Monsieur des Lourdines
Signed presentation inscription: “à Monsieur Tramoy, en témoignage de ma grande sympathie littéraire. Alphonse de Chateaubriand. Paris le 10 octobre 1911.”
Alphonse de Chateaubriant’s first novel, Monsieur des Lourdines brought him sudden fame. The Goncourt jury’s choice honored a novel written in a neo-classical vein, turned toward the provincial soil, evoking the France of the Belle Époque. This success, confirmed by numerous reprints, earned Chateaubriant a solid literary reputation, before his name was later tarnished by his political compromises under the Occupation.
This title also marked a decisive step in the history of French publishing: Monsieur des Lourdines was the first Prix Goncourt published by Bernard Grasset, a young publisher who had only just founded his house in 1911; this success brought him immediate publicity and launched a publishing venture destined to dominate much of the century.
A superb copy in wrappers, in as-new condition.