Description

FIRST EDITION whose real author is Jean de Tinan.
ONE OF 10 NUMBERED COPIES ON HOLLANDE.
Publisher's copy of which part of the mailing has been erased but which can be guessed.

AUTOGRAPH SIGNED LETTER:

"To Henri Simonis Empis
Old friend
young publisher
Yours affectionately
Henry Gauthier-Villars

"Jean de Tinan (1874-1898) entered the literary world in a way that was not entirely unusual for an era of rapid industrial expansion. He was introduced to the novel and began his career as a writer by attending one of the most famous writing workshops of the fin-de-siècle. Monsieur Willy, in other words Henri Gauthier-Villars (1859-1931), Colette's husband. More than just a workshop, the Villars publishing house was a production factory that never stopped publishing novels, relentlessly exploiting many young authors in need or in search of success. One of these young 'up-and-comers' was Jean de Tinan, who helped to feed Willy's stable and his finances by hastily writing two well-paid novels: Mistress of Esthetes (1897) and Un Vilain Monsieur ! (1898), constructed entirely in the form of chronicles and paintings of the Tout-Paris of the Belle Époque".
Fabrizio Impellizzeri, Jean de Tinan, a 'negro' writer in the shadow of WillyIn: Fin-de-siècle novelists, Brill, 2020.

A fine copy signed Pierre Lucien Martin.