Maison jaune

First edition, one of the advance review copies.

A handsome copy despite two minor sunned spots to the spine-ends.

Exceptional presentation copy inscribed and signed by Dominique De Roux: "Pour Romain Gary pusiqu'il n'y a pas que le premier pas qui coûte, et le voilà fait. De Roux. Très beau votre article dans LIFE." [For Romain Gary, because it's not just the first step that's hard, and now it's done. De Roux. Your article in LIFE is very beautiful.]

Gary had indeed published a celebrated plea for the protection of nature, mankind and endangered species in Life Magazine entitled “Dear Elephant, Sir”, (22 December 1967). Amidst the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation, the prolific writer chose to reissue one of his masterpieces, 'Les Racines du ciel', and to restore its political resonance, in his Life op-ed:

"In these perilous days of 'balance through terror,' of massacres and elaborate calculations about how many humans would survive a nuclear holocaust, it is only natural that my thoughts should turn to you. To my mind, dear sir and elephant, you perfectly embody all that is now threatened with extinction in the name of progress, efficiency, absolute materialism, ideology, or even reason itself—for a certain abstract and inhuman use of reason and logic is becoming ever more complicit in our murderous madness. It now seems all too clear that we have behaved toward other species—and yours in particular—just as we are about to behave toward ourselves."