Lot n° 128
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8000 - 10000
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Result
: 10 000EUR
HUGO (Victor). - Lot 128
HUGO (Victor).
The Art of being a grandfather.
Paris : Calmann Lévy, 1877. - In-8, 225 x 152 : (4 ff. 2 last blank), 323 pp. Jansenist brown morocco, spine ribbed, gilt lace inside, gilt head, untrimmed (R. Petit).
First edition of this collection of 69 poems divided into 18 sections.
"L'Art d'être grand-père is a major book by its scope, diversity, architecture and interweaving of themes, but often ignored because of a reductive title that suggests a succession of "recipes" to seduce and coax grandchildren. It is in fact, as always with Victor Hugo, a sum that develops infinitely, and constantly overflows the initial framework. If the grandfather Hugo speaks well to his grandchildren and reappropriates in their name the territory of childhood (including the learning of the language, the refrains and the songs), the work does not resemble in any way a continuation of childishness. And it is undoubtedly the principal message of this collection: the poetry intended for the children must be poetry for all, with its share of obscurity, its empathy, even its erudition " (Arguments of the Gallimard editions for the edition of the text published in 2002 in the collection Poésie/Gallimard and published by Pierre Albouy).
ONE OF THE 8 COPIES ON JAPAN PAPER, the smallest edition on large paper.
This one is enriched with an autograph sending from the author, addressed to Paul Dalloz (1829-1887) :
To M. Paul Dalloz // Victor HugoThis
sending is followed by an autograph quatrain, extracted from the second poem of the collection (p. 8)
:............ In
this nothingness that bites, in this chaos that lies, // What man ends up seeing distinctly, // It is, over our mourning, our falls, our descents, // The sovereignty of innocent things. // V.H.
Paul Dalloz was a press owner, one of the two directors of the Moniteur universel, the creator of the Petit moniteur and the owner of La Petite Presse
.
He was the son of the jurisconsult Désiré Dalloz and the brother of the politician Édouard Dalloz.
A very well preserved copy, with prestigious origins, having belonged successively to Doctor Lucien-Graux, Pierre Berès and Marcel de Merre.
Provenance : Paul Dalloz, with autograph sending. - Doctor Lucien-Graux, with bookplate (IV, 1957, n° 52). - Pierre Berès, with ex-libris. - Marcel de Merre, with ex-libris (sale June 5, 2007, n° 175). - Ex-libris M.D.
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