French Literature from Jay Dillon Rare Books + Manuscripts

Paris: NRF / Gallimard, 1945     ¶ Wartime diary of a young French girl aged 12-16, written for her father who was stranded in New York for the duration; INSCRIBED to a longtime friend of her father's, "Pour Béatrice Leval, qui maintenant n'est plus seulement l'amie de Papa, mais aussi la nôtre. Avec toute l'affection de Martine." (Beatrice Leval, of New… Read more about this item

Brussels: Maison de la Francité, 1992     ¶ Thirty full-page portraits by various artists 1866-1986, with essays by François Carrassan, Olivier Rometti, and Jean Gillibert, also the dedication of Rimbaud's bust at Charleville 1927 (by André Breton et al) and an introduction 'D'Hyères à Bruxelles' by B. J. Ridopoulos; published in conjunction with the Rimbaud exhibition at Hyères 1991, Brussels 1992. Long… Read more about this item

Charleville: Les Amis de Rimbaud, 1963     ¶ Only edition; including papers by Petitfils on "La fin d'une légende (Rimbaud négrier)" and Briet on "Deux sources du Bateau ivre et autres poèmes dans le sillage du Capitaine Cook et de Lamartine"; together with an unsigned account -- probably by Petitfils -- of Arthur Rimbaud vu par des peintres contemporains 1962. The… Read more about this item

Paris: Gustave Barba, 1860 ¶ A SCARCE AND VERY VALUABLE COMPILATION comprising 232 moral fables in French verse, selected from the works of 127 fabulists other than La Fontaine and INCLUDING A FABLE ATTRIBUTED TO NAPOLÉON BONAPARTE, said to have been composed by him as a schoolboy at Brienne-le-Château. Each fabulist's work here is prefaced by a short… Read more about this item

Aix-en-Provence: H. Gaudibert, 1829 *** ONLY EDITION; CONTAINING NINETY-EIGHT FABLES IN PROVENCAL (OCCITAN) VERSE glossed in French, together with a verse prologue celebrating La Fontaine and a long introductory essay in French on the Provencal language. The latter was written originally for an etymological dictionary whose publication had been delayed and which was, in fact, never published. ONE OF ONLY… Read more about this item

Oyster Bay (New York): Feral Books, 2001   ¶ ONLY EDITION of a charming anthology gathered together as a medium for "The remarkable collage images of John Digby[, which] are rich in associations that demonstrate man's ancient links with the sea. Using archival and library sources, he has found and utilized colorful antique illustrations from nineteenth century and earlier publications that show… Read more about this item

Paris, 1951     ¶ The earliest postage-stamp -- and still the only French stamp -- devoted to Arthur Rimbaud; displaying a powerful portrait of the poet after Fantin-Latour (1872) with a storm-tossed boat and two great waterspouts in the background; designed by Paul Pierre Lemagny (1905-1977), engraved by G. A. Barlangue, and first issued at Charleville, 27 October 1951. Petitfils remarks that this… Read more about this item

Paris: Rombaldi, Éditeur, 1936     ¶ FIRST EDITION thus, one of 3,000 numbered copies on vergé de Voiron. The present copy is numbered "329".   ||| Series: Collection Baldi "Les contemporaines", no. 6.  Collation: In 8s (196 x 146 mm): 66 leaves, paginated [1-6] 7-130 [131-132]. Title printed in red and black, page [132] blank as issued.  Illustration: Engraved frontispiece and four engraved plates all handcolored au pochoir,… Read more about this item

Paris: Éditions Biotop, 2002     ¶ FIRST EDITION of an original miniature book about golf -- smaller, in fact, than a golf ball --, by the author of Le golf en France 1999, Contes & nouvelles du golf 2001, and Le golf et les jeux olympiques 2003. This is a PRESENTATION COPY, accompanied by an autograph note SIGNED by the author, 28 April 2005. … Read more about this item

Paris: C. Marpon & E. Flammarion (26, rue Racine) [et] Bibliothèque Physiologique (38, boulevard St-Germain), 1884 (colophon 1883)    ¶ Twelve essays on marriage -- (1) La recherche de l'amour sentimental, (2) Le choix de l'époux, (3) La coquetterie morale, (4) La coquetterie physique. (5) Le verbe d'amour conjugal, (6) La maison sans enfants, (7) Les garçons, (8) Les filles, (9) Les amis du mari, (10) Les amies de la femme, (11) Le mari et… Read more about this item

Paris: Georges Crès et Cie, 1914     ¶ FIRST EDITION thus, one of 1149 numbered copies, edited by Verlaine's bibliographer Adolphe van Bever; including facsimiles of autograph manuscripts 1873-74 (coll. Saffrey) exhibiting "appréciables variantes au texte définitif du présent ouvrage". The present copy is numbered "1106".   ||| Series: Les maîtres du livre, no. 37.  Collation: In 6s (188 x 129 mm untrimmed): 102 leaves, paginated [i-iv], [1-3]… Read more about this item

Djibouti (Djibouti), 1991     ¶ A STRIKING MINIATURE PORTRAIT based on Isabelle Rimbaud's drawing of her brother in East African costume 1891, with a caravan and a map (Aden and the horn of Africa) in the background; printed in Switzerland by Courvoisier and issued at Djibouti 23 December 1991.   ||| Postage-stamp 30 x 42 mm, denominated 150 F, lettered in French and Arabic, signed Courvoisier lower… Read more about this item

¶ ÉDITION ORIGINALE, et la seule séparée; EXEMPLAIRE NOMINATIF pour Béatrice Leval, qui était une cliente importante de l’éditeur en 1939 et 1944–46; avec la carte gravée de son directeur Raymond Nasenta, qui « prie Madame Fernand Leval de bien vouloir accepter cet exemplaire de ‘La Traversée de ParisÂ’ imprimé spécialement à votre intention, en hommages respectueux de l’éditeur ».   ¶ FIRST EDITION, and still the… Read more about this item

Paris: Jean Crès, 1946     ¶ First edition with these illustrations, one of 945 numbered copies on vélin d'Arches; a very elegant production nicely preserved in original wrappers. The illustrator was the subject of an exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans, 2001. The present copy is numbered "89".   ||| Series: Les maîtres conteurs, no. 7.  Collation: In 4s (165 × 105 mm untrimmed): Forty leaves,… Read more about this item

Paris: Mercure de France, 1999     Selected poems and letters; a common modern pocket edition. Borer's preface is entitled "Rimbaud à perte de vue", pages 7-[11].  (Series: Le petit Mercure.)   ||| Collation: 160 x 101 mm: 63 leaves, paginated [1-6] 7-120 [121-126]. Pages [1-2] and [123-126] are blank as issued.  Illustration: Three illustrations (facsimiles).  Binding: Color-pictorial wrappers after Ernest Pignon-Ernest (qv), priced 24 FF. Conditon:… Read more about this item

Geneva: Pierre Cailler, 1948   ¶ FIRST EDITION / ÉDITION ORIGINALE of Verlaine's charming prose sketches of Rethel and Vouziers, two towns in the Ardennes between Reims and Charleville. These were published originally in six installments in a Charleville daily 1882-83; but Verlaine never published them in book form, nor do they appear in his posthumous Oeuvres completes 1899-1902 &c. These pieces… Read more about this item

Paris: Librairie Vanier, 1885   ¶ FIRST EDITION of Verlaine's autobiographical sketch for Léon Vanier's series Les hommes d'aujourd'hui (1876-99), which was sort of the Biography Channel of its day. The text is greatly enriched here by Cohl's full-page caricature of Verlaine as a scowling imp, crouching and strumming a lyre while his left hand grasps an arrow shot through a heart:… Read more about this item

Hamburg: Romanisches Seminar der Universitaet Hamburg, 1982     ¶ A critical edition of Julien Macho's fifteenth-century version of Aesop in Middle French; based on the first complete edition, Lyon: Mathias Huss, 9 April 1486 (GW 370). Hecker's introduction discusses Steinhöwel's Aesop and its diffusion, early printing in Lyon, Julien Macho as editor and translator, the French Aesop and its editions, the woodcuts and their… Read more about this item

Paris, 1951     ¶ The earliest postage-stamp -- and still the only French stamp -- devoted to Arthur Rimbaud; displaying a powerful portrait of the poet after Fantin-Latour (1872) with a storm-tossed boat and two great waterspouts in the background; designed by Paul Pierre Lemagny (1905-1977), engraved by G. A. Barlangue, and first issued at Charleville, 27 October 1951. Petitfils remarks that this… Read more about this item

Djibouti (Djibouti), 1992     ¶ A STRIKING MINIATURE PORTRAIT based on Carjat's second photograph 1871/2, with a storm-tossed ship and a sea-serpent in the background; printed in Switzerland by Courvoisier and issued at Djibouti 5 February 1992.   ||| Postage-stamp 30 x 42 mm, denominated 90 F, lettered in French and Arabic, signed "Courvoisier" lower right, lithographed in colors, perforated as issued.  Condition: Mint, never hinged.  References:… Read more about this item