222 - MAUROIS, André. Chateaubriand.

MAUROIS, André. Chateaubriand. First edition on Japanese paper, featuring a beautiful autographed dedication by the author to his son Gérald Maurois, in a perfect full morocco binding by Victor Granghaud. Paris, Grasset (“Le Trentenaire” collection, No. V), 1938. In-8, full red morocco, smooth spine adorned with a central gilded fleur-de-lis within an embossed medallion surrounded by gilded dots; author’s name and title in gilded letters within a wide embossed and gilded frame, covers embossed with a central medallion featuring a gilded urn with double framing—one embossed and one gilded—one of which is interrupted by corner fleurons; inner framing in the same morocco leather set with gilded fillets and the bookbinder’s full signature, textured paper endpapers and linings, gilt head, covers and spine preserved, untrimmed (binding signed V. Granghaud). 494 pp. Minimal scuffing. First edition of one of the most famous biographies by André Maurois, devoted to the figure of Chateaubriand, the foremost of the French Romantic writers but also a politician who proved to be one of the Empire’s most ardent critics. “This life, further enlivened by famous romantic adventures, is fascinating in and of itself. But it is in his portrayal of a complex, rich, and anxious personality that André Maurois’s talent truly shines. As much a psychologist as a man of letters, he knows how to lay bare the hidden workings of a soul torn by contradictions and to restore the true colors of life to the official image of the author of *Mémoires d’outre-tombe*.” (publisher’s description). A rare, out-of-print copy on Japanese paper, printed especially for Gérald Maurois (1920–1986), André Maurois’s son. It features an autographed dedication by the author to his son on the half-title page: “For Gérald, with his father’s faithful affection. André Maurois” A beautiful and touching copy, in a sumptuous binding by Victor Granghaud, the preferred bookbinder of Simone and André Maurois