La maison des hommes vivants

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Holland paper, being the only large paper issue.

Bradel binding with decorative paper featuring red and gold motifs, flat spine, small restorations to spine-ends and joints, brown shagreen title label with a corner skilfully restored, endpapers and pastedowns of blue paper with gilt motifs, soiled soiled covers and spine preserved, gilt top edge on deckle, contemporary binding.

Exceptional and precious presentation copy signed by Claude Farrère: "Pour Max-Anély que j'admire et pour mon ami Segalen. Claude Farrère." [For Max-Anély I admire and for my friend Segalen. Claude Farrère]

Claude Farrère had met Victor Segalen in 1905 and served for a time as his literary advisor. During evenings spent smoking opium, Victor Segalen discussed at length with Farrère his work-in-progress Les Immémoriaux, submitting the manuscript to him before publication. In this inscription, Farrère honors Segalen's pseudonym, Max-Anély, under which he had signed this first novel. As a naval physician, Segalen should have, in principle, requested authorization from his superiors to publish. Like Farrère himself (whose real name was Charles Bargone) and Pierre Loti (Julien Viaud), he dispensed with this formality and chose this pen name (Max in homage to his friend Max Prat and Anély, one of his wife's first names). As a counterpart to his friend's Maoris in Les Immémoriaux, Farrère offers here this rare and early work of speculative fiction recounting the achievement of eternal youth through electrochemical means.

A superb (double) inscription to one of his closest fellow travel writers, Victor Segalen.