64 - BÉNÉZET, Mathieu. *Votre solitude*.

BÉNÉZET, Mathieu. *Votre solitude*. First edition on Holland paper. Copy No. 1, featuring a beautiful autographed dedication by the author and a letter to his muse and partner, Olga. Paris, Seghers, 1988. In-8, paperback, cover printed in black and red, uncut. 137 pages. Minimal wear at the bottom and slight yellowing at the top. First edition. Limited run of 10 copies on Holland paper; this is copy No. 1. A superb autographed copy, signed by the author to his wife Olga Bénézet (1946–2013) on the half-title page, dated June 1988: “For you, my darling, for you Olga, O L, O, every word and every letter on these pages that I wrote beside you, before your eyes, and in your absence when you were working at that damn deli [...] ah, how I still love you with that same love—and even greater, more open, more blossoming—darling, for you, Olga.” It also includes: - a love letter addressed to Olga (1 handwritten page, in-4 format, in blue pen) - a letter from Gallimard rejecting the manuscript due to “pretentiousness in form or vocabulary, and at times a tendency toward superficiality,” despite “some fine moments” and “obvious talent” (1 typewritten letter, quarto size, on Éditions Gallimard letterhead, dated January 14, 1987, with mailing envelope). - an 8vo booklet containing two issues of the poetry monthly *Zuk*, published by Éditions Spectres Familiers (Issue No. 6 featuring *Giudecca* by Édith Dahan and Issue No. 1 devoted to Fouad Gabriel Naffah) - several dried petals and flowers preserved between the pages, 2 original drawings on tracing paper depicting the author, an original photograph, a newspaper clipping with a photograph of the author, various tickets, receipts, or international travel documents (receipts in the Soviet Cyrillic alphabet, stamped transit tickets). A very fine copy.