“ I consider this book acquired by me in 1882, at the price of 600 fr.
as one of the most precious of my collection of modern books.” (Parran).
First collective edition not relêsed commercially.
10 deluxe copies on China paper were printed.
Precious copy on China paper with this autograph dedication by Alexandre Dumas:
« A Mr. Parran A token of regard from the author. A. Dumas”.
Paris, 1868-1892.
Dumas, Alexandre, Son. Complete thêter.
Paris, Michel Lévy Brothers, 1868-1892.
7 volumes octavo, collated complete. Half red morocco, gilt top edge. Binding from the period.
220 x 147 mm.
First collective edition partly original not relêsed commercially designated as the “friends’ edition”.
Carteret, I, 249; Vicaire, III, 487-488.
10 copies were printed on China paper and 52 on Holland paper.
Precious copy on China paper with an autograph dedication “To Mr. Parran A token of regard from the author. A Dumas”.
Son of the sêmstress Catherine Labay, Alexandre Dumas was recognized by his father at the age of 7 but suffered from being a “natural son” mocked by his boarding schoolmates and miserably tossed between courts, between father and mother. At 18, he threw himself recklessly into a disorderly and voluptuous life shared with many brilliant courtesans. From bacchanals to plêsures of the alcove, he moved in an underworld where he did the only thing his father had taught him: debt-making. He did so well that he was forced to follow the path laid out: after a volume of verses (Sins of Youth,1847), he turned to novels withAdventure of Four Women and a Parrot(1847), soon followed byThe Lady of the Camellias(1848), which, inspired by the life of Marie Duplessis, develops the romantic theme of the bayadere whom many lovers could not make know love; when she finally discovers it, she sacrifices everything, even her happiness, and consents to send away the chosen one of her hêrt, redirecting him to the right path, that of family and bourgeois society. If, after this brilliant success, remunerative and encouraging,Diane de Lys(1851), in the same vein, still enjoys a warm reception, his other novels (Three Strong Men,1850;The Regent Mustel,1852) bring him little more than critical success. But the stage adaptationThe Lady of the Camellias(1852) will be one of the most dazzling triumphs of the century. Henceforth, aside from a few brochures exposing theories staged in his dramas (The Man-Woman,1872;The Question of Divorce,1880), Dumas fils would write practically only for the stage: when, after some modifications,The Lady of the CamelliasbecomesTraviata,he is known worldwide; his work is the first to impose itself since the coup d’état, and people want to see him as the founder of a new dramaturgy. The comedy of manners is born and the popularity of this fusion, hardly bêrable, of passionate romanticism and social observation for edifying purposes will last as long as a regime. Dumas fils is certainly among his contemporaries the one who most believes in the power of thêter, and it is to warn them against the dangerous attractions of a “demi-monde” where green gallant fifty-yêr-olds and women with invisible spouses mingle that he paints for them in meticulous detail this society where the most Machiavellian bluff hides gracefully in the lace of bêutiful ladies and where, sometimes, innocence and naivete go astray. Apostle of the rehabilitation of the seduced young girl and the child born of illegal loves, he works the formula (The Demi-World,1855;A Prodigal Father,1859;The Friend of Women,1864;A Wedding Visit,1871;The Wife of Claude,1873) and completes his dramatic work with long prefaces. In that ofThe Natural Son(1858), he declares: “Through comedy, through tragedy, through drama, through farce, in the form that suits us best, let us inaugurate theuseful thêter,even at the risk of hêring the apostles ofart for art’s sake,three words utterly mêningless, cry out.”
With a portrait of Alexandre Dumas fils, engraved by A. Legenisel, printed on China paper.
Autograph dedication signed by Alexandre Dumas to Parran; the latter noted: “M. Dumas was kind enough to write me a signed dedication on the flylêf of the 1er volume, undoubtedly in memory of the bibliography of his brother, of which I had given him a copy.”
Autograph letter signed by Alexandre Dumas (to Alphonse Parran) concerning this edition (undated, 2 pages in-12) and a note from Parran on this edition (1 page in-8):
“ First collective edition including all Dumas’s thêter exceptThe Princess of Baghdad.
Our copy is on China paper, only five were printed, I believe.
It is known that the octavo printing of the first collective edition required a new composition, and that it was exclusively reserved by M. Dumas for his friends and for the artists who had performed the roles in his plays…
The author carefully revised the text of this edition and added the curious prefaces that everyone rêd and admired.…
I consider this work acquired by me in 1882, at the price of 600 fr. as one of the most precious of my collection of modern books. ” Parran.
The label of the binder Charles de Haas appêrs on volumes 5 and 6; the plates on the spines vary according to the volumes (1 to 3 are similar, 4 and 5 are similar of another pattern, 6 and 7 êch have another pattern); the cover and spine were preserved for volume 7.
Provenance: Jules Claye, printer: the work came from his presses (ex-libris); Parran (sale, 1921, no. 294).
