Paris, Editions de la Nouvelle Revue Française, 1918-1927.
18 volumes 4to [214 x 161 mm], full Jansenist blue morocco, spines ribbed, blue morocco doublures, blue silk endleaves, gilt over untrimmed edges, wrappers and spines bound in, lined cases. Binding by Huser.
First edition, except for the first volume, Du côté de chez Swann, originally published by Grasset and the only one published by this editor, of Proust’s masterpiece.
Deluxe copy reimposed in 4to format on verge Lafuma-Navarre, which number of copies printed varies from 108 to 130 as per the volumes.
All volumes are reimposed and reserved to the Nouvelle Revue Française Bibliophiles:
* 13 volumes of A la Recherche du temps perdu :
–Du côté de chez Swann, 1919 (second edition after that of 1913 from Grasset). One of 128 copies reimposed. 1 volume.
–A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, 1918. One of 128 copies reimposed. 1 volume.
–Le Côté de Guermantes I, 1920. One of 133 copies reimposed. 1 volume. Complete with the 2 ll. of errata, mounted on guards.
–Le Côté de Guermantes II. Sodome et Gomorrhe I, 1921. One of 100 copies reserved to the NRF Bibliophiles. 1 volume.
–Sodome et Gomorrhe II, 1922, 3 volumes. The first volume is one of 100 copies reserved to the NRF Bibliophiles, the next two volumes unnumbered.
–La Prisonnière, 1923. One of 100 copies reserved to the NRF Bibliophiles. 2 volumes.
–Albertine disparue, 1925. One of 12 copies out of trade. 2 volumes.
–Le temps retrouvé, 1927. One of 12 copies out of trade marked A to L. 2 volumes.
* [Joined :]
-Pastiches et mélanges. Paris, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue, 1919. Same binding.
One of 70 copies reimposed in 4to, n° 50. 1 volume.
–Chroniques. Paris, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue, 1927. Same binding. One of 113 copies reserved to the NRF Bibliophiles. 1 volume.
–Jean Santeuil. 1952. Same binding. The first volume is one of 110 reimposed in the 4to format on vergé, the next two volumes are unnumbered. 3 volumes.
In its spectacular 4to format, this wonderful series shows the editor’s esteem towards Proust, after his refusal in 1912 to publish him.
“We follow the progress of this vertiginous retrospection by seeing how, from the ‘Plaisirs et les jours’ to ‘Jean Santeuil’ and ‘Contre Saint-Beuve’, the ‘Recherche’ is being prepared, by witnessing the work of amplification of a work that was initially supposed to contain only two or three volumes. Finally, this alchemy capable of making the narrator’s deepest self-communicate with the world, we approach its secret when we listen to Proust’s sentence: memory and oblivion cease to be two antagonistic forces and participate in the same writing dynamic, moving enough to extract from the meanders and folds of time the most alien signs from each other, and to unite them in the infinite profusion of the work.” En Français dans le texte, 342.
A rare copy on large paper, elegantly bound at the time by Huser in morocco with morocco doublures.
