La Flamme au poing
One of 10 copies on Hollande paper (no. 4), the only paper besides 10 copies on Japanese paper.
Inscribed and signed: “À Madame Jean Ajalbert, l'exquise compagne d'un grand artiste et d'un grand homme de cœur, en souvenir des jours de combat où je recevais des lettres de Jean Ajalbert, si émouvantes, si belles. Et en témoignage de mes sentiments à jamais reconnaissants et dévoués, Henry Malherbe.”
Prix Goncourt, 1917. La Flamme au poing is a war novel intended as a fervent testimony to the sacrifice of soldiers. An infantry officer, Henry Malherbe wrote a text marked by patriotic exaltation and lyrical fervor, very much in tune with the spirit of resistance and wartime feeling. Although the book made less of a lasting mark than Barbusse’s Le Feu or Genevoix’s Sous Verdun, it well illustrates the jury’s wartime orientation: rewarding works that reflected the experience of combat and national unity.
The prize also helped strengthen the young publishing house Albin Michel, founded in 1902, for which this was its first Goncourt.
A rare copy from the deluxe issue, shared between 10 copies on Japanese paper and 10 on Hollande paper. Note that a further issue “for Les XX,” signed by the author, was printed on vergé d’Arches paper.
From the “Prix Goncourt” library of Gérard Pouguet, with bookplate.