Les Trophées
Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1893. First, Limited Edition. 8vo; 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. (210 x 143 mm); pp. iv + 214 + colophon page; preliminary title page in black ink; half-title with copyright page on verso; frontispiece engraved portrait of the author by R. de Los Rios printed on Chine; title page in red and black ink. Printed on velin (plain tinted vellum), full margins. Bound in 3/4 tan levant with gold fillets and marbled paper, gilt titling and decorations on spine, t.e.g., rest uncut; marbled endpapers, green silk ribbon; original paper wrappers bound in. Colophon bears the date 29 December 1892. First commercial edition of which 600 un-numbered on velin (as this copy) and 200 numbered and initialed on various papers, all with title in red ink. The preceding edition of only 10 copies (issued one month earliler) had a title page in black ink and was reserved for members of the Académie Française.
From the library of Guy Bigorie, small ticket with GB initials pasted on the inside front cover.
EXTRAS contained in a separate folder: printer proofs of several pages including
* title page proof in black ink
* dedication page with author's corrections in blue ink
* dedicatory letter (iii-iv) with author's corrections in blue ink
* p. 73 with minor correction and author's approval signature in brown ink
* p. 198 with author's corrections in brown ink
* title page of the 4th edition, with signed notation about removing edition number.
* detailed 2-page description from the library of Guy Bigorie
[Dreyfus-Bing, pp. 61 & 127; Lanson 18474].
This handsome SIGNED copy of Les Trophées comes from the celebrated library of the French collector and bibliophile Guy Bigorie, who often collected bibliographic "truffles", in the form of letters connected to the work, proofs, calling cards, invoices, etc., as in this case.
José-Maria de Héredia (1842 – 1905) was a Cuban-born French poet. He was granted French citizenship in 1893 and was elected to the prestigious Académie Française the following year. De Hérédia was part of the "Parnassian" group of poets (Verlaine, Coppée, Leconte de Lisle, et. al.) who put form above all, and repressed any expression of emotion. In a speech upon entering the Académie Française he said that "True poetry dwells in nature and in humanity, which are eternal, and not in the heart of the creature of a day, however great." Hérédia wrote and published very little, but his sonnets were circulated in manuscript form, and gave him a reputation before they were published in this volume in 1893. From its publication this work confirmed Hérédia as head of the Parnassian school.
Condition: Near fine.
Item number: 385
Price: $3,200.00
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