Celine louis ferdinand

1932 · 91871 — Paris: Denoël & Steele 1932. Fine. Only deluxe presentation copy motivated by ideological conviction Denoël & Steele Paris 1932 12 x 19 cm Relié sous chemise et étui First edition one of the deluxe copies on alfa this one an unnumbered hors commerce only deluxe issue after 10 copies on Arches. Full blue-gray morocco binding spine with five raised bands gilt date at foot yellow box calf doublure watered silk free endpapers original wrappers including spine bound in all edges gilt half morocco chemise in panels wood motif paper boards slipcase edged in morocco wood motif paper boards lined with blue felt outstanding binding signed Hélène Alix. Unrecorded presentation copy signed and inscribed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline to Belgian pacifist writer Jean Tousseul. Handsome copy housed in a fine doublure morocco binding by Hélène Alix in perfect condition despite the foxing-prone Alfa paper. Jean Tousseul pen name of Olivier Degée 1890-1944 is one of the most singular figures in Belgian Francophone literature of the interwar period: he was at once a self-taught writer from the working-class world of the Meuse quarries a militant journalist and a committed socialist and pacifist. He served four months in prison in 1918 for his anti-militarist articles receiving at the time the public support of Romain Rolland. Tousseul contributed to Barbusse’s journal Monde and published his work in Paris with the publisher Rieder. By 1932 he was a recognised author in pacifist and proletarian circles on both sides of the Franco-Belgian border. His major novel on the First World War which appeared a few months after Céline’s Voyage springs from the same terrible reckoning: “La Rafale constitutes an objective testimony a powerful and meticulous document on the war and the disarray of minds that resulted from it. … Jean Tousseul condemns recourse to war but fears that it may long remain attached to the flank of a humanity still in the grip of its elementary instincts.” This analysis by Désiré Denuit might well have been borrowed from the finest studies of Céline’s masterpiece. In 1937 Jean Tousseul was awarded the Prix Triennal de Littérature belge for Le Masque de Tulle. During the war he refused collaboration with the occupying forces and died in 1944. This unrecorded Céline presentation copy to Jean Tousseul —who does not appear in any Céline biography— on one of the most precious issues of the first edition is nonetheless beyond the promotional and commercial imperatives that motivated the distribution of luxury copies a unique testament to the humanist conviction that presided over the writing of Voyage au bout de la nuit. “it all began just like that” Few were those who immediately recognised the importance of the novel. Céline the writer who was still known as Dr Destouches had offered his manuscript to Gallimard Bossart and Figuière before approaching Denoël et Steele. The latter was the only publisher to show genuine enthusiasm—though without the resources to ensure adequate promotion. The initial print run was accordingly cautious: 200 press copies printed on 12 October 1932 followed the next day by 20 on Arches and 95 on Alfa paper according to the printer’s archives. The 3000 “ordinary” copies of the first edition were printed between 15 October and 3 November. It was only after the award of the Prix Renaudot that more than 100000 further copies appeared with the textual variants that are now well documented. “one can never be sufficiently defiant with words” Céline sent several press copies to close friends such as Abel Gance to leading critics including Georges Bernanos to figures of influence such as André Breton and to artists he admired among them the singer Yvette Guilbert. Then as the book’s success grew to new acquaintances. He reserved very few deluxe issue copies for his inner circle. These were destined primarily for members of the Prix Goncourt jury and a handful of influential journalists. T Denoël & Steele hardcover