139 - [LITERATURE] - BÉRANGER, Pierre-Jean de

[LITERATURE] - BÉRANGER, Pierre-Jean de Complete Works and Biographical Writings Paris, Garnier Frères, 1858–1869, 8 volumes Large 8vo. Contemporary bottle-green half-maroquin binding. Spine with 5 gold-beaded raised bands, decorated with gold-embossed panels and fleurons. Double gold fillet decorating the covers. Gilded head. Scuffs, small areas of leather wear. Scattered foxing, mostly on the edges. A monumental and definitive collective edition by the Garnier Frères publishing house, constituting a major iconographic and literary collection of the 19th century, here complete and uniform in 8 volumes. This precious collection, which brings together the poetic, musical, and biographical legacy of the famous national songwriter, is rigorously organized according to the following structure: 1. *Ma Biographie*, Paris, Garnier Frères, 1858. 1 volume. A posthumous work written by Béranger himself. The commemorative illustrations include a frontispiece portrait of Béranger engraved on steel by Sandoz after a work by Ary Scheffer, as well as a series of inset plates engraved on steel by Pauquet and Charlet, retracing the major stages of his life (his birth in Paris, his stay in Péronne, his trials, and his imprisonments). 2. Correspondance de Béranger, Paris, Garnier Frères, n.d. [c. 1860]. 4 volumes. Collected, organized, and annotated methodically by Paul Boiteau. These volumes combine scholarly commentary with the text itself; Volume I opens with a fold-out facsimile insert reproducing an autograph letter written in the author’s own hand. 3. Chansons de Béranger, Paris, Garnier Frères, 1869. 2 volumes. The complete collection of his poetic and satirical works. These volumes derive significant artistic value from their impressive series of inset illustrations on heavy paper, protected by protective strips, drawn by the greatest Romantic painters (Charlet, Tony Johannot, Raffet, Grandville, Daubigny, Sandoz, Lemud, Pauquet, Jacques) and faithfully engraved on steel plates by the century’s most virtuosic engravers (Durand, Langlois, Massart, Lalaisse, Cousin, and the Geoffroy brothers). 4. Dernières Chansons de Béranger (1834–1851), Paris, Garnier Frères, n.d. [c. 1860]. 1 volume. The final collection published in accordance with the author’s last textual wishes, containing Béranger’s historical preface. This volume continues the series’ illustrations with steel engravings executed by the same team of Romantic draftsmen and engravers (including Charlet, Johannot, and Lemud, engraved by Geoffroy). Also included: *Œuvres de Béranger*, Brussels-Liège, Riga, 1844. In-8°. Period bottle-green glazed half-calf. Spine with four raised bands decorated with arabesques and gilt lettering. Normal wear and scuffing. Foxing. Belgian pirated collective edition. The volume is adorned with a frontispiece title page and a series of 54 densely illustrated engravings as separate plates. Grandville’s satirical, ironic, and often anthropomorphic style blends wonderfully with the republican, anticlerical, and rebellious spirit of the national satirist. Set of 9 volumes.