Les Coupains - DUHAYON, Henri; ROMAINS, Jules; BOFA, Gus [RAYON d'OR/LIBRAIRIE GALLIMARD]

Paris: Le Rayon d'Or/Librairie Gallimard, 1952. A Spectacular Copy in a Unique Artist's Binding Inscribed by Jules Romains, with Inscriptions by Georges Duhamel and Gus Bofa With an Original Drawing, Autograph Letter, and Provenance Note A Singular, Enriched Association Copy of Les Copains [DUHAYON, Henri, binder]. [BOFA, Gus, illustrator]. ROMAINS, Jules. Les Copains. Avec douze aquarelles par Gus Bofa. N.p. [Paris]: Le Rayon d'Or, (1952). First edition illustrated by Bofa, limited to 3500 numbered copies sur vélin blanc des Papeteries de Lana, this being copy 3152. Octavo (8 1/4 x 6 1/8 in; 208 x 153 mm). 200, [1], [1, blank], [3, table], [1, blank], [1, colophon], [1, blank] pp. Twelve full-page aquarelle illustrations, one of which has been inscribed by the artist to the owner. A striking abstract painted binding by Henri Duhayon of Nice, signed in gilt on the inside front turn-in: "Relié H. Duhayon, Nice." Full crushed cordovan morocco spine lettered in gilt with vividly hand-painted lacquered paper boards in a modernist all-over composition of black, yellow, orange, blue, and red brushstrokes and grid patterns, reflecting the anarchic spirit of the text. Top edge gilt. Custom painted endpapers. A superb and very fine copy in a matching leather-edged slipcase. With the following additions: An original ink and watercolor drawing by Gus Bofa, showing the riotous group of copains with their characteristic red cheeks - annotated and inscribed to the owner at foot: “Mr. Jean Francesche cordialement Gus Bofa.” An autograph letter signed (ALS) by Bofa, dated 24 November 1958, addressed to the owner, Jean Francesche, explaining the curious omission of a head in one of the illustrated characters: “Votre ‘copain sans visage’ n’a pas perdu la tête – il n’en a jamais eu- Jules Romains l’a voulu ainsi.” A tipped-in typed letter signed (TLS) by the owner, Jean Francesche, explaining how he assembled this copy after reading Romains’s Souvenirs et confidences d’un écrivain, tracing the culinary reference to Duhamel, contacting him for clarification, and engaging Bofa in a whimsical debate over the incomplete drawing. Francesche’s commentary includes typed quotes from Souvenirs, and his note concludes: “Je pense que tout cela augmente l’intérêt de ce charmant volume.” Francesche's signed ex-libris is blindstamped to the inside front cover turn-in. A remarkable object of literary friendship, bibliophilic playfulness, and aesthetic invention. First published in 1913, Les Copains is a comic and subversive novel about a group of friends - eccentric, idealistic, and absurd - who form a loosely anarchic brotherhood and perform theatrical stunts and pranks across provincial France. It stands as an early literary expression of unanimism, a theory of collective consciousness developed by Romains in the 1900s. As the New Oxford Companion to French Literature notes: “Before the war in 1914, [Romains] published- two novels, Mort de quelqu’un (1911) and the farcical Les Copains, influenced by Unanimist theories of social groups and collective psychology.” This edition, published nearly 40 years later by Le Rayon d’Or (Gallimard’s deluxe illustrated imprint), pairs Romains’s youthful anti-establishment text with twelve brilliant plates by Gus Bofa, one of France’s most original illustrators and caricaturists. Bofa, celebrated for his sardonic wit and visual improvisation, was a regular contributor to Le Rire and Crapouillot, and illustrated classic texts by Swift, Cervantes, and La Fontaine. Renowned artist Gus Bofa (b. Gustave Blanchot 1883-1968) was an illustrator for Rire and Sourire, a costume and set designer, a celebrated poster artist, and illustrator for the literary journal, Crapouillot. He soon became one of the most in demand illustrators of editions of Swift, La Fontaine, Cervantes, etc. ultimately with one hundred and seventeen volumes to his credit. French novelist, poet, dramatist, and essayist Jules Romains (pseud. of Louis Farigoule 1885-1972) was, "early in his career-associated with a short-lived artistic community, the Groupe de 'Abbaye, which published his poems, La Vie unanime, in 1908. These poems and much of his later verse and prose, were influenced by Unanimist theories of social groups and collective psychology. Before the war in 1914 he published more collections of poetry, a verse play-and two novels, Mort de quelqu'un (1911) and the farcial Les Copains [The Pals]" (New Oxford Companion to Literature in French, p. 707). Georges Duhamel's (1884–1966) experience as a surgeon during World War I produced Vie des martyrs (1917, tr. The New Book of Martyrs, 1918) and Civilisation (1918, tr. 1919). These collections of sketches are noted for their compassionate accounts of human suffering. He was successful as a dramatist; his Dans l'ombre des statues was performed in 1912 (tr. In the Shadow of Statues, 1914) and L'oeuvre des athlètes in 1920. His fiction includes two cycles of novels—Cycle de Salavin (1920–32, tr. 1936), about a sensitive eccentric, and Chronique des Pasquiers (1933–45, tr. 1937–46), about a bourgeois Parisian family. Essays in Scènes de la vie future (1930, tr. America: the Menace, 1931) and other collections reflect Duhamel's aversion to overindustrialization" (Columbia Enclyclopedia). He wrote passionately against war and its atrocities , and against the rise of Naziism. He was elected to the Académie Français in 1935. Though now largely forgotten, he is perhaps best remembered for his timeless epigram: "It is always brave to say what everyone thinks" Monod 9851. .

DUHAYON, Henri; ROMAINS, Jules; BOFA, Gus [RAYON d'OR/LIBRAIRIE GALLIMARD] - Les Coupains