"Alfred de MUSSET - La confession d'un enfant du siècle Chez Félix Bonnaire à Paris, 1836 - Extremely rare first edition preserved at full margins on fine, almost freckle-free paper. A signature in black ink, certainly contemporary with the work, on the title pages, the two volumes have been bound in one large volume, without the covers but with the false-title pages and endpapers. Later pastiche binding, late 19th century, in green half-basane with corners, slightly sunned, slight rubbing but not serious. A very fine copy. This is probably the most moving account of the Romantic dandy's somewhat romanticized account of Musset's tumultuous relationship with George Sand, considered the archetype of passionate, romantic love. Much more than a banal autobiographical account, La confession de Musset goes much further, developing a reflection on Restoration society, analyzing the historical reasons why young people of his generation were prone to melancholy, the "mal du siècle", with a clear presence of the question of love, a theme so dear to Romanticism. This is Musset's only novel: "Je m'en vai sfaire un roman. I really want to write our story; it seems to me that it would heal me and lift my heart. I'd like to build you an altar, if only with my bones."" In-8, 321pp, 330pp Carteret, Le Trésor du bibliophile, II, 192: "A work of great rarity." / Escoffier, Le Mouvement romantique, nº 1169: "Rare."""