CHATEAUBRIAND (François-René de). MEMOIRES D'OUTRE-TOMBE. Pa - Lot 37

CHATEAUBRIAND (François-René de). MEMOIRES D'OUTRE-TOMBE. Paris, Eugène et Victor Penaud, 1849-1850. 12 volumes in-8, half-basane, smooth spine decorated with fillets (period binding). First edition of one of the most important texts in French literature. Chateaubriand had died on July 4, 1848; having "mortgaged" his tomb by selling his memoirs to a limited company in return for a life annuity of 12,000 francs, the press published them in serial form. The Penaud brothers began their edition, which alone is the original, in January 1849, and completed it in October 1850. This copy is complete with the list of subscribers, the letter from Chateaubriand to H.L. Delloye, the foreword and the pagination error in volume 2. Scattered, sometimes pronounced foxing, marginal ink stain on 2 leaves, minor wear to bindings, spines uniformly faded. Ex-libris René Etienne. (Escoffier no. 1833) (Clouzot, p. 66).