Nominative copy printed for Maurice Genevoix (no. II), justified in ink.
This is the fifth illustrated edition of Raboliot, published by Éditions Rombaldi, founded in 1932 by Toussaint Rombaldi and specializing in bibliophile reissues of classic and contemporary texts, produced with the collaboration of renowned artists (Chimot, Lobel-Riche, Chahine, Marquet, and others). The illustrations are by Pierre Gandon (1899–1990), a student at the École Estienne, trained in engraving by Antoine Dezarrois (also the teacher of Albert Decaris), and later admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the age of twenty-two he won the Grand Prix de Rome for engraving, followed in 1926 by the Prix de la Ville de Paris.
A virtuoso draftsman, Gandon is especially famous for his postage stamps, which he began designing in 1941 and continued under the Fourth Republic — his portraits of Marianne and Pasteur remain iconic. He went on to a long career in interpretive engraving and philately, also illustrating numerous books.
In this edition of Raboliot, his delicate watercolors bring a bucolic, stylized touch to Genevoix’s novel, well suited to the taste of the Rombaldi editions.
From the library of Maurice Genevoix, at “Les Vernelles” (bookplate).