A la Recherche du Temps Perdu
Proust, Marcel
Paris. Grasset (vol. 1) / N. R. F. 1913–1927
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A complete set, broché as issued and entirely unsophisticated, of the first edition of Proust's magnum opus 'A la Recherche du Temps Perdu'.
This monumental novel is one of the most influential in 20th century literature. The first volume of the work was refused for publication by 'La Nouvelle Revue Française' under the direction of André Gide, an act Gide later recognised as one of most regrettable mistakes of his life.
The novel recounts the story of Proust's own life ('I realised the materials of my work consisted of my own past'), and encompasses themes of love, art, time and memory, representing the author's own allegorical search for truth and meaning.
'The transmutation of sensation into sentiment, the ebb and tide of memory, waves of emotions such as desire, jealousy, and artistic euphoria—this is the material of this enormous and yet singularly light and translucent work.' (Vladimir Nabokov).
'Proust so titillates my own desire for expression that I can hardly set out the sentence. Oh if I could write like that! I cry. And at the moment such is the astonishing vibration and saturation and intensification that he procures—there’s something sexual in it—that I feel I can write like that, and seize my pen and then I can’t write like that. Scarcely anyone so stimulates the nerves of language in me: it becomes an obsession. But I must return to Swann.' (Virginia Woolf).
The final volumes were published posthumously and edited by Proust’s brother Robert.
This exceptional set is as follows:
I. Du Côté de Chez Swann. 1913. pp. (iv), 523, (i), (viii). With publisher's advertisements. First issue.
II. A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs. 1918. pp. 443, (v). First issue.
III. Le Côté de Guermantes. I. 1920. pp. 279, (i). 1 of 800 numbered copies on papier vélin de Lafuma printed for the Amis de l'Edition Originale.
IV. Le Côté de Guermantes. II. [And:] Sodome et Gomorrhe. I. 1921. pp. 252, (i), 255 - 282, (i). Limitation as per the previous vol. and with matching number. With the bifolium of 'errata' loosely inserted.
V. Sodome et Gomorrhe. II*. [And:] II**. [And:] II***. 1922. pp. 230, (i); 236, (i); 237, (i). Each one of 850 copies, each with matching numbering.
VI. La Prisonnière. (Sodome et Gomorrhe III). *. [And:] **. 1923. pp. 280, (i); 287, (i). Each one of 875 copies, each with matching numbering.
VII. Albertine Disparue. *. [And:] **. 1925. pp. 225, (i); 213, (i). Each one of 1,200 copies, each with matching numbering.
VIII. Le Temps Retrouvé. *. [And:] **. 1927. pp. 237, (i); 260, (i), (i). Each one of 1,200 copies, each with matching numbering.
This monumental novel is one of the most influential in 20th century literature. The first volume of the work was refused for publication by 'La Nouvelle Revue Française' under the direction of André Gide, an act Gide later recognised as one of most regrettable mistakes of his life.
The novel recounts the story of Proust's own life ('I realised the materials of my work consisted of my own past'), and encompasses themes of love, art, time and memory, representing the author's own allegorical search for truth and meaning.
'The transmutation of sensation into sentiment, the ebb and tide of memory, waves of emotions such as desire, jealousy, and artistic euphoria—this is the material of this enormous and yet singularly light and translucent work.' (Vladimir Nabokov).
'Proust so titillates my own desire for expression that I can hardly set out the sentence. Oh if I could write like that! I cry. And at the moment such is the astonishing vibration and saturation and intensification that he procures—there’s something sexual in it—that I feel I can write like that, and seize my pen and then I can’t write like that. Scarcely anyone so stimulates the nerves of language in me: it becomes an obsession. But I must return to Swann.' (Virginia Woolf).
The final volumes were published posthumously and edited by Proust’s brother Robert.
This exceptional set is as follows:
I. Du Côté de Chez Swann. 1913. pp. (iv), 523, (i), (viii). With publisher's advertisements. First issue.
II. A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs. 1918. pp. 443, (v). First issue.
III. Le Côté de Guermantes. I. 1920. pp. 279, (i). 1 of 800 numbered copies on papier vélin de Lafuma printed for the Amis de l'Edition Originale.
IV. Le Côté de Guermantes. II. [And:] Sodome et Gomorrhe. I. 1921. pp. 252, (i), 255 - 282, (i). Limitation as per the previous vol. and with matching number. With the bifolium of 'errata' loosely inserted.
V. Sodome et Gomorrhe. II*. [And:] II**. [And:] II***. 1922. pp. 230, (i); 236, (i); 237, (i). Each one of 850 copies, each with matching numbering.
VI. La Prisonnière. (Sodome et Gomorrhe III). *. [And:] **. 1923. pp. 280, (i); 287, (i). Each one of 875 copies, each with matching numbering.
VII. Albertine Disparue. *. [And:] **. 1925. pp. 225, (i); 213, (i). Each one of 1,200 copies, each with matching numbering.
VIII. Le Temps Retrouvé. *. [And:] **. 1927. pp. 237, (i); 260, (i), (i). Each one of 1,200 copies, each with matching numbering.
8 parts in 13 vols. 8vo. (c.190 x 120 mm). Original publisher's printed wrappers as issued, yellow printed wrappers for the first part with titles in black to front cover and spines, the remaining vols. in cream printed wrappers with titles in red and black, contemporary morocco-backed marbled board chemises, each with titles gilt to banded spines in six compartments, and matching marbled board slipcases.
#47224
