La Danse de Gengis Cohn

The fourth title by Romain Gary to appear in this series.

Books in the “Collection soleil” were bound in full cloth of various colors (pink, yellow, orange, blue, green…), designed by Massin. The series reprinted backlist titles as well as newly published books. It was launched in 1957 to compete with the Club du meilleur livre (a joint subsidiary of Gallimard and Hachette): Claude Gallimard was opposed to the idea of Hachette profiting from his backlist through bound-book sales. Print runs were limited to a few thousand copies, and the launch advertisement declared: “Le soleil, dit Fontenelle, est l’orgueil des planètes. Les livres de la collection “Soleil”, tous au format in-8° soleil, seront l’orgueil de votre bibliothèque.” Thirteen titles by Romain Gary appeared in the series: Lady L., La Promesse de l’aube, Les Mangeurs d’étoiles, La Danse de Gengis Cohn, La Tête coupable, Adieu Gary Cooper, Chien blanc, Europa, Les Enchanteurs, Au-delà de cette limite…, Clair de femme, Charge d’âme and Les Clowns lyriques.

He is surpassed only by Simone de Beauvoir (14 titles), Jean Giono (16) and Henry de Montherlant (22!).