Importants Livres Anciens, Livres d'Artistes et Manuscrits

Two significant collections of manuscripts will lead the sale. The manuscripts of the René Gimpel collection, including the complete manuscript of L’Oblat by Huysmans, notebooks by the Goncourt brothers and especially poignant autograph drafts of D’auculnes, a series of 17 erotic poems by Verlaine, showcase French literature at the turn of the 20th century. 18th century philosophy is largely represented in the collection Tronc-Jeanson through writings by Voltaire and Rousseau. Highlights include a group of autograph letters by the patriarch of Ferney, led by his first known letter, written while he was a young schoolboy. Among the books in the sale, we offer a first edition of Rousseau’s Contrat social, in a rare contemporary morocco binding, the Voyages of Captain Cook, the Lettres à diverses personnes by Mme de Maintenon, bound with the coat of arms of the Countess of Artois, the famous Description de l’Egypte, and finally a collection of Dutch natural history.