One of 50 hors commerce copies on pur fil paper — after 15 deluxe copies on Madagascar paper.
An exceptional copy belonging to Maurice Genevoix, enriched with six volumes inscribed by his fellow contributors.
The publishing house Les Étincelles, which had brought out Norton Cru’s Témoins in 1929, immediately launched an ambitious series of “Témoignages de combattants français.” Each title was to be entrusted to a different author, the spines of the volumes together spelling out the word “ÉTINCELLES.”
Only eight volumes appeared:
André Thérive, Frères d’armes
Jacques Meyer, La Guerre, mon vieux…
M. Constantin-Weyer, La Salamandre
Louis Thomas, La Gloire
Louis Guichard, La Bouée du Cliff
Jean Galtier-Boissière, Un hiver à Souchez
Gabriel Reuillard, La Prière des captifs
Maurice Genevoix, H.O.E.
This eighth volume was the last to appear; the letter it bears on its spine, like the preceding ones, is one of those meant to form the word “Étincelles.” A ninth volume, announced as Les Étoiles obscures by Henri Malherbe, never appeared.
In his contribution, Genevoix recalls the days following his severe wound of 25 April 1915, during the attack on the Tranchée de Calonne at the Butte des Éparges. The title H.O.E. refers to the Hôpitaux d’Origine d’Étapes, intermediate structures for evacuation and treatment. Genevoix was declared 80 percent disabled.
The text also describes the violence of the return to civilian life, the silence of the survivors, and the central role played by veterans’ associations: throughout the interwar period, these associations exercised considerable influence and numbered up to three million members. Apolitical, republican and free of activism, Maurice Genevoix committed himself strongly to this movement, driven solely by the wish to bear witness. Survivors of the fighting recognized themselves in his words and rallied to support him.
A very fine set.