First Editions

Autograph manuscript by the author of 2½ pages in-8 published in the February 10, 1944 issue of Journal des Débats.
Complete manuscript with very dense handwriting, containing numerous deletions, corrections and additions.
Literary chronicle published on the occasion of the publication of Jean Dumay's "Journal de guerre".
The complete typescript is included.
Between April 1941 and August 1944, Maurice Blanchot published 173 articles on recently published books in the "Chronique de la vie intellectuelle" of Journal des Débats.
In half a newspaper page (approximately seven pages in-8), the young author of "Thomas l'obscur" takes his first steps in the field of literary criticism and thus inaugurates a theoretical work that he would later develop in his numerous essays, from "La Part du feu" to "L'Entretien infini" and "L'Écriture du désastre".
From the first articles, Blanchot demonstrates an analytical acuity far exceeding the literary news that motivates their writing. Oscillating between classics and moderns, first-rate writers and minor novelists, he establishes in his chronicles the foundations of critical thought that would mark the second half of the 20th century.
Transformed by writing and by war, Blanchot breaks, through a thought exercised "in the name of the other," with the violent Maurrassian certainties of his youth.
Not without paradox, he then transforms literary criticism into a philosophical act of intellectual resistance to barbarism at the very heart of an "openly Maréchaliste" newspaper: "Brûler un livre, en écrire, sont les deux actes entre lesquels la culture inscrit ses oscillations contraires" ["To burn a book, to write one, are the two acts between which culture inscribes its contrary oscillations"] (Le Livre, In Journal des Débats, January 20, 1943).
In 2007, the Cahiers de la NRF brought together under the direction of Christophe Bident all the literary chronicles not yet published in volumes with this pertinent analysis of Blanchot's critical work: "romans, poèmes, essais donnent lieu à une réflexion singulière, toujours plus sûre de sa propre rhétorique, livrée davantage à l'écho de l'impossible ou aux sirènes de la disparition. (...) Non sans contradictions ni pas de côté, et dans la certitude fiévreuse d'une œuvre qui commence (...) ces articles révèlent la généalogie d'un critique qui a transformé l'occasion de la chronique en nécessité de la pensée." ["novels, poems, essays give rise to a singular reflection, ever more sure of its own rhetoric, delivered more to the echo of the impossible or to the sirens of disappearance. (...) Not without contradictions or sidesteps, and in the feverish certainty of a work that begins (...) these articles reveal the genealogy of a critic who transformed the occasion of the chronicle into necessity of thought."] (C. Bident).
Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are extremely rare.

Autograph manuscript by the author, 2½ pages octavo, published in the December 10, 1943 issue of the Journal des Débats. Complete manuscript in very dense handwriting, with numerous deletions, corrections and additions. Literary chronicle published on the occasion of the publication of Passage de l'homme by Marius Grout, winner of the 1943 Prix Goncourt. Accompanied by the complete typescript.
Blanchot's critique of this future Prix Goncourt winner is not gentle, although he perfectly grasps its stakes. This story whose tragic unfolding ends in a deception that creates a new faith contains, for Blanchot, an equivocal moral.
"We understand what Marius Grout seeks to show; that men cannot live without a dream of transcendence, that miracle has no need of truth [...] But [...] if men need to live an ideal that is a fable, the question arises of knowing whether after all men need to live." The question would be pure rhetoric for a modern novel, but in 1943, "the writer who accepts to treat themes where man's destiny is at stake [...] puts himself at stake, he bets himself; if he loses, he loses himself."
Between April 1941 and August 1944, Maurice Blanchot published 173 articles on recently published books in the "Chronicle of Intellectual Life" of the Journal des Débats. In half a page of newspaper (approximately seven octavo pages), the young author of "Thomas l'obscur" takes his first steps in the field of literary criticism and thus inaugurates a theoretical work that he would later develop in his numerous essays, from "La Part du feu" to "L'Entretien infini" and "L'Écriture du désastre." From the first articles, Blanchot demonstrates an analytical acuity far exceeding the literary current events that motivate their writing. Oscillating between classics and moderns, first-rate writers and minor novelists, he establishes, in his chronicles, the foundations of a critical thought that would mark the second half of the 20th century. Transformed by writing and by war, Blanchot breaks, through a thought exercised "in the name of the other," with the violent Maurrassian certainties of his youth. Not without paradox, he then transforms literary criticism into a philosophical act of intellectual resistance to barbarism at the very heart of an "openly Maréchaliste" newspaper: "To burn a book, to write one, are the two acts between which culture inscribes its contrary oscillations" (Le Livre, In Journal des Débats, January 20, 1943). In 2007, the Cahiers de la NRF gathered under the direction of Christophe Bident all the literary chronicles not yet published in volumes with this pertinent analysis of Blanchot's critical work: "novels, poems, essays give rise to a singular reflection, always more sure of its own rhetoric, delivered more to the echo of the impossible or to the sirens of disappearance. (...) Not without contradictions or sidesteps, and in the feverish certainty of a work that begins (...) these articles reveal the genealogy of a critic who transformed the occasion of the chronicle into the necessity of thought." (C. Bident). Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are extremely rare.

Autograph manuscript by the author, 2½ pages octavo, published in the January 13, 1944 issue of the Journal des Débats.
Complete recto-verso manuscript, in very dense handwriting, with numerous deletions, corrections and additions.
Accompanied by the complete typescript, with one autograph correction in black ink.

Chronicle published on the occasion of the publication of Le pèlerinage aux sources by Joseph Lanza del Vasto.

This chronicle by Maurice Blanchot forms an astonishing echo to one of his very first published texts (1931), devoted to Gandhi's Memoirs, which already contained the essence of his thought from the 1930s. Published in the pages of Cahiers mensuels, a Catholic review close to the thinking of Jacques Maritain, Blanchot defended the idea of a necessarily spiritual revolution but also of a struggle against the impurity of foreign influences.
In "Le pèlerinage aux sources," Blanchot returns to Gandhi through a recently published work by Joseph Lanza del Vasto, in which the Italian philosopher analyzes "the hope of renewal that many Westerners seek, often lightly, in the profound secrets of Hinduism". But for Blanchot, Gandhi's action could hardly constitute a true example to follow: "Naturally, we all understand that Gandhi's politics tends not only toward a political victory, but toward a spiritual victory: he wants to deliver the people from their ills, from their ignorance, to make them live the truth; all this is quite clear; what is also clear is that among these ills there is first the presence of the foreigner and that the regime recommended by the Mahatma and with a view to which he brings into play spiritual forces is a regime of political, economic and social liberation. It is impossible not to see [...] in this rehabilitation of external action, the distortion of the spiritual ideal. Man is no longer asked to strip himself of himself, for nothing (without any formidable end being able to justify him in this total annihilation), but he receives the order to arrange the world, to conquer himself with a view to making reality better. It is an inglorious return to the most vulgar morality of salvation."

An interesting critique of Mahatma Gandhi's political action.

Between April 1941 and August 1944, Maurice Blanchot published 173 articles on recently published books in the "Chronicle of Intellectual Life" of the Journal des Débats.
In half a page of newspaper (approximately seven octavo pages), the young author of "Thomas l'obscur" takes his first steps in the field of literary criticism and thus inaugurates a theoretical work that he would later develop in his numerous essays, from "La Part du feu" to "L'Entretien infini" and "L'Écriture du désastre."
From the first articles, Blanchot demonstrates an analytical acuity far exceeding the literary current events that motivate their writing. Oscillating between classics and moderns, first-rate writers and minor novelists, he establishes, in his chronicles, the foundations of a critical thought that would mark the second half of the 20th century.
Transformed by writing and by war, Blanchot breaks, through a thought exercised "in the name of the other," with the violent Maurrassian certainties of his youth.
Not without paradox, he then transforms literary criticism into a philosophical act of intellectual resistance to barbarism at the very heart of an "openly Maréchaliste" newspaper: "To burn a book, to write one, are the two acts between which culture inscribes its contrary oscillations" (Le Livre, In Journal des Débats, January 20, 1943).
In 2007, the Cahiers de la NRF gathered under the direction of Christophe Bident all the literary chronicles not yet published in volumes with this pertinent analysis of Blanchot's critical work: "novels, poems, essays give rise to a singular reflection, always more sure of its own rhetoric, delivered more to the echo of the impossible or to the sirens of disappearance. (...) Not without contradictions or sidesteps, and in the feverish certainty of a work that begins (...) these articles reveal the genealogy of a critic who transformed the occasion of the chronicle into the necessity of thought." (C. Bident).
Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are extremely rare.

Autograph manuscript by the author of 2 and a half octavo pages published in the January 20, 1944 issue of Journal des Débats. Complete manuscript in very dense handwriting, with numerous deletions, corrections and additions. Literary chronicle on the literary current events of the moment. The complete typescript is included.

"The subject is not limited to the plot: it depends equally on incidents of language, details of composition and, even more, on those images that reveal the meaning of creation; the subject of a novel is above all the world it brings to birth."

This principle of the novelistic art could just as well apply to the chronicle it initiates. The subject of "D'un roman à l'autre" is not so much the literary current events it surveys as the Blanchotian thought it brings to birth.

Between April 1941 and August 1944, Maurice Blanchot published in the "Chronicle of intellectual life" of Journal des Débats 173 articles on recently published books. In half a newspaper page (approximately seven octavo pages), the young author of "Thomas l'obscur" takes his first steps in the field of literary criticism and thus inaugurates a theoretical work that he will later develop in his numerous essays, from "La Part du feu" to "L'Entretien infini" and "L'Écriture du désastre". From the first articles, Blanchot demonstrates an analytical acuity far exceeding the literary current events that motivate their writing. Oscillating between classics and moderns, first-rate writers and minor novelists, he establishes, in his chronicles, the foundations of critical thinking that will mark the second half of the 20th century. Transformed by writing and by war, Blanchot breaks, through thinking exercised "in the name of the other", with the violent Maurrassian certainties of his youth. Not without paradox, he then transforms literary criticism into a philosophical act of intellectual resistance to barbarity at the very heart of an "openly Pétainist" journal: "To burn a book, to write one, are the two acts between which culture inscribes its contrary oscillations" (Le Livre, In Journal des Débats, January 20, 1943). In 2007, the Cahiers de la NRF brought together under the direction of Christophe Bident all the literary chronicles not yet published in volumes with this pertinent analysis of Blanchot's critical work: "novels, poems, essays give rise to singular reflection, ever more confident in its own rhetoric, delivered more to the echo of the impossible or to the sirens of disappearance. (...) Not without contradictions or sidesteps, and in the feverish certainty of a work beginning (...) these articles reveal the genealogy of a critic who transformed the occasion of the chronicle into the necessity of thought." (C. Bident). Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are extremely rare.

Autograph manuscript by the author of 2 and a half quarto pages published in the December 23, 1943 issue of Journal des Débats.
Complete manuscript in very dense handwriting, with numerous deletions, corrections and additions. The complete typescript is included.
This article, one of the rare pieces to appear on the journal's front page, is an audacious critique of the traditionalist vision of Art, which, arguing for the necessary adequacy between Art and Truth, condemns Modernity. With implacable intellectual rigor, Blanchot demonstrates how this conception of "authentic Art" "joins exactly that of the surrealists" and cites one of the major principles of Surrealism as perfect demonstration of Hourticq's remarks. In a France obsessed with rejecting Degenerate Art, Blanchot reveals the contradictions of traditionalists: "they admit that art in general precedes science, and it is in the name of past science (...) that they condemn new movements in art."
Blanchot, under the guise of literary criticism, once again questions his era: (...) It would still be good to research whether precisely modern science does not recognize itself in the "deformed, decomposed, obsolete universe that art has made familiar to our eyes."

Between April 1941 and August 1944, Maurice Blanchot published in the "Chronicle of intellectual life" of Journal des Débats 173 articles on recently published books.
In half a newspaper page (approximately seven octavo pages), the young author of "Thomas l'obscur" takes his first steps in the field of literary criticism and thus inaugurates a theoretical work that he will later develop in his numerous essays, from "La Part du feu" to "L'Entretien infini" and "L'Écriture du désastre".
From the first articles, Blanchot demonstrates an analytical acuity far exceeding the literary current events that motivate their writing. Oscillating between classics and moderns, first-rate writers and minor novelists, he establishes, in his chronicles, the foundations of critical thinking that will mark the second half of the 20th century.
Transformed by writing and by war, Blanchot breaks, through thinking exercised "in the name of the other", with the violent Maurrassian certainties of his youth.
Not without paradox, he then transforms literary criticism into a philosophical act of intellectual resistance to barbarity at the very heart of an "openly Pétainist" journal: "To burn a book, to write one, are the two acts between which culture inscribes its contrary oscillations" (Le Livre, In Journal des Débats, January 20, 1943).
In 2007, the Cahiers de la NRF brought together under the direction of Christophe Bident all the literary chronicles not yet published in volumes with this pertinent analysis of Blanchot's critical work: "novels, poems, essays give rise to singular reflection, ever more confident in its own rhetoric, delivered more to the echo of the impossible or to the sirens of disappearance. (...) Not without contradictions or sidesteps, and in the feverish certainty of a work beginning (...) these articles reveal the genealogy of a critic who transformed the occasion of the chronicle into the necessity of thought." (C. Bident).
Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are extremely rare.

Autograph manuscript by the author of 4½ pages in-8 published in the September 8, 1943 issue of Journal des Débats.
Complete manuscript with very dense handwriting, containing numerous deletions, corrections and additions.
The complete typescript is included.
Literary chronicle published on the occasion of the publication of Les Voyages de Montesquieu, prefaced by Marcel Arland.
This artificial collection of Montesquieu's travel notebooks gives Blanchot the opportunity to praise a form of "natural" writing, "pure of all concern for readership". These intimate notes indeed testify to an art of "concision [which] delivers [facts] to us naked, pressed by the meaning that illuminates them" and which, from "considerable material [drew] only a small book, discreetly reduced to the essential."
Between April 1941 and August 1944, Maurice Blanchot published 173 articles on recently published books in the "Chronique de la vie intellectuelle" of Journal des Débats.
In half a newspaper page (about seven octavo pages), the young author of "Thomas l'obscur" takes his first steps in the field of literary criticism and thus inaugurates a theoretical work that he would later develop in his numerous essays, from "La Part du feu" to "L'Entretien infini" and "L'Écriture du désastre".
From his first articles, Blanchot demonstrates an analytical acuity far exceeding the literary current events that motivated their writing. Oscillating between classics and moderns, first-rate writers and minor novelists, he establishes, in his chronicles, the foundations of a critical thought that would mark the second half of the 20th century.
Transformed by writing and by the war, Blanchot breaks, through a thought exercised "in the name of the other", with the violent Maurrassian certainties of his youth.
Not without paradox, he then transforms literary criticism into a philosophical act of intellectual resistance to barbarism at the very heart of an "openly Maréchaliste" newspaper: "To burn a book, to write one, are the two acts between which culture inscribes its contrary oscillations" (Le Livre, In Journal des Débats, January 20, 1943).
In 2007, the Cahiers de la NRF brought together under the direction of Christophe Bident all the literary chronicles not yet published in volumes with this pertinent analysis of Blanchot's critical work: "novels, poems, essays give rise to a singular reflection, ever more sure of its own rhetoric, delivered more to the echo of the impossible or to the sirens of disappearance. (...) Not without contradictions or sidesteps, and in the feverish certainty of a work that begins (...) these articles reveal the genealogy of a critic who transformed the occasion of the chronicle into necessity of thought." (C. Bident).
Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are extremely rare.

Autograph manuscript by the author of 2½ pages in-4 published in the May 26, 1943 issue of Journal des Débats. Complete manuscript with very dense handwriting, containing numerous deletions, corrections and additions. The complete typescript is included.
Each chapter of Roland Cailleux's novel, Saint-Genès ou la vie brève, presents a different narrative form. This gives Blanchot the opportunity to return to the interest of this literary audacity initiated a few years earlier by Joyce: "The novel showed itself there with all its possibilities, it metamorphosed into everything it could be."
Between April 1941 and August 1944, Maurice Blanchot published 173 articles on recently published books in the "Chronique de la vie intellectuelle" of Journal des Débats. In half a newspaper page (about seven octavo pages), the young author of "Thomas l'obscur" takes his first steps in the field of literary criticism and thus inaugurates a theoretical work that he would later develop in his numerous essays, from "La Part du feu" to "L'Entretien infini" and "L'Écriture du désastre". From his first articles, Blanchot demonstrates an analytical acuity far exceeding the literary current events that motivated their writing. Oscillating between classics and moderns, first-rate writers and minor novelists, he establishes, in his chronicles, the foundations of a critical thought that would mark the second half of the 20th century. Transformed by writing and by the war, Blanchot breaks, through a thought exercised "in the name of the other", with the violent Maurrassian certainties of his youth. Not without paradox, he then transforms literary criticism into a philosophical act of intellectual resistance to barbarism at the very heart of an "openly Maréchaliste" newspaper: "To burn a book, to write one, are the two acts between which culture inscribes its contrary oscillations" (Le Livre, In Journal des Débats, January 20, 1943). In 2007, the Cahiers de la NRF brought together under the direction of Christophe Bident all the literary chronicles not yet published in volumes with this pertinent analysis of Blanchot's critical work: "novels, poems, essays give rise to a singular reflection, ever more sure of its own rhetoric, delivered more to the echo of the impossible or to the sirens of disappearance. (...) Not without contradictions or sidesteps, and in the feverish certainty of a work that begins (...) these articles reveal the genealogy of a critic who transformed the occasion of the chronicle into necessity of thought." (C. Bident). Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are extremely rare.

Autograph manuscript by the author of 4½ pages in quarto published in the November 27-28, 1943 issue of Journal des Débats.
Complete manuscript with very dense handwriting, containing numerous deletions, corrections and additions.
Literary chronicle published on the occasion of the publication of Paul Thiry d'Holbach et la philosophie scientifique au XVIIIe siècle by Pierre Naville.
The complete typescript is included.
Far more than a critique of Pierre Naville's work on Baron d'Holbach, this long article by Blanchot is a veritable philosophical pamphlet against the materialist thought of the Encyclopedists, whom he accuses of wanting to « know the world in order to seize it. This is a notable expression of the bourgeois spirit. (...) Man can only dominate the world if the world is a collection of objects. »
But through this virulent critique of 18th-century thought, Blanchot identifies a more modern evil: « To make man a thing that can be studied (...) is to ensure that he can be used as a thing and exploited as a thing. All the social contradictions of liberalism are already in this assertion. And its starting point is the Encyclopedia. »

Between April 1941 and August 1944, Maurice Blanchot published 173 articles on recently published books in the "Chronicle of Intellectual Life" of Journal des Débats.
In half a page of the newspaper (approximately seven octavo pages), the young author of "Thomas l'obscur" took his first steps in the field of literary criticism and thus inaugurated a theoretical work that he would later develop in his numerous essays, from "La Part du feu" to "L'Entretien infini" and "L'Écriture du désastre".
From the very first articles, Blanchot demonstrated an analytical acuity that far exceeded the literary current events that motivated their writing. Oscillating between classics and moderns, first-rate writers and minor novelists, he laid, in his chronicles, the foundations of a critical thought that would mark the second half of the 20th century.
Transformed by writing and by war, Blanchot broke, through a thought exercised "in the name of the other," with the violent Maurrassian certainties of his youth.
Not without paradox, he then transformed literary criticism into a philosophical act of intellectual resistance to barbarity at the very heart of an "openly Maréchal-supporting" newspaper: "To burn a book, to write one, are the two acts between which culture inscribes its contrary oscillations" (Le Livre, In Journal des Débats, January 20, 1943).
In 2007, the Cahiers de la NRF brought together under the direction of Christophe Bident all the literary chronicles not yet published in volumes with this pertinent analysis of Blanchot's critical work: "novels, poems, essays give rise to a singular reflection, increasingly confident in its own rhetoric, more given over to the echo of the impossible or to the sirens of disappearance. (...) Not without contradictions or sidesteps, and in the feverish certainty of a work that begins (...) these articles reveal the genealogy of a critic who transformed the occasion of the chronicle into the necessity of thought." (C. Bident).
Autograph manuscripts by Maurice Blanchot are extremely rare.

First edition, one of 300 numbered copies on handmade vellum, the only deluxe copies.
Illustrated with a vignette by Henri Matisse on the cover.
A small stain of no consequence at the foot of the front cover, otherwise a handsome copy.

L'Enfantement du mort.
Miracle en pourpre, noir et or First edition, one of 23 numbered copies on Japon impérial, the tirage de tête.
Elegant Bradel binding in half khaki embossed leather over paper boards with moiré effect gilt spirals by Goy & Vilaine, illustrated covers preserved, gilt moiré effect spirals to edges of covers, top edge gilt.
Autograph inscription from Marcel l'Herbier.
With two original illustrations by Marcel Féguide.
This copy is complete with its photographic portrait of the author by Man Ray. A very rare work printed in three colors and finished on the 18 April 1917, the 990^th day of the war.

First edition of which there were no large paper copies.
With illustrations by Hodges.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on vélin blanc, the only large paper copies.
One slight angular trace of fold to head of upper cover, a good copy.

First edition, one of 25 numbered copies on pur fil, the only large paper copies.
A very good copy.

First edition, one of 20 numbered copies on Arches, the only large paper copies.
A rare and good copy.

First Edition, one of 129 numbered copies on laid Lafuma Navarre and reimposed format in-quarto tellière, head print.
Beautiful copy as published.

First edition, one of 990 copies on Ghaldwill, the only deluxe copies after 10 on pur fil.
Half blue morocco binding, smooth spine, gilt date at foot, covers with marbled paper, blue paper endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved (spine slightly sunned with small filled losses), top edge gilt, binding signed by Goy & Vilaine.
Exceptional and moving signed autograph inscription from Maurice Blanchot to his mother and sister: "Pour vous mes très chères, ces pages, hélas bien anciennes, en toute affection. Maurice. / Mais avant le commencement, il y a le recommencement qui fait de la lumière une fascination, de toute chose une image et de nous le coeur vide du ressassement éternel" ["For you my very dear ones, these pages, alas quite old, with all my affection. Maurice. / But before the beginning, there is the re-beginning which makes light a fascination, everything an image and us the empty heart of eternal rehearsal"].
Half-title page bearing the inscription very slightly and marginally shaded. Marguerite Blanchot, renowned organist at Chalon cathedral, remained all her life in the family home, with her mother and aunt. "She gradually became, for the family, like the memory of origins." Very close to Maurice, she corresponded regularly with the writer who showed her great gratitude for her devotion to their disabled mother. While Blanchot's intense affection for his mother and sister shows through in his dedications, we know almost nothing of their relationships. In the only biographical essay on Blanchot, Christophe Bident reveals however: "Marguerite Blanchot venerated her brother Maurice. Very proud of him, (...) she attached great importance to his political ideas (...). She read extensively (...) They telephoned each other, corresponded. From a distance, they shared the same natural authority, the same concern for discretion." Blanchot indeed sent her numerous works from his library, maintaining with her a continuous intellectual bond. As for Blanchot's passion for his mother, it is in the course of his work that we discover the most beautiful testimonies: "Perhaps the power of the maternal figure borrows its brilliance from the very power of fascination, and one could say that if the Mother exercises this fascinating attraction, it is because appearing when the child lives entirely under the gaze of fascination, she concentrates in herself all the powers of enchantment". Cultivating absolute discretion, Blanchot pushed the art of effacement even into his manuscript dedications generally succinct and written almost systematically on cards attached to the rare works he offered to his close friends. In contrast, in these precious inscriptions to his mother and sister, Blanchot offers himself in all his fragility and reveals a hitherto unknown intimacy.
Fine copy perfectly established.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on Japan paper, the tirage de tête.
A very rare text, printed on the occasion of the second Afro-Caribbean Festival in Bordeaux.
Covers and spine very lightly and insignificantly sunned at edges, a good copy retaining its advertising slip.

First edition, one of 446 numbered copies on Marais paper, ours one of 46 hors commerce copies, the only deluxe copies with 29 on Japan paper and 75 on Holland paper.
Autograph inscription from the author to Doctor Paul Voivenel enriched with a signed autograph tribute from the illustrator.
Work illustrated with 25 original woodcuts by Max Bugnicourt.Preface by J.H. Rosny.

First collected edition printed in 229 copies on laid paper.
Signed autograph inscription from Frédéric Lachèvre to Robert Valencay.
From the collection "Le libertinage au XVIIème siècle"Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 25 hors commerce copies on Canson paper reserved for the author and collaborators, deluxe copy.
Work illustrated with 10 original drawings hors-texte by Jean Raymond.
Signed autograph inscription by the illustrator expanded with the author's signature below the justification page.
Fine copy.

First edition of the author's first book, with no mention of deluxe copies.
Autograph inscription signed by Jacques Audiberti to Anatole Jakovsky.
Small marginal worming to the back cover, a small tear reglued at the foot of the spine, handsome interior condition.

First edition, an advance (service de presse) copy.
Elegant half dark red morocco over marbled paper boards by P. Goy & C. Vilaine, spine in six compartments, gilt date to foot, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine (sunned) preserved, top edge gilt.
Fine and handsome autograph inscription signed from Maurice Blanchot to his brother René and his wife Inge : Un bonze demanda un jour au bonze Sozan Daishi : Qu'est-ce quiest le plus précieux au monde ? / N'importe quoi, une charogne, latête d'un chat mort, répondit Sosan Daishi. / Pourquoi ? ? Parcequ'on ne peut l'évaluer. Zenso Mondo. / Pour René et Inge en toute affection. Maurice. [A bonze asked bonze Sozan Daishi one day: “What is the most precious thing in the world?”/ “Whatever – a rotting carcass, the head of a dead cat,” replied Sosan Daishi./ “Why??” “Because it's priceless”. Zenso Mondo./ For René and Inge with all love. Maurice]”. A very good copy perfectly bound with a moving provenance.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Half red morocco binding, spine with five raised bands, date gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved (a very pale stain on the first cover), top edge gilt, elegant binding signed by P. Goy & C. Vilaine.
Precious and moving autograph inscription signed by Maurice Blanchot to his mother and sister: "Pour sa chère maman et sa vieille Marg avec l'amitié sans Faux Pas de Maurice." ["For his dear mama and his old Marg with friendship without False Steps from Maurice."]
Marguerite Blanchot, renowned organist at Chalon cathedral, remained all her life in the family home, with her mother and aunt. "She would gradually become, for the family, like the memory of origins." Very close to Maurice, she corresponded regularly with the writer who showed her great gratitude for her devotion to their bedridden mother. While Blanchot's intense affection for his mother and sister shows through in his dedications, almost nothing is known of their relationships. In the only biographical essay on Blanchot, Christophe Bident reveals however: "Marguerite Blanchot venerated her brother Maurice. Very proud of him, (...) she attached great importance to his political ideas (...). She read a great deal (...) They telephoned each other, corresponded. At a distance, they shared the same natural authority, the same concern for discretion." Blanchot indeed sent her numerous works from his library, maintaining with her a continuous intellectual bond. As for Blanchot's passion for his mother, it is in the course of his work that we discover the most beautiful testimonies: "Perhaps the power of the maternal figure borrows its brilliance from the very power of fascination, and one could say that if the Mother exercises this fascinating attraction, it is because appearing when the child lives entirely under the gaze of fascination, she concentrates in herself all the powers of enchantment." Cultivating absolute discretion, Blanchot pushed the art of self-effacement even into his manuscript dedications, generally succinct and written almost systematically on cards attached to the rare works he gave to his close friends. In contrast, in these precious inscriptions to his mother and sister, Blanchot offers himself in all his fragility and reveals an intimacy hitherto unknown.
Handsome copy with full margins perfectly established.

First edition of the author's first book, with no mention of large paper copies.
Autograph inscription from Jacques Audiberti to Roland Dorgelès.
A very good copy.

First edition, one of 5 numbered copies on Japan paper, this one specially printed for Albert Sarraut when he was Under-Secretary of State for War in Aristide Briand's government, deluxe copy.
Full burgundy shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands with some light scratches of no consequence, gilt roulettes on the headcaps, double gilt fillets on the leading edges, light surface wear to the boards, gilt decorative board-edges with two small lacks, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt retaining its deckled edges.
Rare copy published anonymously under the initials P.D., journalist at la Dépêche.

First edition, one of 1000 numbered copies on B.F.K. de Rives paper.
Work illustrated with original drypoints by J. Boullaire and a portrait of the author by Madrassi as frontispiece.
Work lacking its slipcase.
Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 200 numbered copies on Libris III paper reserved for subscribers, deluxe copy.
The number and subscriber's name have been neatly scraped off.
Iconography.
Handsome copy.

First edition of which there were no large paper copies.
Iconography.
A very good copy.

First edition, one of the rare numbered copies on alfa paper, print run not specified.
Autograph inscription signed by André Billy to Louise Laporte.
Some minor foxing of no consequence, handsome copy.

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe copies after 10 on pur fil.
Fine autograph inscription signed by Denys-Paul Bouloc to Raymond Fournier.
Fine and rare copy.

First edition, one of 600 numbered copies on select paper, the only issue after 12 on alfa.
Fine autograph inscription signed by the author to Raymond Fournier.
Spine sunned, handsome interior condition.

First edition.
Complete with its folding table at the beginning of the volume as well as its two folding maps at the end, one of which is loose. Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 1035 numbered copies on Rives laid paper, the only printing with 35 Japan copies.
The work is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author by Raoul Dufy engraved by Gorvel.
Handsome copy.

First edition, one of 800 numbered copies on Auvergne paper.
Autograph inscription signed by André Thérive to Emile Mireaux "... qui a gardé sûrement le goût des canulars" ["... who surely retained his taste for hoaxes"].
Spine and first cover uniformly faded as usual, second cover marginally faded, handsome interior condition.

First edition of which there were no large paper copies.
A very good copy considering the fragility of the paper.

First edition, one of 550 numbered copies on Alfa paper.
Illustrated with a frontispiece by Démétrios Galanis.
Spine sunned, handsome interior condition.

First edition printed on laid paper.
Fine autograph inscription signed by the author to Madeleine Roch.
Work illustrated with 13 plates by Léo Bringuier.
Handsome copy complete with its fold-out at the end.

First edition rare.
Spine soiled, slight scratching and marginal lacks to the covers, ex-dono in ink to upper cover, internally good.
Sold as is.

First edition, one of 400 copies on laid paper, the only issue with 5 handmade paper.
Rare autograph inscription signed to Gustave Rahir.
Work illustrated by Jacques Martin.
Spine and covers slightly and marginally faded without consequence.
Rare.

First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on Arches vellum.
Endpapers very lightly shadowed without any gravity, bookplate pasted opposite the first endpaper having left a faint shadow.

First edition, one of 23 hors commerce copies lettered on pur fil and reserved for the author, ours specially printed for Jean de Gourmont.
Fine full-page autograph inscription signed by Constant Bourquin to Jean de Gourmont: "... je vous adresse ce volume publié sous votre égide, comme au meilleur et au plus sûrs des amis, comme à l'être le plus essentiellement et le plus naturellement intelligent, et en témoignage d'une sympathie et d'une admiration qui seront toujours vivaces dans mon coeur et dans mon esprit en même temps que ma reconnaissance." ["... I send you this volume published under your aegis, as to the best and surest of friends, as to the most essentially and naturally intelligent being, and as testimony of a sympathy and admiration that will always be vivid in my heart and mind along with my gratitude."]
Some deckled edges and boards marginally shaded.
Handsome full-margined copy.

First edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Handsome signed autograph inscription from the author to Raymond Fournier: "... en souvenir des Rameaux 53..." ["... in memory of Palm Sunday 53..."]
Work illustrated with 3 drawings by Jean Ferrieu.
Tiny marginal worming on boards, complete with publisher's slip.

First edition, one of 25 copies lettered on pur fil paper, the tirage de tête.
Very slight stains, not serious, to endpapers, a good copy.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Our copy is enriched with a one-page autograph letter signed by the author to Maurice Blanchot who is not explicitly named.
Handsome copy.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Jean Ristat to Maurice Blanchot.
Minimal worming without consequence to covers and spine.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Olivier Duhamel to Maurice Blanchot.
Minimal interior worming, two small angular creases at head and foot of back cover.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Jean Ristat to Maurice Blanchot. Postface by Louis Aragon.
Very light occasional worming on the covers.

The first edition, published in a small number of copies, of which there were no deluxe copies, of this offprint from Pierre Nora's review, Le Débat.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Maurice Blanchot to his sister "... for you, this little reading and to help you regain courage".
Marguerite Blanchot, renowned organist at Chalon cathedral, remained all her life in the family home, with her mother and aunt. "She would gradually become, for the family, like the memory of origins." Very close to Maurice, she corresponded regularly with the writer who showed her great gratitude for her devotion to their invalid mother. While Blanchot's intense affection for his mother and sister shows through in his dedications, we know almost nothing of their relationships. In the only biographical essay on Blanchot, Christophe Bident reveals however: "Marguerite Blanchot venerated her brother Maurice. Very proud of him, (...) she attached great importance to his political ideas (...). She read extensively (...) They telephoned each other, corresponded. At a distance, they shared the same natural authority, the same concern for discretion." Blanchot indeed sent her numerous works from his library, maintaining with her a continuous intellectual bond. As for Blanchot's passion for his mother, it is in the margins of his work that we discover the most beautiful testimonies: "Perhaps the power of the maternal figure borrows its radiance from the very power of fascination, and one could say that if the Mother exerts this fascinating attraction, it is because appearing when the child lives entirely under the gaze of fascination, she concentrates in herself all the powers of enchantment". Cultivating absolute discretion, Blanchot pushed the art of self-effacement even into his manuscript dedications, generally succinct and written almost systematically on cards attached to the rare works he offered to his close friends. In contrast, in these precious inscriptions to his mother and sister, Blanchot reveals himself in all his fragility and, in the intimacy of this correspondence, casts a personal glance on his work hitherto unknown.
A small tear at the head of the spine.

First edition with 25 illustrations in black and white and colors by Moïse Kisling, one of 35 numbered copies on Japon super nacré paper, the tirage de tête.
Preface by André Salmon.
This copy, as called for by the justification, is complete with its suite of color hors-texte illustrations on Hollande paper, its suite of color hors-texte illustrations on Arches, its suite of textual illustrations in black and white on China paper, one unpublished plate, a suite of plates not used for the final work on Hollande paper, and a cancelled copper plate.
The illustrations by Moïse Kisling consist of: one painted folded cover, a color portrait frontispiece, 11 illustrations hors-texte in colors and 12 textual illustrations in black and white.
A fine copy.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Minor spotting to covers, without consequence.
Precious signed autograph inscription from André Pieyre de Mandiargues to Maurice Blanchot.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Handsome autograph inscription from Alain Robbe-Grillet to Maurice Blanchot.
Two small spots to the centre of the spine and first cover, a marginal fold to head of lower cover.

First edition, of which there were no deluxe copies, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Precious signed autograph inscriptions from three of the authors to Maurice Blanchot.
Small marginal stains to covers.

First edition, one of 50 hors commerce copies numbered on Marais vellum, the only issue with 725 other Marais vellum copies.
Precious autograph inscription signed by Louis Emié to Maurice Blanchot.
Work illustrated with drawings by Léopold Survage.
Pleasant copy.

First edition, of which there were no deluxe copies, one of the service de presse (advance) copies.
Precious autograph inscription signed by Roger Chateauneu to Maurice Blanchot.
Slight worming of no consequence.

First edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Precious autograph inscription signed by Maurice Bourg to Maurice Blanchot. Our copy is enhanced with an autograph letter signed by the author also addressed to Maurice Blanchot.
Minor worming to boards.

First edition.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Gérard Legrand to Maurice Blanchot.
Cover illustrated by Hervé Télémaque. Minor spotting without gravity on the covers.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Pierre Bourgeade to Maurice Blanchot.
A small stain and a scratch on the first cover.

First edition, an advance (service de presse) copy.
Handsome autograph inscription from Claude Delmas to Maurice Blanchot.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Dominique Grandmont to Maurice Blanchot.
A pale marginal dampstain at the foot of the pages in the second half of the work.

First edition on ordinary paper.
One very slight marginal tear, not serious, to upper cover, a good copy.

First edition of which there were no large paper copies.
Contributions from H. Godard, P. Mac Carthy, Y. Mancel...
A good copy.

First edition for which there were no large paper copies.
Contributions from J.L. de Boissieu, P. Alméras, J.P. Dauphin...
A good copy.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Text by J. Henri and photographs by P. Bailly-Maître-Grand.
Spine very slightly faded, handsome interior condition.

First edition.
Contemporary half burnt Sienna cloth over marbled paper boards, gilt fleuron to spine, double gilt fillets to foot, dark brown title-pieces (rubbed).
Rare autograph inscription by Ferdinand de Lesseps " à mon respectable ami Mr l'abbé Sabatier [to my honorable friend Mr l'abbé Sabatier]".
Bookseller's notice pasted to head of one endpaper.

First edition, one of 14 numbered copies on Madagascar paper, the tirage de tête.
Scratching, not serious, to lower cover, three tiny tears to margins of the covers, a good copy.

First edition, an advance (service de presse) copy.
Handsome autograph inscription from Henri de Régnier to Tristan Bernard.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Bradel binding in half dark green morocco, smooth spine faded and decorated with two gilt fleurons, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers preserved, top edge gilt.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Henri de Régnier to Tristan Bernard.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Half burgundy morocco binding, spine with five raised bands with very light scratches of no consequence, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.
Precious signed autograph inscription from Henri de Régnier to Jean Richepin.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Annotations in pencil on the first free endpaper.

First edition, one of 1040 numbered copies on héliona paper.
Publisher's binding after Paul Bonet's original design.
Spine very lightly sunned as usual, minimal foxing without significance affecting mainly the edges.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Handsome autograph inscription from Maurice Bouchor to José Maria de Heredia.
A little light spotting principally to covers.

First edition published in a small number of copies, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Half hazelnut shagreen binding with corners, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt cartouche and friezes, some traces of rubbing to spine and edges, original wrappers preserved, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners slightly bumped, top edge gilt.
Fine autograph inscription signed by Francis Carco to Joseph Périer.
Very rare copy of the author's first work.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on Hollande, tirage de tête.
Beautiful illustrated cover. A good copy with good margins.

First edition, one of 82 numbered copies on pur fil, tirage de tête.
A very good copy.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Signed autograph inscription from Roland Barthes to journalist and historian Antoine Casanova.
Spine lightly sunned, light dampstain to top edge, pale stain to head of front cover.

First edition, a Service de Presse (advance) copy.
Autograph inscription signed by René Crevel to the Swedish writer and diplomat Kjelle R.S. Stromberg.
Two discreet marginal restorations at head and foot of one joint.

First edition, an advance (service de presse) copy.

Spine very slightly warped and sunned with two small tears, not serious.

First edition on ordinary paper, false statement of fifth edition.
Preface by Anatole France.
Work illustrated with head-pieces, initials and tailpieces.
Spine and boards lightly soiled, handsome interior condition.

First Edition printed 200 copies numbered on white vellum.
Publisher's binding in full ivory cardboard vellum, back with four nerves set with black threads, framing of double black nets on the boards.
Rare autograph dedication signed by Henry Monnier to a friend.
Beautiful copy established in its binding of the publisher.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Bradel binding in full brown cloth, smooth spine very lightly browned decorated with a gilt floral motif, double gilt fillets and gilt date at foot, black shagreen title-label, original wrappers preserved with small marginal restorations, one upper corner slightly bumped, contemporary binding.
The final endpaper is marginally creased.
Precious autograph inscription signed by Anatole France to his friend Marcel Schwob.

First edition on ordinary paper.
Bradel binding in half boards with vellum-style corners, smooth spine decorated with gilt friezes at head and foot, black shagreen title-label with slight scratches, spine and boards partially soiled, marbled paper boards, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.
Signed autograph inscription from Francis Carco to Charles Genty.
Work illustrated with drawings hors-texte by H. de Toulouse-Lautrec, H. Daumier, Gavarni, Capiello, A. Willette...

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Bradel binding in half sand-colored cloth, smooth spine decorated with gilt floral motif, double gilt fillet at foot, black sheep title-label with some scratches, small spots on spine, marbled paper boards, original wrappers preserved (tiny lack at foot of first cover, lacks at foot of second cover).
Rare and precious signed autograph inscription to Victor Hugo "... with the affectionate respects of the author..."
Eugène Spuller, close friend and collaborator of Léon Gambetta, owed his political rise to Victor Hugo when Hugo chose him "to be his substitute in the senatorial elections of the Seine". (Eugène Spuller (1835-1896): itinéraire d'un républicain par Nathalie Bayon). Deputy of the Seine, a year later, he had a brilliant political career alongside Léon Gambetta and was appointed minister three times during the Third Republic. Victor Hugo mentions him several times in Choses vues.
One manuscript correction by the author on page 96.
Some occasional light foxing.

The first edition, of which there were no deluxe copies.
Dated and signed autograph inscription by the author.
Fine copy complete with publisher's slip, with press clippings laid in.

First edition, one of 500 numbered copies on laid paper, ours unnumbered, the only issue with 25 Holland copies.
Autograph inscription signed by Jean Lorrain.
Furthermore, our copy contains autograph manuscript corrections by Jean Lorrain on pages 26, 37, 39, 101 and 134. Work illustrated with a frontispiece drawing after Gustave Moreau.
Foxing to endpapers, light foxing to covers, two ink stains on second cover.

First edition, one of 55 numbered copies on pur fil, this one is the number 1, the only large paper copies. A nice copy.