Lettrines — Lettrines 2

*Antidotes* brings together Eugène Ionesco’s polemical, autobiographical and literary reflections spanning more than fifteen years and provides an important key to the thought underlying his theatre. Most of the texts had first appeared in periodicals between 1961 and 1976 before being collected here in book form. Ionesco attacks ideological rigidity, political orthodoxies and collective conformity, while equally resisting attempts to reduce the human condition to purely social explanations. Art, culture, freedom and the metaphysical uncertainty of existence recur throughout the volume. His characteristic distrust of slogans and fossilised language assumes an explicitly polemical form in these essays. Gallimard’s collective first edition also includes an exceptionally restricted deluxe issue of only 25 copies on Arches Arjomari-Prioux wove paper, the sole large-paper issue. This copy is number 8 and is preserved in very good condition, making it a particularly desirable example of the edition.

A remarkable copy of *Ariane*, published in the *Les Cahiers Nouveaux* series, inscribed with a poetic and enigmatic message by Ribemont-Dessaignes to Jacques Matarasso. This deluxe Japan paper edition was elegantly rebound in 1994 by Georges Leroux, in a restrained style that echoes the work’s Dadaist spirit.

Julien Gracq’s debut novel, issued by José Corti, sets a gothic castle on the Breton coast as the stage for a charged, almost dream-logic encounter between three figures. The prose is musical and image-rich, favouring symbolic landscapes and metaphysical weather. Born near Surrealism yet distinctly independent, the book establishes Gracq’s lucid enchantment from the start. For bibliophiles this is a key title: an early Corti publication, scarce in appealing condition, and the opening note of a major twentieth-century voice. Its limited print-run and initially slow reception add to the sense of discovery. This copy is on publisher’s stock.

First volume in the Préférence series: a focused encounter between Dominique Fourcade and Pierre Buraglio. The Imprimerie nationale produced an exemplary typographic edition on Rives wove, limited to 100 copies signed by both. Buraglio “illuminates” the book with spare, hand-made interventions—strokes, contours, accents—that let the page breathe. The plain wrappers in a sturdy case stress the workshop feel. This copy bears a presentation to Jacques Dauchez, adding a vivid bibliophilic provenance. A scarce, exact book where typography, gesture, and poetry hold each other in balance.