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Livres et Manuscrits

I. Antique and Modern Books (lots 1-137)

Antique books will include some rare Italian editions from the 15^th and 16^th centuries (Rolewinck’s Venetian1484 edition, Gualtieri on the Japanese embassy in Rome in 1586…),  French editions from the 17^th century (a very rare copy of the first edition of La Bruyère’s Caractères in 1688, having belonged toTalleyrand and Rémusat), important travel books (Humboldt in America, 1811, with the extraordinary  map of California), the very rare letters about Indians by the Jesuits missionaries in Canada between 1635 and 1672 (in period binding), as well as Vaugondy’s 1757 Atlas with its New Territories maps. Sciences Natural Science books from the 15^th to the 19^th century include Martinez’ 1571 treatise about mouth and teeth, being the first scientific book on the subject, Lagrange’s Méchanique analitique, 1788, Sowerby’s illustrated book about fungi (1795), Vieillot’s Les Oiseaux chanteurs by Vieillot (1805), and a very rare complete set of the Arcueil Society hyper-modern Mémoires (1807-1817) by Humboldt, Berthollet, Gay-Lussac…

Large paper copies or presentation copies by Apollinaire (with two original drawings), Céline, Cohen, Flaubert, Sagan, Verlaine, as well as a small ensemble about the Dreyfus Affair are presented together with precious illustrated books by Arp (Cinéma calendrier du cœur maisons), Chagall (Daphnis et Chloé), Delaunay (Ses peintures, ses objets... presentation copy to Cendrars), Dubuffet (La Bonfam abeber), Miró (Il était une petite pie, sur Japon), Picasso (Chevaux de minuit et Le Chef-d’oeuvre inconnu printed on Japan paper), a complete set of theart magazine Verve, as well as L.H.O.O.Q rasée, a Duchamp ready-made for an exhibition invitation. An important chapter of the sale presents five unpublished Artaud noteboooks, with drawings, texts, and unpublished letters from the 1930's. Among the most important manuscripts : 20 unpublished letters from Céline to his friend Auguste Bécart, letters with poems from Apollinaire to Lou, and an illustrated letter by Matisse.

II. Marcel Proust – The Marie-Claude Mante Collection (lots 138-196)

The second part of the catalogue is composed of a major Proustian archive from the library of Proust's grandniece: 60 lots of letters, books, presentation copies and literary manuscripts. In addition to an unpublished pastiche of Ruskin, galley proofs of À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, a first draft on the source of the river Loir (prelude to a famous part of Du Côté de chez Swann) and an original drawing, the collection includes a very significant collection of letters from Gaston Gallimard to Marcel Proust between 1912 to the author’s death in 1922.