A collection of Jewish pendants, some gold

CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand). Bagatelles pour un massacre. Paris, Denoël, [1937]. - In-8, 223 x 137: 379 pp, (2 ff. last blank), printed cover. Red half-chagrin with corners, spine ribbed, gilt head, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (binding from the second half of the 20th century). Dauphin & Fouché, 33A1. First edition of this anti-Semitic pamphlet, Céline's second after Mea Culpa published earlier that year. Bagatelles pour un massacre was written in the summer of 1937, following several disappointments for the author. It is a "composite text, mixing arguments about ballets (the pretext of the collection - these were allegedly refused by Jewish decision-makers, triggering the author's fury), a trip to Russia (under the domination of Communist Jews), a literary manifesto (in favor of Aryan spontaneity and rejecting "the convoluted" as well as "Critique") and topical stories (about the political and social reality of France under the Blum government); for the most part, it's a long, vehemently racist anti-Semitic indictment, purporting to be pacifist and constituting a veritable call to pogrom, justified in several places in the text : it responds in this way to the alleged warmongering of the Jewish community in France, hence the trailer's caustic argument: "For a good laugh in the trenches." " (André Deval, L'Accueil critique de "Bagatelles pour un massacre", Écriture, 2010). One of 440 copies on esparto, this being one of 400 placed in trade (no. 155). Copy by bookseller Louis Tschann (1893-1946), with this autograph letter signed by Céline on the first blank page: Au libraire // admirable // A l'ami // Tschann // LF Céline // à // Montparnasse The Tschann bookshop, which still exists today, was founded by Louis Tschann and his wife Marie-Thérèse Castex in Montparnasse in the late 1920s. It quickly became an institution, frequented by local writers and artists. Regulars included Henry Miller, Philippe Soupault, Louis Aragon and, of course, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, who struck up a genuine friendship with Louis Tschann, as this dedication proves. The bookseller was a fervent supporter of Céline, and was one of those who stood by his side when he was tried on June 21, 1939, following the publication of his pamphlet L'École des cadavres. Copies of the first edition of this title with dispatch, on large paper, are extremely rare. Cracking to the hinge of the first cover, some wear and tear. The front cover is unbound. Small stain on the bottom of the first leaf. Some foxing. Provenance: Louis Tschann, with a consignment from the author.