SAINTE-BEUVE. Livre d'amour. P., Imprimerie de Pommeret et G - Lot 160

SAINTE-BEUVE. Livre d'amour. P., Imprimerie de Pommeret et Guénot, 1843. In-12, red morocco, blue morocco lining, framed with wide lace, marbled paper endpapers and double endpapers, gilt head, untrimmed, slipcase (Armand). ORIGINAL EDITION of these poems addressed by Sainte-Beuve to Madame Victor Hugo, published anonymously and not put on the market, the author having destroyed a large number of copies to avoid certain indiscretions in Victor Hugo's entourage, copies have always been very rare and highly sought-after. A PRECIOUS EXEMPLAIRE BY POULET-MALASSIS, with his bookplate, in a superb binding by Amand, Baudelaire's and Poulet-Malassis's usual bookbinder, making this the finest copy known. It is mentioned in the Guide du libraire-antiquaire by Beauchamp and Rouveyre. From the libraries of Poulet-Malassis (bookplate, cat. no. 436), Detaille, Parran (1921, no. 623), Ripault (I, 1924, no. 195), Maurice Loncle (1963, no. 194) and Jean Réande (1984, cat. no. 284). Bibliography: Vicaire, VII, 128; Carteret II, 296 (inaccurate description).