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… »
Later silver print
[Paris, 1863], approx. 13,7 x 10 cm
The iconic portrait of Berlioz by Pierre Petit
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 manuscript
N.p.n.d. [c. 1940-1942 ?], 2 p. in-4° in black ink
« Traditional poetry is completely dead »
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 « 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 « 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 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 « 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 »
Original silver print
[Médan, 1st Oct. 1933], 12,1 x 17 cm
Famous photograph of Céline delivering his speech in tribute to Zola
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 »
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 »
Original drawing titled « Poesia »
N.p.n.d, 1 p. in-8° on double folio
Touching drawing of the poet soberly titled « Poesia »
Autograph poem signed « Paul Eluard »
N.p.n.d, 1 p. in-8°
« Garcia Lorca was put to death »
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 « 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 things like Star Wars »
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 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 »
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 »
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 »
Reimpression : 33 rpm vinyl record, inscribed « J. Brel »
N.p. [c. 1977], approx. 31.3 x 31.3 cm
« I send you my love… »
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 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 « Eugénie » to Hortense Cornu
[Camden Place, Chislehurst] 13th January [1875], 8 pp. in-8°, mourning paper
« What a singular destiny which makes it so that the most French hearts, the Napoleons, must all to this day be laid in a foreign coffin »
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 « 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 « 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 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 »
Portrait of the Imperial Prince – Contemporary albumen print
[London, c. 1876], carte-de-visite format
Superb portrait of the Prince impérial
Portrait of the Imperial Prince – Period print, slightly later edition
[London, c. 1873–1875], cabinet format
A superb and very touching portrait of the Prince impérial
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 (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], 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 « 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 « 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 « 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… »
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 »
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 »
Portrait of the Imperial Prince – Period print, slightly later edition
[London, c. 1873–1875], cabinet format
Superb portrait of the Imperial Prince in the uniform of a cadet at the Woolwich Academy
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 « Aragon » (draft), to René Char
[Paris, 10th August 1946], 1 p. 1/2 in-4°
« I do not accept to be lectured, I admit even less that it is claimed to be given to Esla. And the Olympian tone of your letter proves to me that if there are some who get lost, it is only in the image of kicking the ass »
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 for « Les Communistes et la paix »
N.p, [c. late 1953 – March 1954], 6 p. in-4°
« It is misery that drives the peasant to the city factories. And this misery is provoked »
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 manuscript
N.p.n.d. [c. 1872-1873], 2 p. 1/2 in-folio on laid paper
« It was she—or at least one of those women—who went to ask for weapons, to fight in place of the cowards who would flee before the enemy »
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 signed « Adrien Bizot » to the Prince Impérial
Melun, 20 septembre 1878, 4 p. in-8°
« Sad country, Sad weather! But patience, the sun of Austerlitz is not dead! »
Autograph letter signed « El viejo » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
[Prison de Fleury-Mérogis], 10 Jan. [19]77, 2 pp. in-4°
« It’s true that this prison is demoralizing. Personally, I don’t think I’ll ever commit suicide… I have too many scores to settle »
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 « Marcel Proust » to Fernand Gregh
N.p.n.d. [Paris, 13 Nov. 1903], 2 p. 1/2 small in-8°, with envelope
« Since your wedding, I’ve been tormented »
Autograph dispatch signed « Napoléon » to Charles Duperré
[Wilhlmeshoehe castle, 6-8 September 1870], 1/2 p. in-8°
« Where is the Empress »
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 « Romain Rolland » [to Eugène Montfort]
[Paris], 20 May 1914, 2 p. in-8° on pale green paper
« I will only indicate to you for now… Stefan Zweig, VIII, Kochgasse 8, Vienna »
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 »
Autograph letter to her granddaughter Madeleine de Malaret
Paris, 17 Apr. 1870, 3 pp. in-8°, on mourning paper, in black ink
« I refrained from writing, though it pains me more than anything »
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 postcard signed « Jean » to his family
Megève, 6th February [1940], 1 p. in-12°
« These two days spent in the fresh air did me a lot of good and I now feel in great physical shape »
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 »
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 »
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 letter signed « Edmond Rostand » to Émile Faguet
N.p.n.d., [c. 1903], 4 p. 1/2 small in-4° in black ink
« Vous avez remarqué combien on a facilement, depuis quelque temps, cherché dans les pièces en vers des ressemblances avec Cyrano… »
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 « Gérard de Nerval » to Daniel Giraud
[Passy], « this 25 October » [1853], 1 p. in-8°
« I have something to rework in Angélique »
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 letter signed « Joseph Vacher » to doctor Lacassagne
[Prison of] Belley, le 30 Xbre [December] 1897, 4 p. in-8°
Long Letter” by Joseph Vacher: One of France’s First Serial Killers
Autograph letter signed « Romain Rolland » to Francis Jourdain
Villeneuve [Switzerland], 15 juin 1933, 2 pp. in-8°
« No one asked me to sign a telegram protesting persecutions in Greece »
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 »
Vintage print, inscribed « Ph. Pétain »
S.l., 2nd April 1941, 16,3 x 11,8 cm
A fine period print of the Marshal, with an autograph inscription
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 »
Nineteen period albumen prints
The Imperial Family and its entourage, CDV format
Exceptional gathering of nineteen vintage albumen prints offering a wide panorama of the imperial family, its relatives and supporters
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 ! »
Lettre autographe signée « Eugénie » à Charles Duperré
[Palais des] Tuileries, 30 mars [1866] , 4 pp. in-4°
« The little Prince has been very sick, he is still in bed; this poor child showed angelic patience »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d., 1 p. 1/4 in-4° and 1/4 p. in-8°
« Faūko – gueule, ouverture, orifice »
Copie of letter signed « Séverine »
Paris, 9 January 1893, 1 p. in-4°
« On the economic front—meaning the defense of women’s serious and sacred rights and interests—I’m your man! »
Signed autograph manuscript (fragments)
N.p.n.d., 4 p. in-8°
Rare manuscript drafts, enriched with numerous original drawings
Autograph letter signed « N » to Empress Eugénie
[Camden Place, Chislehurst], 2nd August [1872], 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« Your absence leaves a great void and although we live under the same roof we see little of each other, it is always very sweet to feel close to those we love »
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 card-letter signed « Z » [to Eugène Fasquelle]
[Queen’s Hotel, Upper Norwood], 1st February [18]99, 2 pp. petit in-12°
« The horrible waste we are going through… »
Autograph letter signed « Georges Ghika » to Liane de Pougy, princesse Ghika
Le Clos-Marie, Roscoff, 2nd July 1924, 2 p. in-4°
« It seems that your pearly body, slightly amber from distant sailings... »
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 « Henri » to count de Sémallé
Teplitz, 15 June 1836, 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« Je ne saurais non plus oublier que ce fut dans les plaines de la Normandie qu’Henri quatre trouva plus d’une fois le chemin de la victoire »
Autograph letter signed « Henri » to his legitimist inner circle
Frohsdorf [Austria], 30 Jan. 1852, 5 pp. in-4°
« I hold on to the gentle yet steadfast hope that a day will come… when I shall at last see our beloved homeland again »
Spectacular portrait of the Prince impérial, period albumen print
[London], 28th July 1877, cabinet format (10,2 x 14,4 cm)
An uncommon portrait of the Prince Imperial, signed on each side of the cardboard
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 »
Autograph manuscript for her essay Must we burn Sade ?
N.p.n.d [1951], 7 pages in-4 on grid paper
« Sade’s eroticism is no longer just an individual attitude; it is also a challenge for society »
Autograph letter signed « Louis Napoléon » to his friend Pierre de Bourgoing
Camden place, 23rd October 1870, 2 p. in-8° on bifolio
« England will never be worth France ! »
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 to Théodore Charlet
« G… » [Gorizia, Italy], 15 oct[ober] 1843, 2 p. small in-8°
« My nephew is happily continuing his journey… his health is excellent »
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 signed « Claude Lévi-Strauss » to Thierry Maulnier
[Paris], 9 May 1982, 1 p. 1/4 in-4°
« It is futile to seek meaning in history »
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 »
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
Autograph letter signed « J. Stalin » to Marietta Sergeevna Shaginyan
N.p, 20th May 1931, 1 p. in-folio, red ink, in russian
« Just tell me concretely who I need to put pressure on »
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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