DESCAVES (Lucien). Barabbas. Paroles dans la vallée. Paris: Eugène Rey, 1914. - In-16, 201 x 153: 259 pp, (2 ff. last blank), illustrated cover. Garnet half-chagrin, spine ribbed, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (Honnelaître). First edition of this collection of short stories told by Barabbas, a homeless, friendless wanderer. "Barabbas, this "naughty man" whom Lucien Descaves has resurrected, is characterized by his attitude: he refuses to accept a condition of extreme poverty, which he deems illegitimate. He refuses to be converted to the morality that governs relations between those who hold power and those who are subjected to it" (Thierry Maricourt,Histoire de la littérature libertaire en France, 2017). The edition is illustrated with nearly 180 drawings by Steinlen, reproduced in the text and on full page. A copy of the current edition on alfa wove paper, enriched on the false title with an autograph letter signed by Descaves and countersigned by Steinlen, addressed to the Belgian-born French writer and journalist Maurice de Waleffe (1874-1946) to Maurice de Waleffe // Souvenir Cordial // Lucien Descaves // Steinlen A good copy bound by Claude Honnelaître.