies) with réimposés quarto copies.
Famous misprint known as “la faute à Grasset”: most important printer's error, only present on service de presse (advance copies) and very first issue copies of Swann. A vertical bar | had slipped between Grasset's E and T on the lower part of the title-page and was quickly removed during printing. 17 deluxe copies – 5 on japon and 12 on hollande – were printed after first issue corrections.
No statement of edition: true feature of first issue copies of à l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs. Although dated 30 November 1918, the 128 “réimposés” copies were only printed in 1919 along with deluxe copies of the Swann second edition.

The complete first edition, first issue of à la recherche du temps perdu includes the first two volumes on ordinary paper with the above-mentioned particularities, then deluxe copies for the following volumes. These deluxe copies on pur-fil are of the same format than the first two volumes.

Spine and joint of first volume expertly restored, two warped spines, a few rare foxings mainly on vol. IV, good overall condition.
This complete collection of In Search of Lost Time includes the following titles: Du Côté de chez Swann, A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, Le Côté de Guermantes (2 volumes), Sodome et Gomohrre (3 volumes), La Prisonnière (2 volumes), Albertine disparue (2 volumes) and Le Temps retrouvé (2 volumes).

Precious set, increasingly rare as issued.