First edition, with no copies issued on deluxe paper.
A handsome copy.
With Pierre Bourdieu’s signed presentation inscription to the anthropologist Emmanuel Terray.
Original ink drawing by Marie-Laure de Noailles, signed "Marie-Laure" within the artwork (appearing twice as a result of folding the paper while the ink was still wet). With an autograph postcard signed to Valentine Hugo, with 2 inscriptions and some parts of the photograph drawn over.
A Rorschach-like Surrealist decalcomania by Marie-Laure de Noailles created for painter and photographer Valentine Hugo, the “Queen of Hearts” of the Surrealists.
First edition, one of the copies printed on vellum paper.
Minor, inconsequential loss at the foot of the spine; light foxing chiefly affecting the rear cover.
Very scarce presentation inscription signed by René Guénon to the French journalist, writer, royalist activist and later collaborationist Jean Héritier.
Rare and sought-after first edition, first issue.
Includes the subscribers' list and the foreword, which were omitted when the remainder of this edition passed into the hands of another publisher, Dion-Lambert. It also retains the pagination error in volume two: page 164 instead of 364. With a letter from the author, bearing his autograph signature, written and dated 14 April 1839, in the hand of his secretary. One page written in black ink on a leaf. Slightly darkened at the upper edge, with occasional foxing, and the usual folds from postal handling.
Our copy is enriched with an exceptional, prophetic and macabre letter by François-René de Chateaubriand: "mais moi je suis mort, absolument mort et s'il me fallait écrire un mot dans un journal, j'aimerais mieux être enseveli à mille pieds sous terre." ["but I am dead, utterly dead, and if I were required to write a single word in a newspaper, I would rather be buried a thousand feet underground."]
Signed with the author’s faltering hand, this apparently unpublished letter was penned by his secretary: "Vous connaissez la main de [Hyacinthe] Pilorge que j'employe pour remplacer la mienne souffrante de la goutte" ["You will recognise the hand of [Hyacinthe] Pilorge, whom I employ to replace my own, suffering from gout,"] the author explains in the introduction to the letter.
Black half-morocco bindings, smooth spines with double gilt fillets and double blind-stamped compartments, black paper boards, slight superficial rubbing to some boards, marbled paper pastedowns and endpapers, sprinkled edges; contemporary bindings. Sparse foxing.
First edition, of which no deluxe copies were printed.
Pleasing copy.
Inscribed and signed by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to Michel and Suzanne Blanvart.
Manuscript of 83 leaves of this French–Bunda dictionary, probably unpublished and unsigned.
This manuscript is certainly the first French–Bunda vocabulary (cf. Gay 3068 and Brunet I-1544).
Half red shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, gilt date at foot, minor rubbing to spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.
First edition of the French translation, of which no copies were printed on deluxe paper, one of the review copies.
A few small spots on the slightly rubbed spine, light foxing mainly affecting the endpapers.
Very rare autograph inscription signed by Otto Rank: "à Monsieur Sébastien Charlety en hommage de ma très haute estime. Otto Rank."
First edition in English.
Elegant pastiche marbled paper Bradel binding by Thomas Boichot, black morocco title-piece, covers preserved (small marginal repairs to upper cover).
Autograph inscription signed by Josselin de Jong to head of upper cover.
Rare first edition.
Spine and boards slightly sunned along the margins.
Dated and signed autograph inscription from C. Martin Saint-Léon to Baron Hulot, Secretary General of the Société de Géographie, on the front free endpaper.
The character and spirit of the Vietnamese as seen from a French perspective.
Autograph letter signed and dated April 16, 1912, by Henri Bergson, addressed to M. Masson de Saint-Félix. Includes the original autograph envelope, bearing an inscription by the recipient: "Lettre de M. Bergson / Membre de l'Institut / mon professeur de philosophie au Lycée de Clermont Fd".
Touching letter of condolence from Henri Bergson to a former student from his philosophy class in Clermont-Ferrand, where he taught for five years — from 1883 to 1888 — at the Lycée Blaise-Pascal and the Faculty of Letters.
"Mon cher ami,
La nouvelle du grand deuil qui vous frappe me touche profondément. Laissez-moi vous envoyer l'expression de ma très vive sympathie. Depuis plus de 2 mois j'avais préparé une lettre pour vous, en réponse à celle que vous m'aviez adressée ; j'attendais pour vous l'envoyer d'avoir un de mes travaux que je désirais y joindre et dont l'édition est épuisée vous le recevrez bientôt. Je n'ai pas besoin de vous dire combien j'ai été heureux d'apprendre que vous ne perdez pas de vue la philosophie. Hélas quelle philosophie, si consolante soit-elle, vous consolera tout à fait des tristesses de la vie ? Cordialement à vous / H. Bergson"
["My dear friend,
The news of the great sorrow that has befallen you has deeply moved me. Allow me to extend to you the expression of my heartfelt sympathy. For over two months I had prepared a letter in response to the one you sent me; I was waiting to send it until I could enclose one of my works, which I wished to share with you, but whose edition is currently out of print — you will receive it soon. I need not tell you how glad I was to learn that you have not lost sight of philosophy. Alas, what philosophy, however comforting it may be, could truly console you for the sorrows of life? / Cordially yours / H. Bergson"]
Autograph card signed and dated 18 February 1909 by Henri Bergson, to Mr. Masson de Saint-Félix.
Two years after the publication of L'Evolution créatrice, Bergson expresses his gratitude to a former student from his philosophy class in Clermont-Ferrand, where he taught for five years — from 1883 to 1888 — at the Lycée Blaise-Pascal and the Faculty of Arts.
"Thank you, my dear friend, for your kind note. I hardly need to tell you how fondly I remember your time in my class at Clermont. I do not know whether I shall be able to visit Lozère any time soon, as you kindly encourage me to do; but if you happen to be in Paris, it would give me great pleasure to have a talk with you. / Very cordially / H. Bergson"
Very important and last remaining archives in private hands, including autograph manuscripts, typescripts, corrected proofs, offprints, first editions, etc.
Exceptional collection of manuscript and printed archives – the last in private hands – of the founder of liberalism and modern economics, Léon Walras, preserved and annotated by his most prominent scholar William Jaffé. One of the 5 most important sets of personal archives belonging to Walras, considered by Schumpeter “the greatest of all economists”.
This collection of 42 important documents, including complete autograph manuscripts, corrected proofs, abundantly annotated offprints and expanded printed material, was given by his daughter Aline Walras and then Gaston Leduc to William Jaffé, who added his autograph notes to some of them and used them to edit the first translation of Éléments d’économie politique pure.
Second edition, partially original (cf. Gay, 3227. Grandidier, I, 1776. Ryckebusch, 3188. Boucher de La Richarderie, IV, 269–271. Brunet, II, 1278).
Two volumes bound in one, illustrated with 15 engraved maps and plates: a map of the island of Madagascar, a plan of Fort Dauphin, maps of Sainte-Marie Island and Bourbon Island, depictions of inhabitants in traditional dress, genre scenes, flora and fauna.
The plates and maps have been mounted on thick paper; old repairs to pages 27 and 47.
Contemporary full calf binding, spine with five raised bands framed in gilt garlands, decorated with double gilt panels and floral ornaments, some rubbing to joints and boards; marbled endpapers and pastedowns, blind-ruled fillets to board edges.
Nephew of Jules de Loynes, Secretary General of the Navy and member of the Compagnie de l'Orient founded by Richelieu in 1642, Étienne de FLACOURT (1607–1660) was appointed Governor of Fort-Dauphin in Madagascar in 1648. He spent seven years on the island, seeking to exploit its resources and convert the local population to Christianity. He also explored nearby islands and took possession of the Mascarene Island, which he named Île Bourbon. Returning to France in 1655, he became the first traveller to provide a detailed description of Madagascar, with particularly notable ethnographic and botanical content: "Sa relation comprend deux parties. Dans la première, Flacourt fait une description générale de Madagascar, puis des descriptions particulières des provinces avec leurs rivières et les îles voisines : ces descriptions sont complètes et portent sur la religion, le langage, les usages et le gouvernement des habitants et aussi sur les plantes, les métaux et les animaux. La seconde partie est le récit des événements qui se sont passés depuis l'arrivée des Français dans l'île en 1642 : elle est complétée par la relation de quelques voyages qui ont été faits dans les îles voisines et dans les Mascareignes […] . Sans doute, il n'a pas tout vu et il ne peut pas tout rapporter : mais, après avoir bien étudié, il en arrive aux mêmes conclusions que son prédécesseur Cauche, dont il connaissait la relation, et, comme lui, il fait une peinture très enthousiaste des ressources végétales et minérales de Madagascar. Lorsque l'on a lu son livre, qui est le premier ouvrage sérieux sur la grande île, on comprend pourquoi la colonisation française n'a pas alors réussi malgré les grands avantages que l'on pouvait retirer de Madagascar. Dans l'édition de 1658 est une addition de 42 pages relative aux causes de l'insuccès que la Compagnie a eu : cette addition ne se trouve pas dans l'édition de 1661". Cf. Bourgeois & André, XI, 475.
This copy includes, bound at the end, a 17-page octavo pamphlet entitled "Cause pour laquelle les interessez de la Compagnie n'ont pas fait de grands profits à Madagascar". This text, extracted from the appendix of the original 1658 edition, has been inserted into the volume and is not part of the 1661 edition.
A handsome copy of this scarce work, complete with all its maps and plates.
First edition, with no deluxe copies printed on special paper.
A handsome copy.
Inscribed and signed by Pierre Bourdieu to a friend named Emmanuel.
First edition printed in small numbers.
Traces of horizontal folds on the first cover, otherwise a nice copy.
Signed by Charles-Louis-Augustin Letellier at the top of first cover.
Complete autograph manuscript dated and signed of the article “Note sur la Solution du problème monétaire anglo-indien”. 5 pages in black ink on a leaf and a bifolium; 4th page signed and dated: “Léon Walras Vers chez les Blancs sur Lausanne, 3 juillet 1887”. The 5th page was added later and includes numerous autograph corrections and added remarks.
◇ Autograph manuscript of the reviewed version of the last page. A page dated and signed “Léon Walras Vers chez les Blancs sur Lausanne, juillet 1887.”
◇ Autograph manuscript with the economist's calculations, 4 pages on 2 leaves.
◇ Autograph manuscript of the English translation for the last part, a page written by Walras on the verso of an envelope addressed to him.
◇ Typescript of the transcription by William Jaffé, typed on 4 leaves of thin paper with corrections and crossed out sections by Jaffé.
◇ Note on the solution of the Anglo-indian monetary problem. Two copies of the proofs, one twice signed by Walras with numerous autograph corrections and notes by Walras.
◇ “Note sur la solution du problème monétaire anglo-indien”, offprint of the Revue d'économie politique, November-December 1887. A sizable tear not without lack of text.
Unique set of manuscripts, typescripts, translations, corrected proofs and offprints of one of Léon Walras' first forays into international economics. This work helped the economist gain recognition among English-speaking peers at a time when their language was becoming the official scientific standard instead of French.
“L. Walras [was] one of the first to recommend the use of a price index to guide monetary policy. Its multiple standard provides the information that determines interventions intended to eliminate variations in the value of money. This multiple standard is nothing more than a price index used for specific purposes. The usefulness of such an index, which was far from universally accepted at the time when L. Walras demonstrated its usefulness, is now recognized.” (Jacoud Gilles. “Stabilité monétaire et régulation étatique dans l'analyse de Léon Walras” in Revue économique)
