Search Results: Authors starting with A from Le Livre de jade

[ANONYMOUS]. GEMMALIE. Paris, Ladvocat, Ponthieu, Delaunay, au Palais-Royal. 1825. Half-morocco (first half of the 19th century, maybe contemporary).
First edition, extremely scarce, recorded to a handful of copies only. We have never seen described any other one bound alone in an early binding.
Lesser-known than "Lord Ruthwen", published in 1820 (also by Ladvocat), "Gemmalie" (name of a character of femme fatale who turns out to be a ghoul) is much better from a literary viewpoint and, like "Lord Ruthwen", it is an important testimony to the influence of English literature, especially Byron and his circle, on French literature. The final note of "Gemmalie" makes it clear that the decision to write it was taken "in a gathering where lord Byron's 'Vampyre' had just been read", in order to depict a beautiful feminine character "as monstrous as lord Ruthwen"—Polidori's short story was still believed to be Byron's.
Foxings throughout the volume, most of the time light, but not always.
Description in… Read More

VILLIERS DE L'ISLE-ADAM (Auguste de). L'ÈVE FUTURE. Paris, M. de Brunhoff, 1886. 18,2 × 11,7 cm, in original wrappers.
First edition of this beautiful science-fiction tale, in which Thomas Edison builds a feminine android—a word in the spread of which this book played a major role.
An attractive copy in its original wrappers, in good condition. (In addition to pictures, see the precise description in French below.)
Description in French:
VILLIERS DE L'ISLE-ADAM (Auguste de, ici désigné comme COMTE DE). L'ÈVE FUTURE. Paris, M. de Brunhoff, 1886. Broché, 18,2 × 11,7 cm. 1 feuillet (faux-titre), 1 feuillet (titre), 2 feuillets (avis au lecteur), 1 feuillet (dédicace imprimée), 380 pages (la dernière blanche). Page 164 chiffrée par erreur 166, et réciproquement. Page 192 non chiffrée.
Édition originale de ce très beau récit de science-fiction.
Petite déchirure au plat supérieur, quelques petites piqûres à la couverture, dos bruni et ridé, petite fente à la jonction du plat… Read More