Raboliot
One of the copies stamped as a press copy.
In 1913, Ernest Flammarion entrusted the literary direction of his publishing house to Max and Alex Fischer.
These two brothers, authors of fantasy novels, launched the “Select-Collection” in February 1914, a series priced at 50 centimes whose success was immediate. Each volume presented a complete novel in octavo format, printed in two columns, with covers illustrated by fashionable artists: Jacques Nam, Charles Roussel, Félix Lorioux, Henri Guillaume, among others.
Over the years, the covers evolved: initially purely illustrated, they gradually gave way to photographs reproduced in photogravure. Some volumes even appeared in double or triple format. The first series (319 titles) was interrupted by the war, resumed in 1945, and ended in 1950.
Raboliot was the first of Maurice Genevoix’s works to appear in this popular collection, here in its first two variants, brought together: the original popular edition of 1932, with its illustrated cover; and the “Nouvelle série” of 1939, with its photographic cover.
These two copies are those kept by Maurice Genevoix himself, each with his bookplate.