HÉRÉDIA (José-Maria de). - Lot 67

HÉRÉDIA (José-Maria de). Les Trophées. Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1893. - Large in-8, 258 x 153: (2 ff.), IV, 214 pp., (1 f.), printed cover. Havana morocco, 6 gilt fillets framing the boards, ornate ribbed spine, multiple gilt fillets inside, gilt edges on witnesses, cover and spine preserved, case (Huser). First edition in bookshops, with the title printed in red and black, published just one month after the original edition of ten copies printed for the Académie française and identifiable by its black title. One of 100 copies on Hollande numbered and initialled by the publisher, very well bound by Huser. It is enriched by an autograph letter signed by José-Maria de Hérédia, addressed to a friend on March 1, 1877 (4 pages in-12). In this letter, Hérédia refers to poems published in the last volume of Parnasse, suggesting that his correspondent draw inspiration from them. In particular, he mentions two poems related to the work of the painter Emmanuel Lansyer (1835-1893), saying, "I've always had the idea of doing a series of marines for Lansyer." He also attaches a few scattered verses, before concluding with an unpublished Breton sonnet, which he deems "mediocre" and never published. Spine slightly faded, otherwise a very well preserved copy.