
Gustave Flaubert, Correspondance. Première Série (1830-1850). Paris: G. Charpentier & co, 1887. 348 pp. 18,5 x 12,5 cm. Edition originale.
Flaubert, Correspondance. First edition of the first volume.
First edition of the first volume (of a series of 4 in total) of correspondence published by Caroline Commanville, niece of Flaubert, after Flaubert's death in 1880.
Condition
Half-leather binding with four raised bands. Leather spine, headcap, and joints in very good condition. Covers in very good condition, with lower edges showing slight edgewear. Left corner of back cover is slightly bumped.
Original paper covers present. Upper left corner of paper back cover chipped (see pictures). An oily stain is visible on the upper corners of pages 137 to 256, confined to the unprinted margins.
This copy contains numerous pencil annotations by Edmond Ledoux, curator of Flaubert’s personal library at Canteleu.
An intriguing copy of the first volume from the first edition of Flaubert’s Correspondance.
Ex Libris Lucien Andrieu
From the collection of Lucien Andrieu (1905-1984), president and secretary of 'Les amis de Flaubert'. Contains two of Andrieu's bookplates, one general bookplate 'Ex Libris Andrieu. Libris / Ferro. Rouen' and one of Andrieu's Flaubert collection: Ex libris. Bibliothèque Flaubertienne. (Lucien) Andrieu was the secretary of 'Les amis de Flaubert'. He lived rue de Lourdines 1 in Rouen.
Annotations by Edmond Ledoux, curator of Flaubert's personal library
According to an inscription signed L.A (Lucien Andrieu) on the flyleaf, the book contains annotations by Edmond Ledoux (1962). Ledoux was the curator of Flaubert's personal library at Canteleu. In a 1953 article in Le Monde, Ledoux is described as an erudite who knows all the details of Flaubert's work and life: 'Son conservateur, M. Edmond Ledoux, est un flaubertiste érudit auquel aucune des particularités de la vie et de l'œuvre de l'auteur de Madame Bovary n'a échappé. Son esprit orné se promène à l'aise parmi ces merveilles, et de ces promenades spirituelles il rapporte toujours quelque fructueuse glane. Je l'ai suivi dans une de ses randonnées, trop brève à mon gré'.
Originally from Rouen, Ledoux got to know Franklin-Grout, the second husband of Caroline Commanville, when working as a notary intern. During his internship, he developed a lifelong passion for Flaubert and his work.
At a later stage, Ledoux managed to bring back Flaubert's personal library, which had been offered to the Institut de France by Franklin-Grout's widow, to Rouen, if only as a deposit. He had also inventoried and dated Flaubert's correspondence offered to the Institut de France by his niece.
Ledoux also features in Julian Barnes's Flaubert's Parrot.