Autograph manuscript for Le Modeste
S.l.n.d. [c. 1976], 2 p. in-plano (40 x 30 cm)
« Selon lui, mettre en plein soleil / Son cœur ou son cul c’est pareil / C’est un modeste »
Autograph letter signed « Alphonse Daudet » to a journalist
N.p.n.d. [Marseille, c. 1876], 1 p. ½ in-8°
« After many long years of struggle, poverty, running about and travelling, I have at last been able to set seriously to work… »
Original drawings. Ink on paper [Dog and cat]
N.p.n.d [c. 1876-1880], 1 p. in-4° in black ink
Charming drawings by young Toulouse-Lautrec
Original photograph on albumen paper
[Paris, 22 Apr. 1893], 122 x 177 mm
Fine print of the Symbolist poet at home, rue de Rome
Original photograph on albumen paper
[Paris, 22 July 1898], 122 x 177 mm
Famous portrait of Rodin, posing before his Monument to Sarmiento
Original photograph on albumen paper
[Paris, c. 1895 ?], 122 x 177 mm
Very rare print of the American Impressionist painter in his Parisian studio
Autograph letter signed « Émile Zola » [to Aurélien Scholl]
Paris, 10 Apr. [18]86, 2 p. in-8°
« The ingratitude toward Balzac of which you accuse me has moved me; and I defend myself against it »
Autograph letter signed « George » to Eugène Pelletan
[Paris, c. 11 Aug. 1837], 3 p. ½
« Having entered the real world, I lost all communication with the spectres of the past »
Autograph manuscript signed « Aragon »
N.p.n.d. [c. 1960 ?], 1 p. ½ 4°
« I owe a great deal to German culture… even when Hitlerian fascism had come to place its mask over the German people »
Period albumen print on thick cardboard
[Paris, 22 May 1892], 122 x 177 mm
The iconic portrait of Verlaine, slumped on a bench seat at the Café François 1er, his gaze glassy, in front of a large glass of absinthe
Original silver print on cartoline
N.p.n.d. [Paris, c. 1920], approx. 16 x 11,2 cm without margins
One of the most elegant portraits of the composer by Lipnitzky
Autograph letter signed « Gérard de Nerval » to Daniel Giraud
[Passy], « this 25 October » [1853], 1 p. in-8°
« I have something to rework in Angélique »
Original contact sheet
N.p., n.d., [ca. 1974], approx. 12 x 20 cm (approx. 18 x 24 cm with margins)
Rare contact sheet from Doisneau’s legendary photo shoot of the poet in the Montmartre district
Autograph letter signed « Colette Willy » to Albert Michel
[Saint-Quentin, c. 15 May 1909 ?], 4 p in-12° in black ink, on pale green paper
« Missy cannot leave her house full of friends »
Autograph letter signed « Romain Rolland » to Francis Jourdain
Villeneuve (Vaud), Villa Olga, 13 May 1932, 2 p. 1/4 in-8°
« It is absurd to suggest that French imperialism had Doumer assassinated »
Autograph manuscript signed at the head
N.p. [United Kingdom and France, c. 1802-1814], 878 pp. folio
« Since the martyrdom of Louis XVI, I have not ceased to maintain a regular correspondence with her [Marie-Antoinette]. »
Autograph letter signed « Michel Houellebecq » to Dominique Noguez
Paris « Monday evening » [22 June 1992], 2 p. in-4° in black ink
« I am a writer, and I cherish my language; it is my only identity »
Autograph manuscript signed « Max Jacob » : Cornet à dés : adde
N.p., [Fall 1931], 7 p. ½ in-4°, on the recto only, in black ink
« There was no need to chop off the clown’s neck to show that the fair was over — the corpse alone would have sufficed… »
Original work signed « F. Rops »: Les Jeunes [France par Th. Gautier]
N.p., [1866], 18.5 x 13 cm (ruled frame 15 x 10 cm), graphite and pen
Preparatory study for the legendary frontispiece of Les Jeunes France
Chansons pour elle
Paris, Léon Vanier, 1891, first edition
One of the rare copies on Japan paper, with an autograph poem
Autograph letter signed « Hector Berlioz » to Alfred de Vigny
Paris, 18 Sept. [1833], 1 p. in-4°
« My poor Ophelia… She believes herself forgotten by the whole world »
Autograph letter signed « El viejo » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
[Prison de Fleury-Mérogis], 10 Sept. [19]76, 2 p. in-4°
« That’s the way society is… it condemns gangsters, yet gets a hard-on reading about their lives! »
Autograph letter signed « B. Pasternak » to Mikhaïl Mikhaïlovitch Morozov
Peredelkino [Moscou Oblast], 20 Sept. 1940, 1 p. in-12° (in russian)
« In token of spiritual kinship »
Autograph postcard signed « G Brassens » to the Duvernoys
Postmark [13 Apr. 1971], 1 p. in-8° oblong in black ink
« Our warm regards… »
Autograph postcard signed « G Brassens » to the Duvernoy family
Postmark [Sète, 13 Aug. 1968], 1 p. in-8° oblong, in black ink
« Don’t spend too much time on the cooking »
Autograph letter signed « G. Sand » to Eugène Delacroix
N.p.n.d., [Paris, 4 Apr. 1862], 1 p. in-8° on bifolium, in blue ink
« I went to see your chapel at Saint-Sulpice. It is splendid. I admire you more than ever and I love you as always »
Original photograph, vintage gelatin silver print on cartoline
N.p., n.d. [Paris, Dec. 1956], 20.2 (23.8 cm with margin) x 17.8 cm
The legendary portrait of Romain Gary by Albert Harlingue
Wanted Notice for the Couple Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
[Washington, D.C. 21 May 1934], 20 x 20 cm
WANTED – Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow
Autograph letter signed « El viejo » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
[Prison de Fleury-Mérogis], 25 Janv. [19]77, 2 p. in-4°
« Sometimes I’d tell everyone to fuck off just to be completely alone »
Autograph letter signed « Vollard » [to Lucien Descaves]
Paris, 20 Nov. 1907, 2 p. in-12°, on laid paper
« Drawings by Rodin, watercolors by Forain, painting by Cezanne, etc. »
Autograph letter signed « Mathieu Dreyfus » to Ferdinand Buisson
[Paris], 14 Nov. 1898, 1 p. in-12° on «petit bleu»
« What happened there that made him decide not to write to us anymore? »
Autograph manuscript, with an autograph poem signed
[Paris, 24 Apr. 1945], 7 p. in-4° in blue and brown ink
« Stalin, who today commands the victorious armies in Berlin, who commands the decisive battle that liberates the world and France from the Nazi monsters… »
Autograph letter signed « Louis-Napoléon » to Charles Duperré
[Chislehurst], n.d. [9 Jan. 1873], 1 p. on bifolio in-8°, in black ink
« The Emperor is no more! »
Autograph manuscript signed « LRebatet »
[Clairvaux prison], May 1951, 30 p. in-4° in black ink
« I fucked Yvonne this afternoon, I took her virginity, I screwed her… I meant no harm; I’d been very aroused the day before. »
Autograph letter signed « Marcel Proust » to Marie Scheikévitch
N.p. [Paris ? c. 1er Jan. 1914], 3 p. ½ in-8° in black ink, on laid paper
« I wished to write to you that you had procured for my book its greatest joy, when I saw in your gaze that you awaited it… »
Autograph letter signed « Marcel » to Fernand Gregh
[Paris], « 9 bd Malesherbes », « ce jeudi » [2 June ? 1892], 4 p. in-12°
« This article could have been written by Barrès’s lackey »
Autograph letter signed « Céline » [to André Rousseaux]
[Paris], 24 [May 1936], 8 pp. large in-4°, in black ink
« I don’t want to narrate, I want to make the reader FEEL »
Autograph letter signed « Picasso » to Max Pellequer
Cannes, 30 Jan. 1957, 1 p. in-4° in multicolored oil pastel
« THANK YOU »
Autograph letter to President Hénault
N.p.n.d. [Versailles ? c. 1753], 2 p. in-4°, in brown ink on laid paper
« I have recently had a small figure of the infant Jesus painted, depicted reclining upon straw, as at the moment of his birth »
Autograph letter signed « Helvetius » to Jean-Simon Lévesque de Pouilly
N.p., [1759 or 1760 ?], 7 p. in-4° in brown ink on laid paper
« It is not relations, but physical objects, that act immediately upon the human body. Everything, if I may put it thus, is body. »
Autograph poem : Chant funèbre d’un représentant
[Saint-Paul-de-Vence, 14th April 1953], 4 p. in-plano (25 x 43,7 cm)
« I was sick of death / and without even dying / like others seasick / without being able to vomit it »
English poems III – Epithalamium
Lisbon: Olisipo, 1921. First edition.
« Ao Ferreira Gomes / com um abraço / offerece / Fernando Pessoa / Março, 1925 »
Autograph manuscript signed « P. » : Léon Trotsky
Les Monties [Gers], « early Aug.1982 », 30 p. in-8° in blue ink
« So for the first time I was seeing this historic figure, true to his image, clean-shaven, with the legendary goatee… »
Original photograph, gelatin silver print
N.p., n.d., [c. 1925-1930], approx. 8 x 5.5 cm (8.6 x 6.2 cm with margins)
Scarce portrait of the young Prévert
Autograph letter signed « Romain Rolland » to Victor Margueritte
Villeneuve (Vaud) [Switzerland], 10 Oct. 1933, 3 p. in-8°
« Hitler must fall. He must, for the sake of world peace itself. »
Autograph poem signed « Paul Eluard »
N.p, 1942, 1 p. in-folio (21 x 31 cm) on brown paper
« The night before his death / Was the shortest of his life »
Autograph letter signed « Victor Hugo » to a critic
28 January [1870], H[auteville] H[ouse], [Guernesey], 1 p. in-4°
« Hatred and sympathy – that is my life »
Autograph letter to Louise Colet
« Dimanche, 3h », [Croisset, 23 May 1852], 3 p. ½ in-8°, in black ink
« I shall be crushed, or I shall crush »
First draft autograph manuscrit for the poem Sirène-anémone
N.p.n.d. [1929] 9 p. in-4° in black ink and graphite
« C’est l’empire des sens anémone l’ivresse / Et le sulfure et la saveur d’un sang chéri / La légitimité de toutes les caresses / Et la mort délicieuse entre des bras flétris »
Later silver print
Paris, c. 1938, approx. 24,1 x 24,3 cm
A fine portrait of Picasso, seated in the half-light of his studio on the rue des Grands-Augustins
La Chatte
Bernard Grasset, Paris, 1933. First edition.
One of 10 copies of the deluxe issue on imperial Japan paper
Original silver print
[Médan, 1st Oct. 1933], 12,1 x 17 cm
Famous photograph of Céline delivering his speech in tribute to Zola
Autograph card signed « GHuÿsmans » to André Godard
Paris, 16 Feb. 1899, 1 p. ½ in-12° oblong, in black ink
« In art, as in life, Suffering is the most powerful lever and the true springboard of Beauty »
Autograph letter signed « Gabriel Matzneff » to Jean le Marchand
Paris, 1st Apr. 1974, 2 p. in-8°
« If in this book my writing is discontinuous, fragmented, broken up, it is because for such a subject it could not have been otherwise »
La Dame du Luxembourg
1972, Raymond Marquès printing house, 8 stapled pp. in-12°
Extremely rare first edition, enhanced with a highly valuable inscription to Georges Brassens
Autograph letter signed « Woody » to Bernard Cohn
[New-York, 23 nov. 1983], 1 p. in-8° on brown paper on his letterhead
« The American film market is quite the opposite of the serious adult films… and is devoted to things like Star Wars »
Autograph signed note (letterhead: « Le bon maître ») to Sophie Duvernoy.
1 p., small oblong octavo on small-ruled paper, black ink.
« The good master would quite like to stuff himself with fries »
Autograph inscription signed « Victor Hugo »
N.p.n.d. [print : Spring 1880], 12,7 x 9 cm
« I think with happiness of all the charming things you have done for my dear grandchildren »
Letter signed « Aug. Rodin » to bookseller-gallery owner Louis Soullié
[Paris], 30 July 1904, 2 p. in-8° in black ink on beige stationary
« I continue to believe that the three paintings you sold me — by Whistler, Gauguin, and Van Gogh — are not authentic »
Autograph letter to her « dear sister » [Clotilde de France ?]
[Paris], 21 March 1791, 1 p. in-12° in black ink on watermarked paper
« We live like cave dogs »
Autograph manuscript
[Paris, c. 1874-1876], 1 p. small in-4° (approx. 23 x 19 cm), in black ink
« Il se mit à frapper à coups de bec Tiphaine / Il lui creva les yeux ; il lui broya les dents »
Autograph letter signed twice, « F. Nietzsche » and « Dr. F.N. » to André Fontainas
Leipzig, n.d. [May 1899], 4 p. in-8°, mourning stationary, in black and red ink
« L’ingomplet n’être bas mon fort »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d. [c. 1969], recto only , on lined paper, in black felt-tip pen
« All our words are the projection onto other men of our will to dominate »
Autograph letter signed « Chamfort » to Guillaume Alexandre Tronson du Coudray
N.p., « 8 Aug., l’an 2 » [1793], 1 p. small in-4° in laid paper
« It is important both to the defendant and to me that this happen as soon as possible »
Autograph letter signed « Joseph Caillaux » to Philippe Pétain
Mamers, Sarthe, 30 Apr. 1944, 1 p. in-8° on grey paper, in black ink
« I know President Roosevelt means to claim he backed you from the start »
Original photograph of Paul Verlaine by Paul Cardon, known as Dornac
[Paris, 28 May 1892], approx. 13.5 x 18 cm
Iconic portrait of Verlaine, slumped on a bench at the Café François Ier, in front of a large glass of absinthe
Autograph letter signed « Majorelle » to a « very dear fugitive »
[Marrakech], “21 July,” [c. 1950?]. 2 pp., 4°, in blue ink
« My staff are at work; an edifying example for those who don’t do shit »
Autograph letter signed « votre charmant Castor » to Jean-Paul Sartre
Shannon [Ireland], n.d. [10 and 11 Sept. 1947], 2 pp. in-4° then 6 pp. in-8° oblongs
« It’s funny how Chicago seems unreal to me; Paris too actually. It feels like I’m going to stay here my whole life. I’m going to knock back a little whisky… »
Autograph letter signed « DH Lawrence » to George Conway
Hôtel Beau Rivage, Bandol, 29th December 1928, 2 p. in-8°, with envelope
« Some people were much scandalized by Lady C. but many took it in the right spirit, and remain staunch to me »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d. [c. 1940-1942 ?], 2 p. in-4° in black ink
« Traditional poetry is completely dead »
Autograph letter signed « Robert Desnos » to Jean Carrive
Paris, 2 May [1923], 4 p. in-12° à in dark blue ink
« More than ever, I feel the need for a barricade and, in these sweltering days, for a blood-stained guillotine and lead bullets on the pavement »
Autograph letter signed « du Paty de Clam » [to Georges Bonnamour]
Paris, 28 March 1898, 3 p. in-12° on mourning paper
« The wretched proceedings of the Zola affair… »
Autograph notes
N.p. [June 1900], 2 p. ½ small in-8°, in black ink
« It is Flamboyant Gothic, a shift from the Romanesque—but what a degree of decadence, of renaissance! »
Autograph letter signed « Picasso » to Max Pellequer
« La Californie », Cannes, 21 August 1956, 1 p. in-4° in colored oil pastels
« I’m working »
Autograph letter signed [draft] « Emile Zola » à Albert Millaud
Paris, 9th Sept. 1876, 3 p. in-8° on three separate leaves, in black ink
« I never lie in my works. I say what I see, I simply put it into words, and I leave it to the moralists to draw the lesson »
Autograph letter signed « Arthur Rimbaud » to his family
Aden, Hôtel de l’Univers, 18 Nov. 1885, 4 p. small in-4°
« It is also true that I am about to undertake a formidable journey: from here to Shoa, there are some fifty days of horseback travel across scorching deserts »
Autograph letter signed « Rimbaud » to his family
Aden, 10th September 1884, 4 pp. in-8° on laid paper
« Every man is a slave to this miserable fate »
Autograph letter signed « G Caillebotte » to Claude Monet
N.p.n.d, Friday [Petit-Gennevilliers, after 1887 ?], 3 pp. in-8°
« I have covered a lot of canvases and wasted a lot of colour »
Autograph letter signed « Gustave Courbet » à Louis Martinet
[Paris] « rue Hautefeuille 32 », n.d. [May 1862 ?] 1 p. ¼ in-8°, on brown ink
« I’m sending you a painting for the opening of your exhibition »
Autograph letter signed « Gve Flaubert » to Jules Sandeau
Croisset, 26 January [1862], 2 p. in-8 on blue laid paper
« Yesterday I received a letter from Baudelaire inviting me to ask for your voice for his candidacy to the Academy »
Autograph letter signed « Huber » to a Lord
Geneva, 1 Dec. 1761, 5 pp. in-4°, sewn at the centre, on laid paper
« The eagerness with which I seek out all that does honour to human nature has trained me to judge men as quickly as I cut their silhouettes »
Facile. Poèmes de Paul Éluard. Photographies de Man Ray
Paris, G.L.M. [Guy Lévis-Mano], 1935
First edition, one of 200 “hors commerce” copies – With autograph inscription by Paul Éluard to René Bertelé
Autograph letter signed « A. de Custine » [to Madame de Courbonne]
Rome, 5 Feb. 1852, 9 p. ¼ in-8°, in brown ink
« Everything is so imposing at the Vatican that one always returns from it both amazed and enriched. Michelangelo, that sublime corrupter of art, is nowhere more astonishing! »
Autograph letter signed « Paul Gauguin » to a collector
[Paris, 1st or 2nd Nov. 1893], 1 p. 1/2 in-12°
« The exhibition will be launched on the 9th »
Autograph letter signed (paraph) to Mme de Vintimille
[Paris], 16 August 1806, 4 pp. in-12°, in brown ink
« Chateaubriand is already speaking of his return… »
Autograph postcard signed « Juan Gris » to André Level
[Loches, 2 Oct. 1916], 1 p. in-8°
« I try to do the landscapes well but it seems bad to me »
Autograph letter signed « Degas » to collector Montagnac
Np, 27 June [18]95, 2 pages in-8°
« I pay you as follow: three pastels from me »
Autograph letter signed « Maurice Denis » to Claude Monet
[Saint-Germain-en-Laye], 27 Dec. 1925, 3 p. in-8°
« The painters recognize the immense value of your work – especially your latest masterpiece »
Autograph letter signed « Mary Cassatt » to Achille Segard
Villa Angeletto – Grasse, 14th April [1913], 6 p. in-8° on mourning paper
« And then I wanted to be such a great painter, Titian or Rembrandt, just that… »
Original photograph by Paul Boyer
Period albumin print (c. 1891). Carte-de-visite format (90 x 58 mm)
Very scarce original photograph of young Marcel Proust
Autograph letter signed « Your Picasso » to Max Pellequer
« La Californie », Cannes, 6 Oct. 1956, 1 p. in-4° in colored oil pastels
« We are all very sad together. We love you »
Autograph letter signed « Destouches » to Évelyne Pollet
Paris, 14 Sept. 1933, 2 p. in-8°
« I see that you’ll end up knowing The Voyage by heart. As for me, I’ve never reread it and never will. I find it all boring and flat to the point of making me want to throw up. »
Autograph letter signed « Édit Piaf » to a friend
Paris, 6th June 1946, 1/2 p. in-4° on her letterhead
« I wish you in life to be as happy as I am right now, even with a man who doesn’t love me! »
Two autograph letters signed «René Crevel » [to Christiane Loriot de la Salle]
[Paris] and Davos Platz, [c. 1932 / 1934], 4 pp. in4°, in blue ink
« Tell Bousquet, to whom I am sending a letter, that I will write to him soon, but I am up to my neck in proofreading »
Autograph manuscript for Les Trompettes de la renommée
s.l.n.d. [c. 1976], 4 oblong folio leaves (30 × 40 cm) on small-ruled paper
« Si je publie des noms combien de Pénélopes / Passeront illico pour de fieffées salopes… »
Autograph quote signed « Gainsbourg »
N.p.n.d. [1980s], 1 p. in-folio (15,5 x 29,5 cm) oblong
« A Pascal, chauffeur de taxi qui m’a taxé un Pascal »
Autograph letter signed « A Derain » to his friend Philbert
“Hénin I-i et ard” [Hénin-Liétard], 18 Oct. 1902, 4 pages, in-12°
« You might perhaps fuck the woman of your dreams, the blonde, the brunette, or the redhead »
Reimpression : 33 rpm vinyl record, inscribed « J. Brel »
N.p. [c. 1977], approx. 31.3 x 31.3 cm
« I send you my love… »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d. [Paris, 1990], 3 p. in-4°
« Oh, I would love to / Drown in the pond / Like Ophelia / Forget the time / Let myself slip without / Thinking of forgetting »
Autograph letter signed « LRebatet » to Pierre Viansson-Ponté
Paris, 29th. Feb. 1972, 2 p. in-4° on his letterhead of rue Le Marois
« To spare Sartre the prison he deserves a hundred times more than the petty Maoist troublemakers, you are depriving him of that honour… »
Autograph card signed « Lucien » to Roland [Cailleux]
Paris, 3rd July 1961, 2 p. small in-12° written on both sides
« The greatest among us is gone…»
Autograph letter signed « P Verlaine » to Adrien Remacle
Paris, 22 7bre [September] 1895, 1 p. in-8° on laid bi-folio
« Please note that I live at 39 rue Descartes »
Autograph letter to his sister, Pauline Périer-Lagrange
N.p, « Sunday », [13rd May 1810], 3 p. 1/4 in-4°
« My days here are filled by a woman, whom I am not in love with, but whom I constantly think about »
Two letters, one autograph and one signed, to Frédéric Samuel Ostervald
Brest and Paris, 13 August 1780 and 12 Nov. 1783, 3 p. 1/4 in-8°
« Two small books were published in your country two or three years ago; one is titled Reflections on Negro Slavery… and I do not know who the author is »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d. [Mittau, c. 1802 ?], 2 p. 1/2 in-4°
« The Concordat itself is an effect and not the cause of evil. The true cause is the Revolution; by shaking off the yoke of legitimate authority, one has violated even God’s law »
Period silver print
[Moscow, 1952], 17,9 x 11,5 cm
Striking portrait of the Russian composer
Two autograph letters signed enriched with original drawings
Paris, December 1881 and 1888, 11 pp. in total, small in-8°
« You will do me the favor of burning these sketches »
Autograph letter [to Jacques Pierre Brissot]
N.p.n.d. [25 June 1789], 2 p. in-12° on laid bi-folio
« The Amis des noirs are in a minority that the majority seeks to humiliate »
Autograph letter signed « Le Vte de Chateaubriand » to Abel
Paris, 29th Sept. 1815, 4 pp. in-8°
« I was advocating for freedom of speech, which provoked Buonaparte’s fury and his renewed threats to have me executed »
Autograph poem signed « Paul Verlaine »
London, 1873, 1 p. in-8°, on laid paper
« O le feu du ciel sur cette ville de la Bible ! »
Proof sheet for Histoire des deux Indes
N.p., [c. 1784–1788], 3 p in-4°, on laid paper
« Tremble, you who feed men with falsehood, or who make them groan under oppression. You are about to be judged »
Autograph manuscript (first draft)
N.p.n.d [1971], 4 p. 1/2 in-4°
« The target remained the same: a Negro who thinks »
Original print by Valentin Guillon
[Guernsey, summer 1878], 15.5 × 23 cm
« Please accept, Madam, with your usual kindness, my earnest regards and respectful homage… »
Autograph letter signed « El viejo » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
[Prison de Fleury-Mérogis], 8 Dec. [19]76, 2 p. in-4°
« To be honest, I don’t give a fuck about their sentence… even if I were condemned to death, I think I’d still laugh! »
Autograph letter signed « R. Char » to Marianne Oswald
L’Isle[-sur-Sorgue], 14 Feb. [19]61, 2 p. in-8° oblong
« This idea of including Rimbaud is absolutely not to be considered! »
Autograph letter signed « C » [to Louis de Fontanes ?]
[La Vallée-aux-Loups] 9 7bre [September] 1813, 3 p. in-8°
« I am as old as Herod. I only dream of the history of the past. I’m only in love with Agnès Sorel »
Autograph letter signed « Aragon » to Henri Droguet
[Paris], 23 Nov. [19]70, 1 p. 1/4 in-4° in blue ink
« I will have at my home for about a fortnight an illustrious and rather cumbersome person whom I am fond of… Forgive this secrecy »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d., [c. 1781-1785], 1 p. in-4°
« Pierrot dressed in the Spanish style, followed by dancers dressed as elemental spirits »
Autograph letter signed « Morellet » to Maine de Biran
N.p.n.d. [29 or 30th Dec. 1813], 3 p. in-8° in black ink on laid paper
« Voltaire said of Montesquieu: “Mankind had lost its title deeds; Montesquieu rediscovered them and restored them to humanity.” »
Autograph letter signed « Lavater » to a benefactor
Zurich, 4 March 1770, 1 p. in-12° on laid paper
« Perhaps you will not mind reading an ode of mine »
Autograph manuscript signed for Bacchus
[Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, c. 1951], 167 p. in-folio and in-4°
First draft manuscript for Bacchus, Cocteau’s most ambitious play, which caused a scandal
Autograph letter signed « Guy » to Lucie Le Poittevin
[Antibes or Cannes, late 1886 or early 1887], 2 p. small in-8°
« I sail a lot, fencing with rage, I walk, so I do all the exercises, except… affection. But I don’t need it »
Autograph letter signed « MB de la Motte Guyon » to Bossuet
Meaux, Monastère de Sainte-Marie, 15 Apr. 1695, 1 p. 1/4 in-4°
« God forbid that such blasphemy should ever enter my mind »
Autograph letter signed « J-Bénigne de Meaux » to François Diroys
Paris, 29th Dec. 1681, 4 p. small in-4°, brown ink
« The right of bishops to judge matters of doctrine is always without difficulty »
Autograph letter to president Henault
N.p.n.d. [Versailles, c. 1750s], 1 p. in-4°
« I just finished reading the life of Mr. de Turenne, what a man, we would search in vain for his equal… »
First edition of the 87th issue of journal L’Aurore
[Paris, 13th January 1898], 4 p. in-plano
« The truth is on the march and nothing will stop it »
Autograph letter signed « Louis-Napoléon » [to Mathilde de Saulcy]
Camden Place, Chislehurst (Kent), 18 August 1871, 4 p. in-12°
« We have already been told that Parisians were more favorably disposed toward the Emperor »
Autograph letter signed « Magritte » [to Charles Henri Ford]
Jette-Bruxelles, 30 Nov. 1945, 2 p. in-4° on lined paper
« I take as the criterion for defining ‘surrealist’ the moral attitude defined by Breton in his Second Manifesto »
Autograph note signed « Claude Debussy » to Jean Périer
N.p., 29 Oct. [19]06, 1/2 p. in-12° on blue laid paper
« Rest assured, I have not forgotten Pelléas »
Autograph letter signed « Charles Baudelaire » to Alphonse de Calonne
[Paris], 23rd February [18]64, 1 p. in-8° on blue paper
« A heavy work, I assure you, but of which I am quite happy »
Autograph letter signed « Louis-Napoléon » to his friend Pierre de Bourgoing
Camden Place [Chislehurst], 27th February 1871, 2 p. in-8°
« Who would have thought, when we were fighting there with chestnuts last summer, that the French and the Prussians would cut each other’s throats! »
Autograph letter to Théodore Charlet
« G… » [Gorizia, Italy], 24 June 1844, 2 p. 1/4 in-8°
« Very touched by her devotion and by the way she shares my sorrow »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d. [c. 1920], 1 p. in-4°
« Le rossignol se croit-il dans une écurie »
Lettre autographe signée « N de Staël H » à Claire de Duras
S.l.n.d. « ce samedi » [septembre 1815], 1 p. in-12°
« I love you beyond all gratitude »
Autograph letter signed « Dr Freud » to a fellow psychoanalyst
Vienna, 17 March 1907, 3 p. in-8° in blue ink
« One cannot rely on the gratitude of one’s patients in psychoanalysis »
Autograph letter signed « GSand » [to Charles-Edmond Chojecki]
Nohant, 7 Oct. 1873, 3 p. 1/2 in-8°
« Home is therefore always a good refuge from the hardships of the outside world »
Eight autograph signed letters to Admiral Charner
Paris, 1840–1841, 26 pp., 1/12 in-4° and in-8°
Preparations of La Belle-Poule for the expedition to return the Emperor’s remains
Autograph letter signed « Maurice Ravel » to Jean Bérard
N.p., 25th Oct. 1929, 1 p. 1/2 in-8°, in black ink
« Thank you for sending me the draft contract »
Autograph letter signed « Romain Rolland » to Louis Chazai
Villeneuve (Vaud) [Switzerland], 30th January 1924, 2 p.1/2 in-8°
« I am sending you my most recent book on Mahatma Gandhi, this extraordinary man who is stirring up the new Asia, this new Christ »
Vintage silver gelatin print by the Hrand Studio
[Paris, c. 1930], 22,8 x 17,2 cm
Spectacular large-format print of the virtuoso pianist and composer
Autograph letter signed « Lucien » to his wife
Clairvaux prison, 1st and 2snd Jan. 1949, 6 p. in-4°
« This indifference contributes greatly to darkening my life and to breaking what strength I had left »
Autograph card signed « Henri » to Louis-Ferdinand Céline
N.p.n.d. [Douarnenez, late Dec. 1940], 1 p. in-12°
« The more time goes by, the more life in Paris strikes me as thoroughly stupid »
Autograph letter to Madam Dumans
Meaux, 20 Dec. 1695, 1 p. in-8°
« The order of the Church was formerly to receive confirmation before communion; this remains its spirit even today »
Autographe letter signed « Lamartine » to a critic
N.p., 1st Apr. 1839, 2 p. in-8° in brown ink
« The artist, especially when he is as disinterested as I am in his own glory, has a sense of what he has done »
Autograph letter signed « Robert Desnos » to Jean Carrive
N.p.n.d. [Paris, 15 May 1923], 1 p. in-4°
« I’m rereading Sade — Borel and… and stupidity »
Photographic portrait of Victor Hugo
[Paris], c. 1880, cabinet format
Very fine portrait of the poet, in the twilight of his life
Autograph poem: « Mystères de Vénus et des fusiliers marins »
N.p.n.d. [c. 1917-1920], 1 p. in-folio
« Into sea-rose: the sea urchin / Wet, salted, a rose unclosed / That forgives its assassin »
Autograph letter signed « Lamartine » to Victor de Laprade
St-Point, 3 Nov. 1858, 4 pp. in-8°
« If no one fights for me, I will fight for myself »
Autograph letter signed « Jacques Rivière » to Ely Halpérine-Kaminsky
Paris, 26 Feb. [19]23, 4 p. in-8°, NRF letterhead
« It is clear that the story of his first marriage is extremely interesting and sheds a very curious light on his work »
Period albumen print
[Liège, c. July 1893], cabinet format
Precious unpublished portrait of the artist
Autograph poem: « Mœurs de l’ange »
N.p.n.d. [c. 1917–1920], 1 folio page
« Quelques fois l’ange est pris pour un feu d’artifice… »
Autograph letter signed « LP » [to his wife, Queen Marie-Amélie]
Nancy, 14 June 1831, 3 pp., octavo, in brown ink
« My entrance was splendid in that vast courtyard. All the soldiers had come down at the sound of my approach »
Autograph letter signed « Gve Flaubert » to Émile Zola
Croisset, 8 Oct. [1874], 1 p. in-8° on blue laid paper
« Could you tell me the exact time you believe you will be performing? I would need to know for my personal arrangements »
Autograph letter signed « Despreaux » to Claude Brossette
Paris, 6 March 1705, 3 p. small in-4°
« To make a good epigram, one had to say in conversation the word intended for the ending, and see if it struck »
Autograph manuscript signed « AB. »
Paris, 16 May 1966, 1 p. in-4°
« It is enough to recall that, when it first appeared, the words ‘black humor’ made no sense »
Autograph letter signed « Jean Cocteau » to a friend
N.p.n.d., [c. 1928], 1 p. in-4°
« I find myself in this room without having written the letter about Diaghilev »
Autograph letter signed « Jean Cocteau » to Henry de Montherlant
Milly[-la-Forêt], 1 November 1962, 1 p. in-4°
« The only strange thing is that we are under this dome which refused Chateaubriand Hugo Vigny Balzac… »
Autograph letter signed « Alphonse D. » to Timoléon Ambroy
N.p., [after 16th Oct. 1868], 2 p. in-12° on laid paper
« My first lettre du Moulin… was written partly based on the notes you had sent me »
Autograph letter signed « André Malraux » to a critic
Np, 30th [1933], 1 p. in-8°
« I understand, of course, the mistrust that a book about China can inspire »
Late film print on postcard
N.p. [1875 ?], 9 x 11,6 cm
Handsome portrait of Maupassant in bust
Autograph carte-de-visite signed « FM » [to Thierry Maulnier]
N.p.n.d. [Paris, after 1930], 2 p. in-16°
« This dear Cocteau is an impostor—a charming impostor…. »
Autograph letter signed « Gérard de Nerval » to actor Pierre Bocage
[Paris], « ce mardi » [19 October 1852], 1 p. in-8°
« It seems to me that the cause is not lost »
Autograph letter signed « Benjamin Peret » to René Alleau
Paris, 12th February 1958, 1 p. in-4° in blue ink
“These failures are inherent to my condition as an independent and revolted intellectual….”
Autograph letter signed « C. Pissarro » to Théo Van Rysselberghe
[Bruges, Hôtel du] Singe d’Or, 3rd July [18]94, 2 p. in-8°
« I still have in my ear the sound of the waves and the color of the sea in my eye, you must have had beautiful effects last night »
Autograph letter signed « Jean Potocki » to Firmin Didot
Tulczyn, 1st December [1810], 1 1/4 p. in-4°
« I realize every day that it is difficult to see clearly in science when you are so far from the home of the enlightenment »
Autograph letter signed « LA Bourgault Ducoudray » to Henri Passerieu
Vernouillet [15 Sept. 1880], 4 pp. in-12°
« The version of La Marseillaise I prefer is the one published by Rouget de Lisle in 1825 in his collection Chants français »
Two autograph manuscripts for « L’Engagement de Mallarmé »
N.p, [1952], 2 p. in-4° in blue ink on graph paper
« Creature or creator, there is no other choice »
Autograph letter signed « J.V. » to Aurélien Scholl
[Londres], 29 8bre [October] [18]77, 6 pp. in-8°
« I am thinking of letting my political hopes lie dormant, and returning to my profession »
Autograph letter signed several times “Eugénie Krantz” to Edmond Lepelletier
Paris 29th January [1896], 4 p. in-12
Hospitalized a few days after Verlaine’s death and abandoned by all, Eugénie Krantz calls for desperate help
Autograph letter signed « P. Verlaine » to Armand Gouzien
Paris-Montmartre, [September-October 1871], 2 p. in-8°
« My wife, who is pregnant, was horribly unwell last night and I was on my feet and on my teeth »
Autograph letter signed « Marcel Proust » to Fernand Gregh
N.p.n.d., [Paris, 13 Aug. 1903], 3 p. small in-8°
« I have an uncle who has been very ill with his stomach for several years… »
Autograph card signed « Edouard Manet » to Eva Gonzalès
N.p.n.d., 1 p. in-24
« I have to go to a funeral and won’t be able to go to the studio »
Autograph note signed « Henry Miller »
N.p.n.d. [1947 or shortly after], 1/2 p. in-8° oblong on a printed card
« A copy of this book will be on display at the Surrealist Exhibition »
Autograph letter signed « Colette Willy » to Alfred Diard
N.p.n.d. [c. 1907-1908], 1 p. in-12°, in purple ink
« I’m afraid Willy forgot to ask you to have Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson sent immediately for the marquise… »
Autograph letter signed « Gabriel Matzneff » to Olivier
N.p., [Paris], 25 June 1983, 3 p. 1/4 in-4°, in blue ink
« The cabal of certain Le Monde writers against me… »
Autograph letter signed « votre Picasso » to Max Pellequer
« La Californie », Cannes, 22 August 1956, 1 p. in-4° in colored oil pastels
« Sending my love to you »
Autograph manuscript, first draft
N.p.n.d. [c. 1956–57], 17 ff. in-4°, on graph paper
« I see everything at once — everything you were, everything you are… I have never loved anyone but you »
Two autograph letters signed « Max » to his mother Suzanne Baron
N.p.n.d. [summer-fall 1925], 3 p. 1/4 in-4° all together, in blue ink
« I often wonder why I am part of this world, for my life is made of continual suffering »
Autograph letter signed « Claude Lévi-Strauss » [to Thierry Maulnier]
Paris, 12th Nov. 1985, 1 p. 1/2 in-4° on Collège de France letterhead
« A problem posed by The Social Contract, on which all of Rousseau’s political philosophy fails… »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d. [c. 1920], 4 p. 1,/2 in-4°
« Rimbaud plunges both hands into color, brilliance, the marvelous, angels, monsters… »
Autograph letter signed « Marie Amélie » à Narcisse-Achille de Salvandy
Claremont [United-Kingdom], 3 Sept. 1857, 1 p. 1/4 in-8° on mourning stationary
« I will never forget your dedication to my beloved King and to my family »
Autograph letter to Gilles Ménage
N.p., [June or July 1662], 2 p. in-12° in brown ink
« That respectable Ferrara man who was in my service has stolen from me a copy of The Princess of Montpensier and given it to twenty people »
Autograph letter to François d’Usson de Bonrepos
N.p.n.d. [between 1675 and 1701], 3 p. in-8°, black in on laid paper
« I shall be by my fire these days; if you happen to come to our side, come warm yourself by it »
Autograph letter signed « Henri » to Aimé Gaspard de Clermont-Tonnerre
Venice, 20 Feb. 1862, 1 p. 1/4 in-8°, in black ink
« This beautiful map of France, whose view brings back such sweet memories for me »
Autograph letter signed « Françs. E. de Geneve » to Madame de Charmoysi-Marclaz
N.p.., 20 May 1606, 2 p. 1/2 in-4°
« It is of such great importance that I cannot refrain from speaking to you of the exercises of the heart and of the soul »
Autograph manuscript signed « F. Mistral »
N.p.n.d, 2 p. petit in-8° on laid paper
« With her hair girded with the Arlesian diadem, the chapel of her breasts half-open to the sun, she went into the crowd, spreading admiration. she was human beauty »
Autograph letter signed « F. Mistral » to André Godard
Maillane, 10 Jan. 1905, 2 p. 1/2 in-12°
« En ma mère jeune femme et ma mère chenue, je vois toujours ma mère et, toute morte qu’elle soit, je la revois toujours vivante ! »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d., 1 p. 1/4 in-4° and 1/4 p. in-8°
« Faūko – gueule, ouverture, orifice »
Signed autograph manuscript (fragments)
N.p.n.d., 4 p. in-8°
Rare manuscript drafts, enriched with numerous original drawings
Autograph manuscript
N.p., [c. 1881], 1 p. small in-8°
« The Rubens figures — robust people, solidly shaped, immortally fresh… the Rembrandts — sickly, leprosy-obsessed maniacs »
Autograph manuscript « Danse Macabre »
N.p.n.d., [c. 1879 ?] 1/2 p. in-12°
« And I see the silent minuet of the dead dancing around me… »
Autograph aphorism signed « H. Bergson »
Paris, 15 Feb. 1929, 1/2 p. in-12°
« Happiness is found only on the condition that it should not be sought after »
Autograph letter signed « ADreyfus » [to général Percin]
[Paris], 21st July 1906, 1 p. in-8°
« If I have known many villains, many cowardices, I have at least had the consolation of meeting some brave men »
Autograph preparatory manuscript for Les Mots
N.p.n.d [c. 1953-1955], 1 p. in-4°
« I became someone, an Other »
Autograph card signed “André Gide” to Michel Levesque
La Souco, 14th February [19]30, 1 p. in-12°
“I’ll see if there’s still a copy of Un Esprit non prévenu…”
Autograph letter signed « Eugénie » to Marie-Thérèse Bartholoni
[Camden Place], Chislehurst, 1st June [1872], 4 pp. petit in-8°
« My son asks me to send his regards to the young ladies »
La Pluie et le beau temps
First edition
Paris, Gallimard, Coll. “Le Point du jour”, 1955
First edition, inscribed by the author on two pages, enhanced with small colorful drawings
Autograph letter signed « François Mauriac » to Thierry Maulnier
N.p.n.d. [Paris, late 1938 ?], 2 pp. in-8°
« I’m telling you this morning, to you whom I consider the brightest mind of your generation – the only one on our side who can stand up to Sartre… »
Autograph letter signed “Princesse de Chimay” to a friend
S.l, 27 May [circa 1816], 2 pages in-8
“by grace by charity by all that you will please my friend be human”
Autograph letter signed « C. Saint-Saëns » to a friend
Hammam R’Ihra [close by Algiers, Algeria], 18 Dec. 1911, 6 pp. in-4°
« If you could see it — such delightful landscapes, such lush vegetation, such sunshine by day and such stars by night!… Just one day of travel, a few hours by train, and then you find paradise! »
Receipt signed « Théophile Gautier »
[Paris], 19 April 1841, 1 p. in-8°
Receipt from the poet for an article about to the Salon of 1841
Autograph letter signed « Affre » to comte de Rambuteau
[Paris], 13 March [183]8, 2 p. in-8°
« I forgot to ask you to officially inform the ladies of the Abbaye-aux-Bois of the municipal council’s decisions »
Autograph letter signed « Marie Amélie » to Narcisse-Achille de Salvandy
Claremont [United-Kingdom], 3 Nov. 1854, 2 p. in-8°
« Her loss is the object of my deepest regrets as well as those of my children because they all shared my feelings for her »
Autograph letter signed « Ch Maurras » [to Thierry Maulnier]
[Paris] Prison de la Santé, 19 April 1937, 8 pp. in-8°
« It is not possible for Action Française to delay any longer the choice that is necessary between its direction, its destiny, its national obligation »
Autograph letter signed « André Suarès » [to Thierry Maulnier]
La Varenne, 14th May [19]45, 2 p. in-8°
« I come out of Hell, where I was suspended for five years »
Autograph letter signed « L. Pasteur » [to professor Charles Bouchard]
Paris, 19th July 1888, 3 pages in-8° on laid paper
« Its immunity has been tested by inoculation on the surface of the brain »
« La Tondue de Chartres »
Period film print
[Chartres, rue Collin-d’Harleville, 16 août 1944], 14,5 x 21,5 cm
Scarce period film print of “La Tondue de Chartres”, Robert Capa’s masterpiece
Autograph letter signed « Your boy H » to his mother Adèle Zoë Tapié de Céleyran
[Villiers-sur-Morin, fall 1886], 4 p. in-12
« I fly from ladder to ladder »
Autograph letter signed « MT » to Théodore Charlet
N.p. [Vienna, Austria] 2nd January 1850, 2 p. in-8°
« I was pleased to learn that your daughter was pregnant. I wish it were the same here, but unfortunately it is not the case »
Autograph letter signed « Jules Soury » to Eugène Fasquelle
S.l, 4th October 1904, 1 p. in-8°
« Twelve firing squad bullets for Jewish traitor Alfred Dreyfus »
Autograph letter signed « Félicien Rops » to a gentleman
Paris, 28th May [1891 ?], 3 p. in-8°
« All of them: Sculptors, poets, musicians, painters, apart from a score of ‘brain-seeing’ people are a band of Monkeys and lemurs who should be taken away gently… and shot »
Autograph letter signed « Z » to Alice Mirbeau
N.p [Addlestone], Tuesday 30th August [18]98, 4 p. in-8° on laid paper
« It only gives me one passion, that of sacrifice, the will to immolate myself »
Autograph quote signed « Ph. Pétain »
S.l., 1st August 1936, 1 p. in-8° oblong
« Strength ensures independence, attracts alliances and maintains friendships »
Autograph quote signed « F. Darlan »
N.p., 1 May 1939, 1 p. in-8° oblong
« The Empire is only viable if it has a powerful, ardent and well-trained navy. »
Autograph quote signed « Maryse Bastié »
N.p.n.d., 1 p. in-8° oblong
« The hours when we feel the price of life most are those we live dangerously »
Autograph quote signed « F. d’Espèrey »
N.p., 21 January 1937, 1 p. in-8°
« War is cheaper than servitude »
Autograph letter to Emmanuel Arago
[Nohant, 3rd January 1836], 3 p. in-4°
« Should we be angry against humanity? I used up all my indignation when I was younger. Nothing surprises me anymore, neither the bad nor the good »
Autograph letter signed « M. Pleyel » [to Louis Brandus?]
Brussels, n.d « 15th January » [after 1865], 1 p. in-8°
« Will you think me too indiscreet if I ask you to send me Liszt’s piece on the Indian march of the Africaine… »
Autograph letter signed (third person) to Hélène T. Mazel
[Paris], 29 November 1843, 1/2 p. in-12°
Autograph letter of one of Juliette Récamier, with five additional letters about her
Autograph letter signed « Juliette » to Victor Hugo
N.p [Paris], 9th December [1846], « Wednesday morning, 10 h ½ », 4 p. in-4°
« You have omitted nothing, forgotten nothing, disdained nothing. And all this in your most beautiful style and sublime poetry »
First draft manuscript
N.p.n.d [c. 1955], 3/4 p. in-4° in blue ink
« Beautiful girls of France, get your asses ready! »
Autograph card signed « Nadar » to [Henri ?] Cazalis
Draveil, 12 January [18]93, 1 p. small in-8°
« My poor afflicted one and I send our warmest regards with our best wishes.… »
Letter signed « Necker »
Paris, July 12 1790, 1 p. in-folio on laid paper
« I saw with great satisfaction, in these speeches, the homage of the sentiments that the King is so worthy of obtaining, and which must animate all the French people »
Autograph carte-de-visite signed « GC. » [to Michel Alexandre Gaston Tournier]
N.p.n.d, 2 p. in-24° (7.4 x 4.8 cm)
« With my best wishes, my dear general »
Unpublished autograph manuscript, signed « Emile Zola »
[Grosvenor Hotel, London, 19 July 1898], 5 pages in-4 on ligned paper
« Of all my open letter to the president, a few lines had been skilfully extracted… to prevent the truth to shine on the Dreyfus affair »
Autograph manuscript signed « André Citroën »
N.p, 3rd April 1926, 1/2 p. in-8°
« It is through specialization and standardization that production is intensifies »
Autograph letter signed « Henri Bergson » to Jean Becquerel
Paris, 24 Sept[ember] 1922, 16 pages in-8°
« From the point of view of the theory of Relativity, there is no longer absolute motion or absolute immobility »
Two autograph letters signed « Gaston Doumergue » to notary Leverne
Paris, 11th November 1926 et 21st May 1931, 2 p. in-8°
«I request you to hand over to Mrs. Graves all remaining documents in your study concerning our agreement of July 1926 »
Autograph letter signed « Beauh. de Lavalette » to Eugène de Beauharnais
N.p, [11th] May [1807], 5 p. in-12°
« We have been so dejected and discouraged by the loss of my poor cousin »
Autograph letter signed « Petain » [to Jean-Louis Forain ?]
N.p, 10th August 1918, 1 p. in-8° on his letterhead
« A few corpses descend the Marne along the water… »
Autograph letter signed “Victor H” [to Joséphine Trébuchet]
Brussels, 19th December [1851], 1 page in-8°
“I fought for the right, for the truth, for the righteous, for the people, for France”
Autograph letter signed « Eugénie » to an unknown recipient
[Camden Place, Chislehurst], 4 February [18]73, 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« Sensitive to your sympathy and the regrets you express to me for the one we mourn »
Letter signed « Duc de Bassano » to the Comte de la Chapelle, Alfred de Morton
[Camden Place, Chislehurst] July 1879, 1 p. in-8° on mourning paper
« I have been instructed by Her Majesty the Empress to convey to you her many thanks for the sentiments you have expressed to her in her immense misfortune »
Autograph letter signed « H. Bergson » to Raphaël Cor
Paris, 22nd March 1935, 2 p. in-8°
« I find interesting the relationship you establish between immoralism and the sexual question… »
Portrait of Napoléon III by Disdéri
N.p.n.d, c. 1868, cdv format
Famous and elegant full-length portrait of Emperor Napoleon III
Portrait of Empress Eugenie by W&D Downey, period albumen print
[London, c. 1871], CDV format
Elegant portrait of the Empress, with a melancholic gaze
Autograph manuscript signed « JB Clément »
N.p, dated 23rd April 1869, 4 p. in-8°
« J’en couperai pour cette belle France / Dont j’ai chanté la gloire et les revers »
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