1. Brookner, Anita.

The Genius of the Future. Studies in French Art Criticism: Diderot, Stendhal, Baudelaire, Zola, The brothers Goncourt, Huysmans.

First edition. London. Phaidon. 1971. 18 x 26 cm. 172 pages with 30 illustrations. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective collector’s mylar. Excellent condition with only minor signs of wear. Very tight and clean copy. One of the few very rare and interesting publications of literary criticism.

2. [Benjamin, Walter] Baudelaire, Charles.

Tableaux Parisiens. Deutsche Übertragung mit einem Vorwort über “Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers” von Walter Benjamin. [Extremely scarce publication with the excellent 10-page-essay by Walter Benjamin on “The Duty of Translation / The Duty of the Translator” [″Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers”].

Erste Ausgabe [1 von 500 Exemplaren der Originalausgabe] / First Edition. Heidelberg, Richard Weissbach, 1923. Quarto (20.5 cm x 28 cm). XVII, 67, [3] Seiten. Original Hardcover / Originaler Verlagseinband mit marmoriertem Deckelbezug und originalem Titelschild. Ruecken fehlt. Kanten angeplatzt. Oberer, hinterer Einbanddeckel mit Schaden. Der Buchblock selbst tadellos und wunderbar erhalten. Selten ! [Die Drucke des Argonautenkreises – Der fünfte Druck].

3. Villatte, Prof. Dr. Cesaire.

Parisismen – Alphabetisch Geordnete Sammlung der Eigenartigen Ausdrucksweisen des Pariser Argot. Ein Supplement zu allen Französisch-Deutschen Wörterbüchern.

Berlin, Langenscheidtsche Verlags-Buchhandlung, 1884. 20.3cm x 13.5cm. X, 237 pages. Hardcover / Beautiful half-leather with gilt lettering and ornaments on spine. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear to the binding.

4. Sartre, Jean-Paul.

Les jeux sont faits. [Superb Exemplaire]

Paris, Nagel, 1947. 8°. 193 ages. Broché / Softcover. Premiére Edition. Tres bon etat / First edition of this book written by Sartre in 1943 but unpublished until after the war. The story of Pierre and Eve, a couple who meet after their death only to be returned to live, could be deemed to be an existential “Heaven Can Wait,” though it is unlikely that Sartre could have seen the Lubitsch film (1943) in occupied Paris. One of 500 numbered copies on vélin pur fil des papeteries navarre, this one being No. 306. Uncut, near fine.

5. [Sainsbury, Hester Margaret (Illustrator)] / Morand, Paul.

Earth Girdled. With Eight Woodcuts by Hester Sainsbury. Translated from the French ‘Rien que le Terre’ by Charles Emile Roche.

London, Alfred A. Knoff, 1928. 14.5 cm x 22.6 cm. 172 pages. Black and white illustrations. Original Hardcover with dustjacket in protective collector’s Mylar. Marbled boards. Gilt title on spine. Deckled edges. Very good+ condition with only minor signs of external wear. Dustjacket has minor edgewear. Minor rubbing to edges. Minor tanning to edges, endpapers and pastedowns. Otherwise bright and clean. Binding strong.

6. Stendhal / Seager, Allan (Translator) / Barr, Roger (Illustrator).

Memoirs of a Tourist. Preface by Allan Seager.

Evanston, Northwester University Press, 1962. 16 cm x 23.5 cm. XIII, 305 pages. With many illustrations. Original hardcover with protective Mylar. Excellent condition with only very minor signs of wear. Considerable underlining by preowner. Otherwise clean inside with solid binding.

7. La Varende, Jean de.

La Dernière Fête.

Paris, Flammarion, 1953. 13,5 cm x 19 cm. 382 pages. Original Hardcover. Half leather binding with gilt lettering and ornaments on spine in protective Mylar. Inscribed and signed by Jean de la Varende on half title / Avec dedicace de l’auteur: “Pour Gerard Argenton, amicalmend – La Varende”. No. 14 / 20 exemplaires sur papier fil d’Arches. Exlibris / Bookplate of Baron de Mélogue. Top edge gilt. Excellent condition !

8. Beaulieu, Mad. Mallès de / [Robinson Crusoe].

Le Robinson de douze ans – Histoire intéressante d’un jeune Mousse Français abondonné dans une ile déserte. Ornée de Gravures par Mme Mallès de Beaulieu, Auteur des Coules d’une Mère à sa Fille.

Paris, P.-C. Lehuby, no date (approx. 1818). Small – Octavo. Engraved frontispiece, Titlevignette, 288 pages with two further engravings (4 in total). Hardcover. Original, blue paper-covered boards, extensively decorated with gilt floral motifs and an inset illustration of the young Robinson and his dog on a beach. Very good condition. Interior remarkably clean. Fine example of a so-called Robinsonade, a fashionable adaptation of the original Robinson Crusoe story, in this case based on another “Robinsonade”, this is a somewhat modified and inspired version of Johann David Wyss’ famous publication “The Swiss Family Robinson”, which he published initially “to teach his sons about family values, good husbandry, the uses of the natural world and self-reliance” (Wikipedia). In her publication “History and the Construction of the Child in Early British Children’s Literature”, Jackie C. Home writes that “The Bibliothèque Nationale de France online catalogue lists 35 French language editions of Mallès de Beaulieu’s novel, published between 1818 and 1923, suggesting that the novel was one of the most popular titles fro children in nineteenth-century France.”

9. Villon, François.

Balladen. Übertragen von Walter Widmer. Die Holzschnitte von Hanns Studer wurden von den Original-Holzstöcken gedruckt. Schrift: “Marathon” von Rudolf Koch.

Mainz, Eggebrecht – Presse, 1953. 15 cm x 23 cm. 14 pages. 3 colour woodcut prints throughout. Original softcover with stiff card covers and illustrated paper dustjacket. Deckled edges. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Previous owner’s names and messages in ink pen on inside covers and title page. Sticker on back cover. [Sammlung Eggebrecht (Sechster Druck)].

10. Lescure, Jean / [André Frénaud].

Original Typescript with manuscript annotations and corrections of “Poèmes métaphysiques”. Jean Lescure’s personal copy with corrections and additions to his earliest collection of poems. Loosely inserted into the collection are the three pages of the typescript for “Apologie de L’Aveugle – à André Frénaud” reflecting his close friendship and collaboration with André Frénaud [according to our research, Rachel E. Perry identifies in her essay “Histoire De L’Aveugle: Matiérisme’s Critique of Vision” that Jean Lescure composed this poem together with Paul Eluard and it was published in “A la gloire de la main” in 1949]. The poems in the Typescript / Manuscript of Lescure are all dated between 1937 and 1940. The original composition of the poem-cyle “Trois chansons de mer pour l’equinoe” is completely replaced by an autographe, manuscript-entry of Lescur. The poems in this original Typescript/Manuscript of “Poèmes métaphysiques” are titled: “Porte ouverte ou fermee” (″mars-avril 1939”)/ “Dialectique d’un printemps” (″hiver 1937 – ler 5 decembre 1939”)/ “Present de la journee” (″5-6 decembre 1939”) / “Noel pour une fille que fleurisse le jour” (″7-18 decembre 1939”) / “Chant montagnard pour saluer la fin de l’hiver” (″Fev. 1940-Mars 1941”)/ “La Nourriture de l’Amour”(″Fevrier 1941 – Mars 1942”)/ “Double aspect de l’iris” (″20 dec. 1939 – Jan.1940”) / “Double Fer” (″Jan – 25 avril 1940”) / “Debut sur le jour” / “Aspect de la Solitude” / “Chansons de mer pour l’equinoxe” [1.Chanson du patron – 2. Chanson du gabier (Manoeuvre a la vie pare et vire) – [Chansons du precheur] – 3. Chanson du timonier] (″Sept – Oct 41”) //

[France], c. 1945 – 1949. Quarto (21,5 cm x 27 cm). 33 pages plus 3 pages “″Apologie de L’Aveugle”. Original Softcover. Excellent condition with some minor signs of wear only.