Isabelle

A remarkable gathering of both first editions of the title, together with the special printing for Les XX and a pirated, indeed forged, issue.

The second book published by the N.R.F., a few days after Paul Claudel’s L’Otage.

It comprises:

One of the extremely rare surviving copies of the true first edition, completed on 29 May 1911;
The first public edition, corrected, published a month later;
The special printing of 20 réimposé copies for “Les XX”;
A fake-genuine faulty copy.

The first printing, of 500 copies on Arches laid paper, printed at the Presses Sainte-Catherine in Bruges, was almost entirely pulped at Gide’s request. Gide, who supervised the typesetting and printing of his books with extreme care, had noticed that ten pages had 24 lines instead of the intended 23: pages 43, 53, 55, 72, 75, 85, 94, 120, 122 and 156.

Copies of this first issue can be recognized by four features: the printing statement dated 29 May 1911, the ten incorrectly justified pages, the word “Édition” printed in the singular on the wrapper, and a floral device on the spine in place of the nrf logo. Gaston Gallimard stated that he had kept only six copies for the archives; the standard Gide bibliography estimates that about ten, perhaps slightly more, ultimately escaped destruction.

A new printing was completed on 20 June following. Almost identical in presentation, it corrects the justification errors and the missing nrf logo on the spine. It was printed in 500 copies.

We offer a “fake-genuine” copy: it is constitutionally a copy of the second issue, but a “skilful” forger produced a facsimile of the May printing statement, in order to pass it off as the faulty printing, of which only a few copies exist. Other details reveal the deception, as does close examination of the facsimile itself. It nonetheless remains an eloquent example of a “fake book”!

Finally, we complete the set with a rare printing, réimposé on large paper for the bibliophile society Les XX, produced at the time of this second issue: these copies therefore lack the distinguishing features of the first printing of 29 May. They were reserved for members, plus two hors commerce copies (for Gaston Gallimard and André Gide), and all are signed by the author. Another réimposé printing exists, an official one this time, of 50 copies on Arches laid paper, for the benefit of the NRF.

Isabelle belongs to the very beginnings of the Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue française. Together with Paul Claudel’s L’Otage and Charles-Louis Philippe’s La Mère et l’Enfant, the tale is among the first three books published under the new publishing imprint.

Talvart et Place, VII, p. 45, 28c; André Gide, Bibliothèque nationale, 1970, no. 442; Van den Abeele, “Des livres d’André Gide imprimés par les presses Sainte-Catherine,” Bulletin des Amis d’André Gide, XXXII, no. 142, pp. 200 et seq.; Vignes, 4.