HU SMANS (J.-K.). Marthe. Story of a girl. Bruxelles, Gay, 1 - Lot 117

HU SMANS (J.-K.). Marthe. Story of a girl. Bruxelles, Gay, 1876. In-12, burgundy half-maroq, corners, gilt head, n.r., cons. cover and spine (Martin rel.). ORIGINAL EDITION, very rare, of Huÿsmans' first novel. Fine copy with autograph dispatch to A. Digloy, signed on the false-title, to which we have added the curious refused frontispiece, original etching by J.-L. Forain in a very rare antique proof on laid paper (M. Guérin, 12, who says: "We know of no antique proofs...", this one is however, it belonged to the poet Paul Redonnel). Printed in Brussels, part of the stock was seized at the border by the French authorities. In Les Hommes d'aujourd'hui, the author reports, speaking of himself in the third person: "Huysmans wrote a novel, the first to date, about housewives: Marthe, which appeared in Brussels in 1876 and was banned in France as an offence against morality... Marthe has since been re-released in Paris to some success. Here and there, this book contains accurate observations, and already reveals sickly qualities of style, but the language is too reminiscent, in my opinion, of Goncourt. It's an incipient book, curious and vibrant, but short, insufficiently personal."