Poetry

First edition of the French translation, one of 26 lettered copies on Lana wove rag paper, issued as part of the tête-de-tirage.

A fine copy.

A rare first edition, of which no subsequent reprint exists, complete with all his Neo-Latin poems, chiefly composed in Rome. The volume also contains two Greek poems at ff. 60 and 62, together with a poem which inspired the celebrated sonnet Happy he who like Ulysses.

Modern binding in full limp vellum, smooth spine, red edges, white pastedowns and endleaves.

Some defects within: discreet restoration to inner margin of title verso; small tear without loss at foot of ff. 2-3; dampstaining to lower margin of ff. 25-28 and 45-48; minimal marginal defect to f. 44, not affecting text.

Published in March 1558, this precious copy contains four books of Latin poems - Elegiæ, Varia Epigr[ammata], Amores [Faustinae], Tumuli - written by Du Bellay in Rome and Paris between 1553 and 1557. The collection, also referred to as Poemata or Œuvres latines, appeared in the same year as three other works from his Roman period: Les Regrets, Divers Jeux Rustiques, and Les Antiquitez de Rome.

Rare edition printed on laid paper, very likely produced in a small run for Picard bibliophiles (cf. Hage Chahine, 4071).

Listed in the CCF only at Arras, Amiens, and Compiègne.

A few minor spots.

Half cherry morocco binding, spine lightly faded and raised on five bands, a few rubs to the spine, marbled paper sides, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge, a period binding signed by Petit, successor to Simier.

Robert de Clari (c. 1170 – after 1216) was a Picard knight, vassal to the castellan Pierre d’Amiens.

He took part in the Fourth Crusade alongside his lord Pierre d’Amiens. After the deaths in 1205 of his direct suzerains Pierre d’Amiens and Hugues IV de Campdavaine, Count of Saint-Pol, he returned swiftly to Picardy.

From the sack of Constantinople he brought back, among other things, relics which he donated to the abbey of Corbie. He then composed, in French and in Picard, La Conquête de Constantinople, a narrative in one hundred and twenty chapters recounting the Fourth Crusade and its immediate aftermath up to 1216.

He therefore died sometime after this date, though nothing further is known about him.

A pleasant copy in a binding signed by Petit, successor to Simier.

First edition, printed on Vélin d’Angoulême, with the usual typographical errors, and containing the six proscribed poems; one of the few copies presented to the author and "intended for friends who render no literary services".

Full claret morocco binding, spine with five raised bands richly decorated with multiple gilt- and blind-tooled fillets; third-state covers; boards framed with multiple blind-tooled fillets; marbled endpapers; gilt turn-ins; all edges gilt; marbled paper slipcase with morocco border; signed binding by Semet & Plumelle.

Precious copy, enhanced with an autograph dedication in ink by the author on the dedication page, addressed to Paul Meurice, playwright, journalist, and close collaborator of Victor Hugo, « à Paul Meurice, témoignage d'amitié. Ch. Baudelaire » ["To Paul Meurice, in token of friendship. Ch. Baudelaire"]. Featuring twenty autograph corrections by the author to the printed dedication and four poems:

- At the dedication: two pencil corrections to the last words of the first line. Baudelaire adds a plural to “es langueS françaiseS,” “es” being, in fact, the contraction of “en les.” A surprising syntactical correction, sacrificing coherence, which the author later amended in 1861 to “Magicien es Lettres Françaises”.

- “La muse vénale”, p. 29: one ink correction to the final word of the last line of the first tercet, “Guère S,” one of the earliest misprints corrected by Baudelaire, which had nevertheless escaped him on the proofs, as with the following.

- “Le chat”, p. 110: one ink correction in the second line of the sixth quatrain, “au” logically changed to “un.”

- “Don Juan aux enfers”, p. 43: three ink corrections to the third line of the third tercet. The first, a simple misprint, “errant S,” had already troubled Baudelaire on the proofs, but its earlier correction had not been carried over.

The other two, “leS rivageS,” are not orthographic corrections but represent one of the very first poetic variants, absent from most presentation copies, foreshadowing the forthcoming complete revision of Les Fleurs du mal and the new original edition of 1861.

-"Le reniement de Saint Pierre", p. 217: a pencil correction on the fourth line of the second quatrain. The “D” replacing the “C” in “Cieux” is underlined three times. Curiously, the proofs reveal the exact opposite: “Les Dieux” was then corrected with a “C,” equally emphatically underlined. Anti-clerical remorse or altered alliteration? This correction, found in only a few copies, drew the poet’s attention to another misprint, still intact in our copy, later corrected in subsequent presentation copies: “au X doux bruit.”

-Baudelaire also inscribed a large “C” in pencil on pp. 52, 73, 91, 187, 191, and 206, at the head of the six poems condemned on 20 August 1857 for removal from copies in circulation. He transferred the same “C.” to the table of contents, opposite the six incriminated titles: Les Bijoux, Le Léthé, À celle qui est trop gaie, Lesbos, Femmes damnées: À la pâle clarté, and Les Métamorphoses du Vampire.

In total, twenty autograph interventions by Charles Baudelaire.

Autograph manuscript signed of Victor Hugo’s “Ballade du fou,” sung by the jester Elespuru in his play Cromwell (IV, 1). Two pages on a folded leaf backed with green glazed paper.

Exceptional autograph manuscript of Victor Hugo’s most celebrated poetic song, performed by the jester Elespuru in his resounding drama Cromwell.

Both grotesque and exalted, this piece embodies the freedom of Romantic drama championed by Hugo in the play’s famous preface: as noted by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, this song “is the only passage in the play as equally famous as its preface”.

"New edition, with parts in first edition, incorporating an unpublished preface; the first edition had appeared in 1927 in Tokyo at the close of Claudel’s ambassadorship in Japan (1921–1927) and was issued in three fan-shaped quarto volumes. Work illustrated with Japanese characters calligraphed by Ikuma Arishima. Composed between June 1926 and January 1927, this essay (blending traditional calligraphy, haiku, and short Western-style verse) bears witness, among Claudel’s other creations, to the influence of the Far East on his poetic practice.

Moving and exceptional presentation inscription, signed and dated by Paul Claudel to his eldest daughter, Marie Claudel, known as "Chouchette" (1907–1981), and to his son-in-law Roger Méquillet, written at the head of the front endpaper and in pencil on the flyleaf: "A mes chers enfants Roger et Chouchette de tout mon coeur. claudel. Paris 30 juin 1942 Paul."

First illustrated edition, with a frontispiece portrait of the author and a plate of music inserted at the end.

Not listed in Schwab.

Contemporary binding in half polished Havana calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, chain motifs and floral tools, saffron paper boards, marbled edges.

Joints split at foots and slightly at heads, a pleasant copy overall.

An important work by the renowned Austrian orientalist (1774–1856) devoted to ancient Persian poetry, containing a large number of extracts translated into German and an extensive index.

The work, dedicated to the great French orientalist Silvestre de Sacy, was carefully printed in Gothic type; the Persian translations are presented in two columns.

A handsome, large-margined copy in a period binding.

First edition on vélin d'Angoulême (laid paper), complete with all six condemned pieces, with the usual typographical errors.
Contemporary red half sheepskin binding, spine with four raised bands framed in gilt adorned with gilt fleurons, red percaline boards,  marbled endpapers , speckled edges.

Rare and sought-after first edition.
 
Half-black shagreen binding, spine in four compartments, marbled paper boards, pebbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, contemporary binding.
Some occasional light foxing as usual.
 
Rare copy in strictly contemporary binding.

New edition, one of 50 copies on deluxe paper (no. 29/500) and issued with a named dedication, ours specially printed for Baron Emmanuel-Alban Guillaume-Rey (1837–1916), orientalist and archaeologist specializing in medieval Syria.

Full rigid vellum binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and floral tools, brick-brown morocco title label, gilt place and date at foot, gilt cornerpieces on the covers, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

A poetic account of the exploits of Peter I of Lusignan, King of Cyprus (1328–1369), written shortly after his death at the request of Charles V, and centered on the so-called “Alexandrian Crusade,” the ill-fated expedition launched in 1365 at the call of Pope Urban V, which led to the capture of the Egyptian port on 10 October 1365.

A handsome copy attractively bound in a style reminiscent of medieval bindings.

First edition, one of 500 copies on ordinary paper.
This copy has a chemise and slipcase.
A little light spotting, not serious, nice copy.
Retaining its advertising band and slip.
Handsome autograph inscription signed by René Char: “à Man Ray au voyant carnassier de tout cœur R. Char.” (“To Man Ray to the carnivorous fortune teller, with all my heart, R. Char.”)

First collective edition on ordinary paper.

Pleasing copy.

Valuable presentation copy signed by Louis Aragon: "A Maurice Druon, pour n'en pas perdre l'habitude. Louis."

 

First edition of this important account of Buffon, providing insights into his private life, his character, and his relationships with those around him; it also contains numerous references to his scientific work (cf. Quérard I, 119: "Lyon, Grabit, 1788"; Dureau, "Notice sur Joseph Aude," p. 15).

Half vellum binding, smooth spine with a red morocco title label in vertical layout, marbled paper boards, slightly rubbed corners, sprinkled edges.

Stains in the margins of the title page and final leaf.

The memoirs proper end on page 55.

The following pages contain the poems announced in the title.

The rarity of this volume was already noted by Dureau in 1868...

Chevalier Aude (1755–1841), a prolific dramatist and former secretary to Caraccioli, had also served as Buffon’s secretary and resided, in the manner of an “Eckermann,” with the great naturalist at his estate in Montbard.

Armorial bookplate "Sapere Aude" pasted on the verso of the front board, likely belonging to a descendant of the Chevalier.

Autograph letter dated and signed by Alexis Léger, 26 lines in blue ink, written from Washington to his friend Emily Amram, describing the torments of his convalescence following a "stupid accident".

Folds inherent to mailing.

The poet thanks his friend for her floral attentions during his illness: "combien la présence de vos fleurs m'a aidé contre les mauvaises ombres pendant mes jours de réclusion !" and, much to his regret, must once again postpone the visit he had promised her: "une mauvaise grippe washingtonnienne, qui m'a surpris, déjà fatigué, peu après mon retour chez moi, achevé de me déprimer, et pour ne pas accabler encore l'affectueuse sollicitude de bons amis comme vous et Phil, je n'ai su, écœuré de moi-même, que me condamner au silence et à la solitude."

He intends to banish his dark thoughts by granting himself a stay by the sea in the South: "Je pars demain pour le sud et vais demander au voisinage de la mer la possibilité de me libérer, par la natation; des dernières traces de mon stupide accident."

Handwritten postcard from André Breton signed by himself, his wife Elisa, Benjamin Péret, Toyen and Jindřich Heisler addressed to Marcel Jean and his wife and written on the back of a black and white photograph view of the Chaise-du-Curé rocks on the Île de Sein (Finistère).
Charming poetic postcard, written during a stay in Brittany: "la corne de brume manque à tous ses devoirs quoique le coupage au couteau soit de règle. Dans la vase à quoi se limite la vue de l'hôtel de l'Océan un bateau penché dit son nom : "Rose effeuillée". Rien de moins. Mais c'est toujours très bien dans l'ensemble." Returning to more “professional” discussions, Breton asks for news of the American gallery owner Sidney Janis: “What was the result of the Janis' visit?”

First edition of this magazine led by Ivan Goll, uniting French surrealists then in exile in the United States with their American peers.
Several contributions including those from Saint-John Perse, Roger Caillois, William Carlos Williams, Alain Bosquet, Ivan Goll, André Breton, Aimé Césaire, André Masson, Henry Miller, Kurt Seligmann, Denis de Rougemont, Julien Gracq, Eugène Guillevic, Robert Lebel...
Illustrations by George Barker, André Masson, Wifredo Lam, Yves Tanguy.
Pleasant and rare collection despite a small piece missing at the foot of the spine on the double issue 2 & 3.
Complete collection in 6 issues and 5 deliveries (numbers 2 & 3 being double) of this important magazine that offers a panorama of the Surrealist movement in exile and provides an insight into the influence of the contributors on the New York art scene.

First appearance of the 18 poems by Charles Baudelaire published on pages 1079–1093 of the Revue des Deux Mondes, showing numerous variations from the text of the first edition issued in 1857 by Poulet-Malassis & De Broise.

Full black shagreen binding, smooth spine, double blind-ruled borders on covers, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, slightly later binding.

A rare and attractive copy.

First edition.

Publisher’s binding, smooth olive-green cloth spine partially faded, upper headcap trimmed, cream boards speckled with pink, bumped corners, shadowed endpapers.

Signed autograph inscription by Thomas Nelson Page at the head of the title page.

First edition of this issue of the review consisting of two folded sheets.
Marginal lacks very skillfully filled on the sheets.
On the first, a color woodcut representing Paul Signac by Georges Seurat.
On the following ones, text by Félix Fénéon in first edition entitled "Signac".
Very rare issue.

Second edition of the French translation prepared by François-Victor Hugo.

Half red shagreen bindings, slightly faded spines with four raised bands numerously framed in gilt and central gilt tooled motif, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges, contemporary bindings.

Some occasional foxing, minor black specks on a few spines, upper corners of volume 10 slightly damaged.

Our set, attractively bound uniformly in contemporary bindings, is complete in 18 volumes including the often lacking final three volumes of apocryphal writings.

First edition, one of 10 lettered copies on Holland paper, the only deluxe copies.

Illustrated on the cover with a portrait of Max Jacob by Pablo Picasso.

A rare and handsome copy.

First edition, now rare according to Clouzot.

Endpapers partially toned, occasional scattered foxing, light dampstains in the upper margins of some leaves.
Contemporary half tan sheep binding, spine skilfully restored, marbled paper boards, first endpaper partly toned, a modest period binding (most copies were simply bound at the time, cf. Clouzot).
Exceptional signed autograph inscription by Victor Hugo: "A mon cher et respectable monsieur de la Rivière. Hommage de profond et reconnaissant attachement. Victor."
 

First edition, one of the rare copies printed on laid paper.
This issue consists of 4 pages and includes a comic strip by Achille Lemot alias Uzès : "L'honneur est satisfait".
Literary contributions by Albert Samain ("Une"), Rodolphe Darzens with the poem "Crainte d'aimer", George Auriol ("La mort du démon d'oubli"), Paul Cary ("Les deux sorties de ma tante"), Rodolphe Salis...
A handsome copy despite a few faint marginal dampstains.
Le Chat noir was a weekly magazine founded by Rodolphe Salis and Emile Goudeau, published from 1882 to 1897, intended to promote the famous cabaret of the same name, of which it served as a record. It featured texts performed during the shows and stands as an important literary and artistic testimony to the bohemian life and cultural effervescence of late 19th-century Paris.

First edition, one of 50 copies numbered on pure wove paper, the only deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First bilingual edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Arches wove paper, the deluxe issue.

The French translation, printed opposite the English text, was prepared by Patrick Guyon and Marie-Claude White.

A rare and attractive copy.

A remarkable autograph poem of youth by André Breton dedicated to Guillaume Apollinaire entitled «Décembre». 20 verses in ink on vergé d'Arches paper, composed in December 1915. This manuscript was copied between March 1917 and the beginning of 1918.

This poem is presented in a chemise and case with paper boards decorated with abstract motifs, the spine of the chemise in green morocco, pastedowns and endpapers of beige suede, a sheet of flexible plexiglass protecting the poem, case lined with green morocco, piece of green paper with caption «poème autographe» to bottom of upper cover of case, the whole by Thomas Boichot.
Key poem of the author's pre-Dadaist period, it formed part of the set of 7 manuscript poems by Breton (known as coll. X. in the Œuvres complètes d'André Breton, volume I in La Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Gallimard, 1988, p. 1071). Thiese poems of his juvenilia are carefully copied out in black ink on watermarked vergé paper. The small collection was addressed to his circle of friends and writers, most notably including Valéry, Apollinaire, Théodore Fraenkel, and his brother in arms André Paris. They were later published in his first collection, Mont de piété, which appeared in June 1919, published by Au Sans Pareil, established not long before by his friend René Hilsum.
The precise dating of this set of autograph poems is made possible by the composition of the final poem in the set («André Derain»), written on 24 March 1917, which provides a definitive terminus post quem. An earlier version of the poem «Age», dedicated to Léon-Paul Fargue, appears in our collection under its original name, «Poème». Dated by the author 19 February 1916, the day of his 20th birthday, and composed 10 days previously (according to his letters), it was not retitled and reworked until its publication in July 1918 in Les Trois Roses. Judging by the similarities to things published before this last poem, the seven autograph poems were probably written during 1917 or at the beginning of 1918, while Breton was doing his residency in Val-de-Grâce and where, significantly, he made the acquaintance of Louis Aragon.
The poems that make up Mont de piété represent a rare and valuable insight into his youthful influences at the dawn of his joining the Dada movement and his discovery of automatic writing. Quite short and sometimes sibylline, one detects Symbolist highlights borrowed from Mallarmé, whom he rediscovered at poetry mornings in the théâtre Antoine and the Vieux-Colombier accompanied by his schoolfriend Théodore Fraenkel. During the first month of the War, Breton also dedicated himself to Rimbaud, plunging into Les Illuminations, the only work he carried with him in the confusion and haste that followed the outbreak of war. From his readings of Rimbaud were born the poems «Décembre», «Age», and «André Derain», while he borrowed Apollinaire's muse Marie Laurencin to whom he dedicated «L'an suave». The author's poetic inheritance was particularly marked by Paul Valéry, with whom he corresponded from 1914. Valéry played a considerable role in the writing of the poems of Mont de piété with the advice he gave the young poet. Admiring his disciple's audacity, who addressed each of these poems to him, he characterized the poem «Façon» (1916) thus: «The theme, language, scope, meter, everything is new, in the style, the manner of the future» (Letter of June 1916, Œuvres complètes d'André Breton, vol. I in La Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Gallimard, 1988, p. 1072).
These essential buds of Breton's youth were written between his seventeenth and twenty-third year. Taken by surprise in Lorient by the declaration of war, he became a military nurse, serving in several hospitals and on the front during the Meuse offensive. In Nantes, he met Jacques Vaché, who inspired him to undertake a project of collective writing, as well as encouraging him to have illustrated the future collection that was to become Mont de piété, a task eventually undertaken by André Derain. His intimacy with this «dandy revolting against art and war» who shared his admiration for Jarry and his contact with the mental patients of the Saint Dizier neurological and psychiatric centre, marked a decisive stage in the birth of Surrealism. Posted to the Val-de-Grâce from 1917, Breton found in Paris the necessary literary vibrancy for his poetic quest and began reciting Rimbaud in the company of Aragon. It was thanks to Apollinaire that he became friends with Soupault, the future co-author of Champs magnétiques, and Reverdy, founder of the review Nord-Sud, which went on to publish the poems of Mont de piété. The seven poems of the collection were printed in avant-garde reviews (Les Trois Roses, Solstices, Nord-Sud) between 1917 and the beginning of 1919.
Four of the seven poems were dedicated to friends and masters of the author: Léon-Paul Fargue, and above all Apollinaire, to whom Breton devoted a paper in L'éventail. Breton also paid homage to Marie Laurencin and André Derain, creators of «plastic works that are still completely new, exposed to an almost unanimous rejection and intolerance» that were dear to Breton throughout his life (XXe siècle, n°3, June 1952). With these dedications, he increased the number of complex allusions, dedicating to one a poem inspired by the other, as in for instance «Age», dedicated to Léon-Paul Fargue, which echoed Rimbaud and his poem «Aube» (Les Illuminations, 1895).

The correspondence and friendship between the two poets began with the dedication of this poem, which Breton wrote in 1915. Apollinaire immediately spotted, in these lines that Breton had entrusted to him «a striking talent» (letter of 21 December 1915). Still under the spell of Rimbaud and the late Symbolism of Valéry when he wrote this poem, Breton found in Apollinaire a new poetic direction and told him a year later: «I confessed without protest the attraction you held for me. The seduction was so overwhelming that I cannot, for the moment, write about it.» The fractured structure of «Décembre» is testimony to a change that was already proceeding in the young poets work, 21 at the time. Alexandrines were set beside verses of a few syllables that dismantled meter. «At 25, the hotel with its [plug of [mistletoe I dodge the unjust spawn, O [white [soil! Hello – Europe languishes in [next [year's flames The song of the fennel – and [there [you are! We stay silent.» Breton also sent the poem to Valéry on the 14th December, who remarked on his new technique: «As to the very singular verses with their bold breaks, their allure broken and illuminated by the flash of the soliloquies at the corner of the fire, I find them an interesting study of something else, a new test of yourself.» The poem is set on the 25th December, a strange Christmas peopled by «flowering missals», «Mages» and «mangy clocks». Breton inserted another subtle dedication to his model (the «plug of mistletoe»), playing on Apollinaire's surname (Gui), which figures in his poems and his letters. «Décembre» is also the first poem by Breton directly to mention the War, and finishes on a dark image. «Private, Over there, conscript of the earth and [the standard, to be! And my arms, their warm creepers [that held you fast? - I would have savaged the life of your [poor angel breast.» This mark of admiration from Breton was followed by a study devoted to the poet's work, shortly after the publication of «Décembre» in L'Éventail on the 15 February 1919. As well as his influence as a poet and an art critic, Apollinaire posthumously contributed significantly to the birth of the post-War avant-garde movements: for if Breton was to be the theoretician behind Surrealism, it was nonetheless Apollinaire who invented the word, not to mention introducing Breton and Soupault. An extremely rare and fascinating manuscript from the young André Breton, dedicated to Apollinaire, the first Surrealist and guide for the new generation of post-War poets.

First edition, one of 42 numbered copies on Japon paper, the leading copies after 8 hors commerce on Chine paper.
Elegant Bradel binding in half black calf over floral paper boards by P. Goy & C. Vilaine, covers preserved (lightly soiled at edges), top edge gilt.
With a frontispiece portrait of the author on Chine paper by Jean-Louis Forain.
One tiny foxing as well as a small, clear marginal dampstain touching frontispiece.
A very good copy nicely bound.

The first edition for large parts of the text, printed in 550 copies with the correct date of 1891 on the title.

Contemporary paper boards with blindstamped floral motifs, spine very slightly browned, brown shagreen title-piece, gilt date to foot of spine, covers preserved.
Biographical press clippings bound in at end, bookseller's description laid down on head of one endpaper, leaving a mark on the opposite page.
This copy is complete with the original preface by Rodolphe Darzens, removed from most copies of this printing.
A good copy in a contemporary binding, which is rare, according to Clouzot.

Third edition, partly original, expanded with 25 poems, along with a lengthy introduction by the poet Théophile Gautier and several articles and letters by Barbey d'Aurevilly, Dulamon, Sainte-Beuve, Charles Asselineau, Custine, Edouard Thierry et Émile Deschamps selected by Baudelaire.
With a steel-engraved frontispiece portrait of the author by Nargeot.
One of the rare first issue copies with the correct date of 1868 on the title and without statement of edition.
This comprehensive edition contains 25 unpublished poems, totaling 151 poems (100 poems in the 1857 edition). Among the new poems, eleven are from Les Épaves.
Although wished and prepared by the author himself, this last edition was assembled and edited by Banville and Asselineau. The copy Baudelaire had “prepared for the third edition of Les Fleurs du Mal” mentioned in Poulet-Malassis' correspondence has since been lost. It is impossible to know if his faithful friends respected the architecture and the author's poem selection. Most of the new poems were subsequently placed at the end of Spleen et Idéal, between the poems “Sympathetic Horror” and “Self-Tormentor”.
Contemporary red half shagreen binding, one corner slightly worn. Almost no foxing throughout.
This last edition was used as the first volume of Baudelaire's complete works, as stated “œuvres complètes” on the half-title page. Les Fleurs du Mal was also sold separately, given the several years it took to publish all seven volumes of the complete works.
“Very rare in a contemporary binding without a volume label on the spine” (Clouzot).
Handsome copy set in an elegant contemporary binding.

First edition printed on vélin d'Angoulême. Complete copy with the six banned poems and the usual misprints.

Half shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands twice ruled in gilt with gilt fleurons, marbled paper boards, marbled pastedowns and flyleaves, contemporary binding. Some foxing scattered foxing.  

First edition, with no deluxe paper copies issued.

Half aubergine shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands decorated with triple gilt compartments, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges. Contemporary binding.

This collection of poems is followed by essays on Henry Murger by Théophile Gautier, Jules Janin, Arsène Houssaye, and Paul de Saint-Victor.

Our copy is enriched with an autograph note signed by Henry Murger, informing his correspondent that he will visit him soon.

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half red morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed with gilt fillets and decorated with double gilt panels, gilt lettering at the foot of the spine reading "Ex. de Sainte-Beuve", double gilt fillets on the marbled paper boards, small black spots on the covers, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, gilt edges.

Scattered foxing.

Precious autograph inscription signed by Auguste Brizeux: "A Sainte-Beuve, au poète et à l'ami. A. Brizeux."

First edition.
Contemporary half red shagreen over marbled paper boards, (a few discreet repairs), spine in six compartments, date to foot, marbled paper-lined endpapers and pastedowns, covers preserved, top edge red.
A very handsome autograph inscription signed by Victor Hugo to Alphonse Daudet.
Mrs. Daudet's collection stamp to first endpaper.

Victor Hugo represented for Alphonse Daudet, as for the other writers of his generation, the incontestable master of the Pantheon of the arts. His benevolent attention runs through Daudet's work, often listed side by side with Rousseau, Byron, Sand and Delacroix.
If during Daudet's childhood and youth, Hugo, an exile of enormous stature in Guernsey, remained a distant ideal, "almost above humanity", his return to France allowed him finally to meet the master. Around 1875, just after his first works appeared, Alphonse and Julia Daudet were thus invited to Hugo's house; Hugo was living with Juliette Drouet at the time.
From then on, they become frequent visitors to the house right up to the poet's death. Hugo helped with the young Léon Daudet's education, his grandson Georges' best friend and, later, for a short while, Jeanne's husband.
In her Souvenirs d'un cercle littéraire [Memories of a Literary Circle], Julia Daudet talks of their friendship of ten years with "the idol of lyric France":
"I can see Victor Hugo at the end of his great table: the aged master, a little cut off, a little deaf, presiding with god-like silence, the little absences of a genius on the verge of immortality. His hair all white, his face colorful, and his eyes like an old lion's that would occasionally flash with ferocious bursts of force. He is listening to my husband and Catulle Mendès, between whom there is a very animated discussion on the subject of the youth and celebrity of famous men and their charm for women...During the debate, we moved through to the salon, with Hugo musing beside the fire, famous, omni-present and a demi-god, but perhaps still missing his youth a little, as Mme Drouet sleeps softly."
The friendship between this great Romantic writer and one of the masters of the nascent naturalist school is testimony to Hugo's sharpness who, even during his glory days, preserved a special and benevolent attention for modern literature, no matter how far removed it was from his own lyricism.

This inscription from Hugo to Daudet on a work considered - along with Le Pape [The Pope] and La Pitié suprême [The Supreme Compassion] - a "philosophical testament" by Henri Guillemin, resonates strongly, the passing of the writer's political and moral responsibilities to a devoted disciple.

Provenance: Alphonse Daudet, his sale at Sicklès (1990, IV, n°1200) then Philippe Zoummeroff's sale (2 Avril 2001).

An extract from Memories of a Literary Circle by Julia Daudet :
"How could I forget that first visit to his, in the rue de Clichy, in a modest apartment so out of proportion to his glory, to the image of his glory that we had, which would have filled entire palaces. He got up out of his chair beside the fire, opposite Madame Drouet, his old friend...I was shocked by how small he was but soon, after he had greeted me and begun talking to me, I felt him very big indeed, very intimidating. And this timidity that I felt then, I would always feel towards him, the result of my great admiration and respect, something akin to that for an absent god, that my parents had inculcated within me for inspired poets. I could never overcome that wobble in my voice whenever I would reply to his kind words, and I was shocked to hear women, over the course of almost ten years, when admitted to his presence, regale him with their personal matters and their everyday chatter.
That evening, when he had introduced me, all in a flutter, to Madame Drouet, she said to me with her most charming grace: 'This is the old people's bit, you know, and you're far too young for us. But Monsieur Victor Hugo will introduce you to his daughter-in-law, Madame Lockroy; only he is qualified to do so.'
So I was conducted to the other end of the room, of an average size, but which seemed to be cut in two by a table bearing a bronze elephant, most majestic - Chinese or Japanese, I think. In any case, it served to make two little most distinct groups which nonetheless communicated easily without blending one into the other.
At this moment of his return, Victor Hugo was feeling exulted and was full of stories which he told with an inexhaustible verve whenever politics did not invade his dinner table too much. And how graceful his welcome, what noble manners and what a fine grandfatherly smile under his hair, that I saw grow whiter and whiter as he approached eighty. All the poets used to come to the salon in the rue de Clichy, and later to the house in the Avenue d'Eylau. But was this change of scene really necessary? It seemed to be a step down in the health and then in the spirits of the grand old man. And yet, he always loved to host his friends and the welcome in this open house was not the least of its charms for, gathered around the table, garnished at one end with the Master's two grandchildren, the company still looked for direction from their host's eyes and he himself sometimes struck a vein of memories so vibrant, so wonderfully recounted, that we were all bowled over the entire evening. Mme Drouet grew quietly older beside him, covered by two bandanas whose aspect was a little faded and melodramatic, right up until the day where a merciless illness broke her delicate beauty and made her the suffering effigy painted by Bastien Lepage, who died under the same tortures. Towards the end, the Master would glance sadly at her empty plate and noble, ravaged face during these intimate dinners.
'Madame Drouet, you're not eating, you must eat, take heart.'
Eat! She was dying. Did he know it? Was the great old man, so strong and so hardy, trying to fool himself, as he saw his companion of fifty years go?
In the big living room, a handsome portrait by Bonnat hung, with a paternal attitude, and an immense bust by David presided. The little living room was decorated with striped and colored wallpaper, which seemed to have been chosen for Dona Sol. In the garden connected to the verandah by a platform of two steps, Leconte de Lisle, Meurice and Vacquerie, Paul de Saint-Victor, the smiling Banville reappeared, Flaubert and Goncourt talked, Mallarmé, Léon Cladel, François Coppée, Catulle Mendès, and Clovis Hugues, shadows in a vanished Eden. Then there were Léon Glaize, Gustave Rivet, Pierre Elzéar, and tiny Mme Michelet distributing roses at a party, as well as ambassadors, diplomats, the Emperor of Brasil, and painters, sculptors, and so many politicians I can't remember all their names!
These are my direct impressions of one of the soirees we attended, Alphonse Daudet and I, one snowy evening, when our horse stumbled three times during the trip over as we were crossing the Esplanade des Invalides:
I can see Victor Hugo at the end of his great table: the aged master, a little cut off, a little deaf, presiding with god-like silence, the little absences of a genius on the verge of immortality. His hair all white, his face colorful, and his eyes like an old lion's that would occasionally flash with ferocious bursts of force. He is listening to my husband and Catulle Mendès, between whom there is a very animated discussion on the subject of the youth and celebrity of famous men and their charm for women. Alphonse holds that in a salon full of all sorts of talented people of all ages a very young man, the unknown author, the overlooked poet will get female attention if he is handsome. Catulle Mendes answers that he would, firstly, remain unnoticed, and that all women went in for celebrity, which seems to me more correct. Fortunately, women not only have the eyes in their heads, but also the eyes of their souls and their hearts. For intellectual women, the looks of an artist or a great poet don't matter - it's the reflective aspect, the tormented features of a man who lives his emotions. They go for talent, to suffering that passes, and they hardly think about physical beauty. Now you could say that they seek out famous authors motivated by personal ambition, but the other feeling, that attracts them to tempting youths, seems to me even less respectable.
And I laugh at the pretention of these two charming debaters in labeling and analyzing us. Talking about 'women' is like talking about 'birds': there are so many different species and types, whose song and feathers are so completely different!
During the debate, we moved through to the salon, with Hugo musing beside the fire, famous, omni-present and a demi-god, but perhaps still missing his youth a little, as Mme Drouet sleeps softly. Her fair white hair covers her delicate head like the two wings of a dove, and the buttons of her blouse follow the pattern of the soft, almost resigned, breathing of an old woman sleeping.

It was soon after this evening that that great gathering took place in which all Paris marched past, on the Avenue d'Eylau, the windows of this little bedroom that was now home to a deathbed, in May 1885, full of roses and plainly furnished, as it is represented in the Victor Hugo Museum in a room in the poet's former apartment on the Place Royale.
Very evocative, this old corner of the Marais, especially if we consider that Victor Hugo wrote almost all his historical works there. We can picture the poet at work in the early morning hours, to which he kept, the high windows of the houses all identical and in the same style, stretching all the way around the square, guarding the memory of the tournaments, the duels, promenades and uprisings of several generations now vanished beneath these thick, ancient arcades, which keep no trace of fleeting humankind.
We had dinner at Victor Hugo's house the week before he died. He told us as we were coming in, more pale that usual, and tottering as he walked:
'I'll be going soon, I can feel it'. Then he squeezed Georges' shoulder: 'Without this one, I would have gone long ago.'
I will never forget his slightly solemn and prophetic tone - I was struck by a sadness and presentiment. I felt the dispersal of this unique centre of the world that could never come together again!"

First edition, one of 42 numbered copies on Japan Barjon paper, one of the deluxe issue, with 8 additional copies on Japan reserved for the author.

Introduction by Francis Scarfe and preface by Jean-Jacques Mayoux.

Rare and attractive copy of Kenneth White’s first book, complete with two photographs by Marie-Claude White.

First edition on ordinary paper.

Bradel binding in half grey percaline, smooth spine decorated with a central gilt ornament, gilt double fillet and date at foot, brown shagreen title-piece, cat's-eye patterned paper boards, blue paper endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.

Precious signed autograph inscription from Jean Richepin to Léon Deschamps.

First edition of this issue of the pacifist journal founded by the socialist and anarchist activist Henri Guilbeaux.

Includes contributions by Romain Rolland, “La vérité dans le théâtre de Shakespeare”, Jean Jaurès, “Les causes de la guerre”, Gustave Dupin, “La guerre infernale”, Élie Reclus, “Lettre à Élisée Reclus”, and H. M. Swanwick, “Les femmes et la guerre” (conclusion)...

First edition of this issue of the pacifist journal founded by the socialist and anarchist activist Henri Guilbeaux.

Contributions by Henri Guilbeaux "A quelques pharisiens" and "La diplomatie secrète", Jean Debrit "Une réforme de la presse ?", L. de Wiskovatoff "Lettre à M. d'Annunzio" and "Lettres aux journalistes", Gustave Thiesson "Le peintre Gustave Courbet en 1870-71"...

First edition of this issue of the pacifist review founded by the socialist and anarchist activist Henri Guilbeaux.

Includes contributions by Henri Guilbeaux, “Mise au point nécessaire” and “Ernst Sieper”; Gonzague de Reynold, “La neutralité suisse et notre mission internationale”; A. M. Gossez, “Deuils?”; and Leo Tolstoy, “Lettres inédites sur la paix” (conclusion)...

First edition printed in 245 numbered copies, the only printing after 10 copies on heavy paper.

Bradel binding in half blue cloth, smooth spine decorated with a gilt floral motif, double gilt fillet at foot of spine, red morocco title label with a very small defect, marbled paper boards, wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

Inscribed and signed by Paul Fort.

First edition, one of the review copies.

Slight sunning at head and foot of spine, without seriousness.

Precious signed presentation from Francis Ponge: "Pour Marthe et Henri Calet leur ami. Francis Ponge."

First edition, published at the author’s expense and in a small print run.

A few minor spots of foxing.
Bradel binding in full paper echoing the work’s gilt checkered cover, smooth spine, red morocco lettering-piece, fragile original wrappers preserved, gilt edges, binding signed by Thomas Boichot.
Rare signed autograph inscription from Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam to the Marquis de Monthec.

 

Signed letter hand-written by Charles Baudelaire, written in paper pencil, addressed to his mother. Dry-stamped headed paper from the Grand Hôtel Voltaire, Faubourg Saint-Germain. Madame Aupick's address in Honfleur (Calvados) in the author's hand, as well as several postage stamps dated 13 and 14 July 1858. Some highlighting, crossing out and corrections by the author. Signs of a wax seal with Charles Baudelaire's initials in pencil, likely written by the author. A small section of paper from the second leaf has been removed, without affecting the text.
This letter was published for the first time in the Revue de Paris on 15 September 1917.
Former collection Armand Godoy, n° 102.
Precious document, testimony of a decisive moment in the poet's life : the reconcilliation with now widowed Aupick, this sacred mother “qui hante le cœur et l'esprit de son fils,” “who haunts the heart and spirit of her son.”

First edition, one of 1,000 numbered copies on offset.

A fine copy.

Illustrated with 10 drawings by René Magritte.

"Tu me dis : Aime l'art, il vaut mieux que l'amour
[...]
Et moi. je te réponds : La langue du poête
Ne rend du sentiment que l'image incomplète" ["You tell me: Love art, it is better than love [...] And I answer you: The poet's language renders only an incomplete image of feeling"].

"Des maîtres les plus grands les œuvres les plus belles,
Auprès du beau vivant, compare, que sont-elles ?" ["The most beautiful works of the greatest masters, compared to living beauty, what are they?"]

Tu me dis : Aime l'art, il vaut mieux que l'amour ;
Tout sentiment s'altère et doit périr un jour !
Pour que le cœur devienne une immortelle chose,
Il faut qu'en poésie il se métamorphose,
Et que chaque pensée en sorte incessamment,
En parant sa beauté d'un divin vêtement.
Sentir, c'est aspirer!... c'est encor la souffrance ;
Mais créer, c'est jouir, ! c'est prouver sa puissance ;
C'est faire triompher de la mort, de l'oubli,
Toutes les passions dont l'âme a tressailli!
Et moi. je te réponds : La langue du poête
Ne rend du sentiment que l'image incomplète ;
Concevoir le désir, goûter la passion,
Nous fait dédaigner l'art et sa création ;
Formuler les pensers dont notre esprit s'enivre,
Ce n'est que simuler la vie : aimer, c'est vivre ; !
C'est incarner le rêve, et sentir les transports
Dont l'art ne peut donner que des emblèmes morts !
Des maîtres les plus grands les œuvres les plus belles,
Auprès du beau vivant, compare, que sont-elles?
Corrége et le Poussin, Titien et Raphaël,
Rubens, dont la palette est prise à l'arc-en-ciel,
Éblouissant nos yeux, ont groupé sur leurs toiles
Des visages divins et de beaux corps sans voiles !
Mais hier, quand soudain à nos regards charmés
Ces tableaux immortels se trouvaient animés,
Lorsqu'au lieu de la chair que la couleur imite,
Nous avons admiré cette chair qui palpite,
Où le sang, à travers l'épiderme soyeux,
Circule en répandant des reflets lumineux ;
Lorsque nous avons vu d'exquises créatures,
Dont les beaux torses nus, les bras aux lignes pures,
Le sein ferme et mouvant, le visage inspiré,
Faisaient vivre à nos yeux quelque groupe sacré,
Oh ! n'as-tu pas senti quelle impuissante envie
C'est de vouloir dans l'art inoculer la vie
Et ne t'es-tu pas dit, du réel t'enivrant :
La beauté seule est belle, et l'amour seul est grand !

First edition, one of 500 numbered copies on pure wove paper.

Bound in full sienna morocco, flat spine with a slight snag at head, date gilt at foot, moiré endpapers and pastedowns, single gilt fillet framing the pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, gilt edges, chemise edged in sienna morocco, slipcase of wood-grained boards lined with white felt, contemporary binding signed by Roger Arnoult.

Our copy is enriched with a signed autograph letter, one page, by Jean Cocteau mounted on a tab, dated April 1959, probably addressed to Pierre Benoit: "Nôtre Pierre fantôme... c'est autour de votre souvenir qu'on se réunit. C'est une chaîne bien étonnante que celle de cette affreuse et délicieuse cabane. Pensez moi. Je pense à vous. Je vous aime et je me résigne à vous aimer en rêve."

A fine copy, handsomely bound by Roger Arnoult, a graduate of the École Estienne, active until 1980, who worked with and for the greatest binders of his time such as René Aussourd, Anthoine-Legrain, Paul Bonet, Georges Cretté, Pierre-Lucien Martin...

First edition, an advance (service de presse) copy.
Half mustard-colored morocco over marbled paper boards by P. Goy & C. Vilaine, spine in six compartments, brown paper endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine (sunned) preserved, top edge gilt.
Handsome autograph inscription signed by Robert Desnos to Colette Clément, whose name he plays on: "A Madame Colette Clément / Clément Marot non Jacques Clément (ces mots barrés) / non / hommage de l'auteur Robert Macaire."
Ex libris of recipient pasted in underneath justification.

First bilingual edition, one of 270 copies on Arches Ingres paper, including a photographic portrait of Ratna Mohini by her husband Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Rare and handsome copy.

First edition printed in 2,000 numbered copies, ours preserved in its original wrappers with Gallimard's resale label.

Fine autograph inscription signed by Jules Roy: "A Jean-Paul Bonnafous ces vieux chants d'un temps de misère, cordialement, Jules Roy."

First edition; no copy recorded in the CCF or Worldcat, with a single copy held at the Real Academia Española.

Full red shagreen portfolio, smooth spine without lettering, double gilt and blind-tooled fillet borders with gilt garlands and rosettes at the corners on the covers, gilt title lettered in the center of the upper cover, moiré white silk endleaves and pastedowns, contemporary binding.

Inscribed and signed by Albertus Frederik Johan Reiger to Baron Joseph Louis Heinrich Alfred Gericke van Herwynen (1814–1899), Minister of the King of the Netherlands to the Court of Brussels, accompanied by an autograph signed note addressed to the same, dated 12 December 1881 and sent from Lunteren (Gelderland).

First edition, printed in 1,500 copies on bouffant paper.

Includes numerous contributions by Marcel Béalu, Pierre Béarn, Blaise Cendrars, Jean Follain, Paul Fort, Max Jacob, Pierre Jean Jouve, Pierre Mac Orlan, Michel Manoll, Pierre Reverdy, André Salmon, Jules Supervielle...

A minor tear without consequence at the foot of the spine, which shows light sunning.

A fine and moving signed autograph inscription from Dominique de Roux, founder of the Cahiers de l'Herne, to his brother Xavier: "Pour Xavier qui est à l'origine de [L'Herne] ce premier cahier dont le second verra son nom au comité en témoignage de mon affection reconnaissante son vieux et fidèle Dominique. 8 Mai 1961."

First edition, one of the review copies.

Some light foxing to the spine and along the edges of the covers, a pleasing copy given the poor quality of the paper.

Inscribed by Raymond Queneau to Dominique Aury.

First edition, one of 15 numbered copies on Corée paper, the tirage de tête after three on 3 Japon.
Illustrated with 3 images by Irène Lagut.
Two small insignificant tears to head and foot of spine.
This copy has a chemise and slipcase of paper boards covered in snakeskin-effect paper with black and green scales, the slipcase edged with black cloth. 

First collected edition of which there were no grand papier (deluxe) copies, an advance (service de presse) copy.
A nice copy despite a tiny tear to foot of upper cover.
Rare autograph inscription signed by Robert Desnos to Pierre Berger: " ces feuilles déjà bien vieilles..."

First edition, a numbered copy on alfa du Marais paper, this one not included in the justification.
Handsome autograph inscription signed and dated by Aimé Césaire to Raymond Queneau: “Très sympathique hommage de ces bucoliques de sang et de soleil... [a very affectionate homage of these bucolics of blood and sunshine...]”
Covers and spine slightly sunned at edges (but not seriously).

The first edition of this review headed by Pierre Guégen, Eugène Jolas, Joseph Csaky and Frédéric Joliot.
Numerous contributions, including from Le Corbusier, Henry Miller, Raymond Queneau, Eugène Jolas, Léonce Rosenberg, Jacques Audiberti, Jean Hélion, Armand Robin, Paul Guth, Roger Caillois, Joë Bousquet, Jean Follain, Jules Monnerot, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Pierre Klosssowski, Michel Leiris, Aimé Césaire, and others.
Number 20 of Volontés contains a first edition, the entire “Cahier d'un retour au pays natal [Notebook on a Return to my Native Land]” by Aimé Césaire, a foundational and fundamental text of the “Négritude” movement.
Two plates worn, otherwise a good and rare set, lacking the extremely rare final number, the 21st, printed in April 1940, which is missing from most collections.

One of the very few copies bearing an autograph inscription—fewer than ten are recorded—of this first edition, containing the Marseillaise.
First edition illustrated with an engraved frontispiece by Charles-Étienne Gaucher after Jean-Jacques Le Barbier and four pages of engraved musical score at the end of the volume. La Marseillaise appears here in its true first edition, having first been pre-published in the Almanach des Muses in 1793 and circulated as separate leaves.
Contemporary half-sheepskin binding, smooth spine gilt-decorated with compartments, fleurons and fillets, red morocco title-piece, black pasteboard sides. Several manuscript and pasted ex-libris on the pastedown and endpapers. Spine restored, some foxing. The last two letters of the dedicatee’s name have been trimmed in the binding.
The work is enriched on the half-title with an exceptional autograph presentation by Rouget de L’Isle to a fellow artist of the Revolution: “M de La Chabeaussiè[re] / de la part de l'auteur.”
Rouget de Lisle and Poisson de la Chabeaussière, the recipient of the dedication, both embodied the revolutionary fervour and left their mark on the republican history of France through their writings.
La Marseillaise is presented here alongside other poems and songs. This first edition delivers the celebrated anthem in its original form: six quatrains, as written by Captain Rouget de L’Isle for the Army of the Rhine in April 1792, and proclaimed the national anthem in 1795 by the decree of 26 Messidor Year III.
As lyricists and men of letters, Rouget de L’Isle and La Chabeaussière were zealous servants of the Revolution but also victims of its excesses. At the time of this inscription, in Year V of the Republic, the two men were at the height of their glory: one as the author of the national anthem that thrilled revolutionary France, the other as the writer of the most widely disseminated republican catechism of the Revolution. Indeed, La Chabeaussière composed another major work of revolutionary heritage: a Catéchisme républicain, philosophique et moral, reprinted eighty-two times up to the Third Republic, which earned him a seat on the Commission exécutive de l’instruction publique. Like Rouget de L’Isle, he also achieved success as a lyricist and librettist, notably for the comic operas of Nicolas Delayrac. The history of La Marseillaise from its creation is interwoven with that of La Chabeaussière and of the composer Delayrac, whose heroic drama Sargines ou l’Élève de l’amour presents striking similarities with the anthem.
Neither La Chabeaussière nor Rouget de L’Isle, despite the fame of the Marseillaise, escaped the terrors of the Revolution. Declared “suspects,” they were both imprisoned in 1793, respectively at the prisons of the Madelonettes and of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After these dark hours, they resumed a more peaceful existence and continued to collaborate actively with the Almanach des Muses, which first published La Marseillaise in volume form.
Upon La Chabeaussière’s death in 1820, the copy embarked on a most romantic history. It still bears the inscription of its second owner, Édouard Gendron: “Ce livre a été acheté en 1821 – à un carrefour près la place de l’école de médecine, parmi un tas de ferraille.”
First publication by its composer of the most celebrated symbol of the French Republic: La Marseillaise. Its precious presentation brings together revolutionary poets whose intertwined destinies left an indelible mark on the history of France.