92 - CÉLINE, Louis-Ferdinand. *From One Castle to Another*.

CÉLINE, Louis-Ferdinand. *From One Castle to Another*. First edition on pure-thread vellum (No. 52) with its original covers preserved, in a lovely binding by Werner Wirz. Paris, Gallimard NRF, 1957. In-8, duck-blue half-maroquin bound with blind-stamped and dotted gold fillets; spine with raised bands highlighted by dotted gold and framed with blind-stamped decoration; two green and gold fleurons in intaglio between the bands; author’s name and title in gold lettering; covers lined with light gray paper, linings and endpapers of sea-green paper, covers and spine preserved (binding by W. Wirz, Lausanne). 313 pages. Spine faded, paper on covers slightly soiled. First edition of the first installment of Céline’s famous “German trilogy,” to be followed by *Nord* and *Rigodon*, marking the writer’s return to favor on the French literary scene after years of ostracism due to his anti-Semitism and his past as a collaborator. The novel recounts his life in Sigmaringen, where the Vichy government in exile and numerous collaborators took refuge, fleeing political purges and the advance of General Leclerc’s army. One of 158 numbered copies on Lafuma-Navarre pure-fiber vellum (No. 52), following only 45 copies on Dutch vellum. An ex-libris label by Alvaro Balazza on the endpaper and on the back of the cover. A very fine copy in a signed binding.