463 - BARBEY d'AUREVILLY (Jules). *Amaïdée*. Prose poem. Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1890. In-12, [2] leaves, VII-74 pp., [1] f. Black percaline Bradel binding, author’s name in gold lettering on the spine, title in gold in the lower corner of the front cover between two gold borders (contemporary binding). Caps and corners worn; light stains on the front cover. Ex-libris bearing the initials “CB,” illustrated with a woodcock.

BARBEY d'AUREVILLY (Jules). *Amaïdée*. Prose poem. Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1890. In-12, [2] leaves, VII-74 pp., [1] f. Black percaline Bradel binding, author’s name in gold lettering on the spine, title in gold in the lower corner of the front cover between two gold borders (contemporary binding). Caps and corners worn; light stains on the front cover. Ex-libris bearing the initials “CB,” illustrated with a woodcock. Posthumous first edition, published the year following Barbey d’Aurevilly’s death, of this early work whose publication had been thwarted. Composed before 1840, when Barbey was closely associated with Maurice de Guérin, *Amaïdée* features the two writers under the names Altaï and Somegod, while the eponymous heroine was, according to Barbey, inspired by a real-life adventure. Paul Bourget notes in his preface that the only known copy of the manuscript came from Guillaume-Stanislas Trébutien, a friend and the first publisher of several of Barbey’s works. It then passed into Sainte-Beuve’s library before being dispersed during the sale of his collection; it remained untraceable for a long time before this first publication became possible. (Vicaire, I, 308; Carteret, I, 113; Clouzot, p. 40.) A curious handwritten note on the half-title page reads “too late / too early / Aurevilly,” which one might be tempted to attribute (without any conclusive evidence, aside from its delightful double meaning for a posthumous work) to Alphonse Allais, who was known for his ex-libris hoaxes, but the graphic similarities remain inconclusive.