Among the literary manuscripts, in addition to the theatrical adaptation of Germinal (see focus above), there is Cocteau's Mystère Laïc with sketches and drawings, several of which are erotic in nature, in which the writer ardently defends De Chirico, who was strongly attacked by the Surrealists. Also to be found are the corrected proofs alongside final proofs of the first edition of Bourlinguer by Blaise Cendrars with a handwritten note to his publisher, Guy Tosi.
The sale includes several travel books, including twelve reports from Jesuit priests in Canada between 1639 and 1672, an inexhaustible and essential source for the history of Nouvelle-France in the 17th century. At the end of the 17th century, another Jesuit, Joachim Bouvet, left us a marvellous testimony of his stay in China with L'Estat présent de la Chine (1697) decorated with magnificent engraved plates heightened with watercolour and gold, showing princes, princesses, Tartar duchesses and countesses, bonzes, war officers, etc. in sumptuous dress. The copy of this rare book comes from the library of the famous sculptor Edme Bouchardon. Also included in the sale are the famous voyages of Saint-Non to Naples and Sicily, and that of Melling to Constantinople and the shores of the Bosphorus. And finally, the remarkable book by Prisse d'Avennes, the abundantly illustrated L'Art arabe d'après les monuments du Kaire, the most important work of the 19th century entirely devoted to Arab art.
When books that are so perfectly illustrated by Toulouse-Lautrec, Derain, Picasso, Jouve, Giacometti, or Staël are covered with beautiful bindings by Pierre Legrain, Pierre-Lucien Martin, Jean de Gonet or Georges Leroux, and when these copies are often the first edition or accompanied by a drawing or an additional suite, then all the criteria of the highest standards of bibliophily have been met.
Through inscriptions, letters and correspondence, Hugo, Flaubert, Monet and Bataille proclaim in turn their love, friendship, admiration or anger.
Flaubert, in a long and admirable letter to Louise Colet, written when he was working on Madame Bovary, sends his muse literary advice while castigating Lamartine. An exceptional copy of the first edition of Hugo's Quatre-vingt-treize bears a double inscription to Juliette Drouet, his mistress, and to the then twelve year old Pauline Ménard, future wife of Georges Hugo, the poet's grandson. Three autograph letters from Bataille reveal the mysterious and passionate relationship between the writer and the sculptor Isabelle Waldberg, and two works show his friendship with René Char. The first edition of Romances sans paroles was a gift from the poet to Georges Landry, a great friend of Barbey and Léon Bloy, who annotated the copy.
![View 1 of Lot 19: De l'esprit des loix. Barrillot, [1748]. 2 tomes en un vol. in-4. Rel. de l'époque. Édition originale.](https://sothebys-com.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d5859b7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1494x2000+0+0/resize/281x376!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsothebys-md.brightspotcdn.com%2F58%2Fbd%2F910256bb49359abb9b4eb0224085%2Fpf2113-c3qdq-01.jpg)
![View 1 of Lot 39: L.A.S. à Louise Colet [20 avril 1853] (4 p.). Lettre de conseils littéraires et d'invectives contre Lamartine](https://sothebys-com.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ff5f69c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x2000+0+0/resize/330x330!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsothebys-md.brightspotcdn.com%2F47%2F46%2Fb635a927450e935831c61624c011%2Fpf2113-c48c6-03.jpg)
![View 1 of Lot 62: Germinal [1885]. Manuscrit autographe de l'adaptation théâtrale. Le dernier manuscrit de Zola en mains privées.](https://sothebys-com.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2b01b69/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1333x2000+0+0/resize/251x376!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsothebys-md.brightspotcdn.com%2F0f%2Fed%2F89094acf4482a664d5235aedc639%2Fpf2113-9z7dj-05c.jpg)
![View 1 of Lot 55: L'Art arabe... Paris, [1869]-1877. 3 vol. Édition originale. Reliure du début XXe.](https://sothebys-com.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0ab41d3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1454x2000+0+0/resize/273x376!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsothebys-md.brightspotcdn.com%2F75%2Fbf%2F07f355c1418b80b3b7cdba5ca8e9%2Fpf2113-c49p9-01.jpg)
![View 1 of Lot 80: 3 lettres autographes à Isabelle Waldberg [1939].](https://sothebys-com.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/66e6830/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x2000+0+0/resize/330x330!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsothebys-md.brightspotcdn.com%2Fae%2Fd2%2F1c2b08ed4559a174bb0bc1a1eb23%2Fpf2113-c43dq-01.jpg)
