Description

Beautiful correspondence addressed to Mr and Mrs Raoul Marchand by Emmanuel Gallut, President of the Friends of Fine Books.

Founded in the early 1930s, the bibliophile society Les Amis des Beaux Livres had a shop at 1, rue de Rome in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The intention of Emmanuel Gallut, the precise, meticulous manager and former Inspecteur des Finances, was to offer his members a selection of first editions printed on Rives à la cuve, in the form: "i.e. made one sheet at a time, each one fringed with the delicious transparent foam that gives the slice its tan volume.t of flavour". Unlike other bibliophile groups, Les Amis des Beaux Livres was exempt from any sponsorship or exorbitant membership fees. Nor did they have to receive all the works proposed by the Selection; their originality "is the optional nature of any subscription. The publisher sends proofs of the text to be published. Each of our colleagues receives a personal note containing an analysis of the work, together with a subscription form, which he or she fills in if the author, the subject, the presentation of the volume and its price are to his or her liking."
Between 1933 and 1941, under the Honorary Presidency of the Comtesse de Paris, Les Amis des Beaux-livres was able to subscribe to 219 titles which, although not avant-garde, were certainly conservative:  My Political Ideas of Maurras, The epic of the Crusades by René Grousset, Mussolini and his People by René Benjamin, Le nez Cuir, Le Centaure de Dieu, Les Manants du Roi de La Varende, The Fortune of France de Bainville or L'Escargot bleu, Le Poisson Rouge and The Indigo Turtle by Tristan Derême.
From 1937 onwards, some of the prints bore a collective mailing, the autograph signature of the author, who sometimes also delivered a "a presentation page"The choice of a double cover allowed them to print their vignette with the fleur-de-lys surmounting the initials A.B.L.. The choice of a double cover enabled them to print their vignette with the fleur-de-lys surmounting the initials A.B.L. and accompanied by their motto: Pulchritudinis et Veritatis studium foventes. 
Begun in 1936, when Raoul Marchand became a member of Les Amis des Beaux Livres, this correspondence covers seven years of the Société de Bibliophilie's activities, up until the death of its president, Emmanuel Gallut, on 4 September 1943.

• 34 typescript letters signed on Société de Bibliophiles headed paper, most with a final autograph note: Circulars reserved for members of the Amis des Beaux-Livres sent between 1936 and 1943, they list the works proposed for subscription, explaining for each the interest of the text, the importance of the author and the support for his or her ideas: "The fortunes of France, dangerously threatened by the disastrous, mad experiments already tried, experiments that Bainville foresaw and whose fatal consequences he never failed to point out! ". Emmanuel Gallut shows undisguised enthusiasm when he defends, sometimes in long tirades, the works selected, such as the Man' D'Arc de La Varende: "Finally, need I say that this book is dedicated, through the gratitude of an ageing man, to the grace, spontaneity, charming spirit and loving fatalism of the girls of his country? It's a master book!".
  A few paragraphs inform subscribers about the printing, finishing and delivery of books that have already been paid for.
• 44 signed autograph items addressed to Raoul Marchand - 36 letters and 8 cards - dealing with literary criticism of works offered to members, print runs, finishing and binding of certain copies. Much of the correspondence deals with business during the war, price increases, the closure of the shop on rue de Rome, and the maintenance of correspondence from his home in Thénac in the south-west. In August 1942, after the death of Mrs Gallut, the correspondence on grand-deuil paper took on a more intimate character, describing his state of health, his visit to the South of France, and memories of his wife.
• A printed booklet mounted on a tab - 140 x 200 mm, 12 pages - summarises the birth and history of the company and presents the forthcoming works available for subscription. Printed at the height of the occupation, it bears this autograph message: " 23 May 1942 - My dear friend, I have just signed the first copy of this leaflet which we had hoped to send to our colleagues a few weeks earlier! Alas, nothing is easy at the moment... You will not be surprised that, once this first signature had been made, I had the pleasure of reserving this first copy for you. […]"

Meetings of documents internal to bibliophile societies are uncommon.

Elegantly produced correspondence in full morocco, with a long explanatory title on the front cover.