Edition translated by Defaucompret. Each volume has an engraved title with a vignette and at least 2 steel engravings per work, the animated scenes are by Tony Johannot, the views are English engravings. 28 folding maps heightened in colors, including a large map of Scotland, at the end of the History of Scotland.
Half navy blue shagreen binding, slightly later, ca 1850. Spine with raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and thick and thin fillets, in blind and gilt. Spine uniformly and slightly darkened. Author, volume number and title gilt. Volume 1: trace of dampstain to one corner of p. 300 to the end. Volume 4: broad yellowing on title page to p.30. Volume 7: trace of dampstain in left margin p. 197 to the end. Volume XXIII, trace of pale yellow dampstain in upper margin slightly affecting the text throughout the volume. Some traces of rubbing. Scattered foxing. Very handsome set, well bound.
Important critical edition, with all the author's prefaces for the different editions, and notes.
Details of the edition: 1) Waverley 2) Guy Mannering 3) L'Antiquaire 4) Rob-Roy 5) Le Nain noir & Les Puritains d'Écosse 6) La Prison d'Édimbourg 7) La Fiancée de Lammermoor ; L'Officier de fortune 8) Ivanhoé 9) Le Monastère 10) L'Abbé 11) Kenilworth 12) Le Pirate 13) Aventures de Nigel 14) Peveril du Pic 15) Quentin Durward 16) Les Eaux de Saint-Ronan 17) Redgauntlet 18) Les Fiancés ou Le Connétable de Chester 19) Le Talisman ou Richard en Palestine 20) Woodstock 21) Chroniques de la Canongate 22) La Jolie Fille de Perth 23) Charles le Téméraire 24) Robert comte de Paris 25) Le Château périlleux & Histoire de la démonologie et de la sorcellerie 26, 27 & 28) Histoire d'Écosse 29 & 30) Romans poétiques
Scott's great dark novels have obscured the fact that he is a great ironist and keen observer of human psychology, closer to Dickens and Fielding than one might initially believe. Yet what the generation of Romantic authors, who were overwhelmed by the discovery of Walter Scott, retained was primarily the historical and romantic tragedy, and the literary use of Scottish legends. Scott, like so many other great authors of English literature, is unfortunately reduced in France to a few novels. The greater part remains unpublished today, which makes this edition all the more valuable.
Edition illustrated by Julien Le Blant with 7 hors-texte etchings and a portrait of the author as frontispiece. Small print run on vellum. Fine engravings engraved by Champollion. Ornaments (initials, headpieces...) by Giacomelli.
Copy with the monogram G. A., unidentified. Interlaced English initials.
Contemporary full tender green morocco binding signed at bottom of front pastedown Bonleu. Smooth spine decorated with a fleuron at head and a special tool, the whole within elegant frames. Triple fillet frame on boards. Monogram at center of upper board. Wide inner decorative border. Top edge gilt. Light traces of rubbing. Spine having turned uniformly to light brown. Copy very fresh, except for 2 pages with scattered micro spotting.
Handsome copy.
First edition of the French translation, one of only 34 numbered copies printed on pure vellum paper, the sole deluxe paper issue.
A fine and rare copy.
First edition, one of 50 numbered copies printed on Edogawa Japan paper, the deluxe issue.
A handsome copy, complete—as with all copies on Japan paper—with the author’s portrait frontispiece by Armand Rassenfosse.
New edition.
A handsome copy.
Fine inscribed copy, signed by Anaïs Nin to the writer Christiane Baroche: "Christiane Baroche my last novel before I began to edit the diaries and be drowned in them. Perharps because I had arrived at humor and could bear to make the journey backwards. Anaïs Nin."
Edition illustrated with 12 original colour watercolours by Gerda Wegener, printed hors texte, one of 400 numbered copies on Arches laid paper.
Spine and boards faintly sunned at the margins, otherwise a pleasing copy.
First edition, one of 330 numbered copies on Arches wove paper.
Minor tears to the head and tail of the spine; a pleasing copy.
With wood-engraved illustrations by François de Marliave, printed in several colours by E. Gasperini.
First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on deluxe paper.
A very slight tear, without loss, to the second panel of the double wrapper.
A pleasing copy preserved in its double wrapper.
First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on pur fil.
An agreeable copy preserved under a double wrapper.
First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on pure rag paper.
Shadowed endpapers; a small loss at the head of the upper board of the original front cover.
A pleasant copy, preserved in its double wrapper.
Published in the year of the first edition, one of 950 numbered copies on wove paper.
Publisher’s binding after the original design by Paul Bonet.
Attractive copy, complete with its original flexible cardboard slipcase.
First edition, one of 306 numbered copies on deluxe paper, the only large-paper issue after 109 reimposed copies.
A fine copy.
New edition published under the direction of Victor Cousin and illustrated with 45 folding plates at the end of the volumes.
Full polished calf bindings in light brown, spines evenly darkened with four raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with double gilt panels, gilt rolls at head and tail, gilt friezes at the foot of the spines, a few heads of spines slightly trimmed, joints rubbed, black calf lettering and volume labels, gilt fillet and garland borders on the covers, upper boards gilt-stamped at centre with crowned laurel wreaths and the gilt inscription “académie de Paris - Prix du concours général”, moiré silk endpapers and pastedowns in white, all edges gilt, gilt fillets on the board edges, a few corners lightly rubbed, contemporary bindings.
The set includes 45 folding plates: 11 in volume 3, 12 in volume 4, 11 in volume 5, 3 in volumes 6 and 7, 2 in volumes 8 and 9, and 1 in volumes 10 and 11.
Scattered foxing.
First edition on ordinary paper.
A fold mark at the foot of the lower cover, otherwise a well-preserved copy.
With a fine signed autograph inscription by Tristan Bernard: "A Charles Cuvillier cette oeuvre capitale qui absorba quinze ans de ma vie. Bien affectueusement Tristan Bernard."
First edition, no copies printed on deluxe paper.
Publisher's full red boards, flat spine, complete with the illustrated dust jacket.
Illustrated with numerous photographs.
Fine signed autograph inscription by Daniel Pennac to his friend Franklin Rist on the title page, each group of words enclosed in a comic strip-style speech bubble: "Nemo par Pennac et POUR FRANKLIN / nom d'un chien / avec / mon / amitié / de toujours / et d'aujourd'hui. Je t'embrasse Daniel"; the inscription is completed with a drawing of a little figure in the style of the Titan Atlas, carrying a fountain pen.
Illustrated edition by George Roux featuring 12 large chromotypographs, 2 maps, and numerous photographic views.
Publisher’s decorative binding by Hetzel, signed Engel, known as “au globe,” type 4, spine with the lighthouse design, lower cover of Engel type "h" as per Jauzac; all edges gilt.
Headcaps very slightly pushed without consequence, original blue endpapers faintly faded as often, a few occasional spots of foxing.
Les Frères Kip is a detective and adventure novel, likely inspired by a late 19th-century criminal case: the Rorique brothers.
Copy not recorded by Jauzac.
Very rare first edition printed in 25 numbered copies, ours being the unique copy printed on vellum and bearing No. 1, a deluxe copy.
Printed proof stamp on the half-title page: "E. Capiomont & Cie imprimeurs. 37, rue de Seine, Paris 30Janvier 188. Epreuve"
Full chocolate brown morocco binding, spine very slightly faded with four raised bands, gilt date and gilt "épreuves" notation at foot of spine, gilt roulettes on headcaps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, frame of six gilt fillets on pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, double gilt fillets on leading edges, bookplate pasted on one pastedown, slipcase with chocolate brown morocco borders, marbled paper boards, grey felt lining, magnificent binding signed by R. Aussourd.
Provenance: from the prestigious library of the great bibliophile Doctor Lucien-Graux with his bookplate pasted on one pastedown.
Very rare and handsome deluxe copy perfectly executed by René Aussourd.
First edition, with all the features of first issue copies, including the misprint “Sénart” on the dedication leaf.
Contemporary plum-coloured 3/4 morocco binding signed by Georges Huser, spines with five raised bands, numerously ruled in blind, with a gilt floral tool at centres, dates in gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edges gilt, bookplates on each front pastedown. Complete with the publisher’s catalogue at the end of the first volume.
A very handsome copy, elegantly bound by Georges Huser, with the rare original wrappers preserved.
First edition in French, one of 8 numbered copies on Imperial Japan paper, ours being one of 3 hors commerce copies, deluxe printing.
Some foxing to boards and certain deckled edges.
A rare full-margined copy.
A new printing of the works issued by Houssiaux, who had acquired the Furne publishing stock under which the works were originally released. He expanded the series with three additional volumes (Théâtre, Contes drolatiques, etc.), which appeared for the first time within the collected works in 1855. The edition was entirely reprinted in 1855. Most volumes bear the date 1863.
Contemporary half shagreen bindings in brown, spines with five raised bands, decorated with four blind-stamped fleurons within compartments. Author, title and volume numbering gilt. Scattered foxing. One volume with the paper boards renewed. Signs of rubbing.
The set is illustrated with 138 plates hors-texte by the leading artists of the period, including Bertall, Daumier, Gavarni, Johannot and Nanteuil, together with a small number of in-text illustrations and several sheets of printed music.
As is invariably the case with these editions of the complete works, our set "naturally" shows a number of noteworthy variants, detailed as follows:
Volume I: 7 plates including the portrait of Balzac; Volume II: 7 plates; Volume III: 8 plates; Volume IV: 7 plates; Volume V: 8 plates; Volume VI: 8 plates; Volume VII: 8 plates; Volume VIII: 8 plates; Volume IX: 7 plates; Volume X: 8 plates; Volume XI: 8 plates; Volume XII: 6 plates; Volume XIII: 6 plates; Volume XIV: 6 plates; Volume XV: 6 plates; Volume XVI: 5 plates; Volume XVII: 5 plates; Volume XVIII: 16 plates; Volume XIX: 4 plates; Volume XX: 5 plates.
First edition, limited to 1,100 copies, divided into four fictitious editions within the same year, in order to create the illusion of commercial success. These were subsequently reissued with a new title-page bearing an edition statement and the author’s name, together with a volume designation on the half-titles (cf. Clouzot). Our copy carries the designation “third edition.” Contemporary bookplate traces on the upper pastedowns. Expert restorations to headcaps and joints, with a tiny loss at the foot of the lower joint of vol. I. A clean copy, entirely free of foxing.
Contemporary half chocolate calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and romantic fleurons with gilt Gothic motifs, marbled paper boards, pebbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, strictly contemporary bindings.
The title-pages are illustrated with two wood-engraved vignettes after Tony Johannot by Poiret, showing Esmeralda offering water to Quasimodo (vol. I) and L’Amende honorable (vol. II).
A fine copy, in handsome period bindings and entirely without foxing, a state of preservation very seldom encountered. “This first edition, in fine condition, is the rarest of all the author’s works; it enjoyed worldwide renown, and is among the most difficult to obtain from the Romantic period” (Carteret).
First edition, one of 41 numbered copies on Hollande paper, from the deluxe issue.
Contemporary half black morocco binding, smooth spine, wood-effect paper boards, marbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed, binding signed L. Bergeron.
A fine copy.
First 12o edition published a year after the very rare first edition.
Light dampstains to the joins of the volumes, a small hole at foot of a joint on the first volume, slight rubbing to the spines, an upper corner of volume 1 rubbed, small part of leather lacking and a hole to a joint of the third volume.
Bound in half bronze sheep, smooth spines framed in gilt and cold-stamped fillets, modern black morocco title labels and volume labels, marbled paper boards, spotted edges, contemporary bindings.
Provenance: from the library of Michel Marie de Pomereu with his engraved bookplates pasted on the pastedowns.
First edition, one of 106 numbered copies on vergé de Vizille, only deluxe issue.
Nice copy of this 1999 Goncourt Prize winner.
