La Gloire de l’Empire

In 1971, Jean d’Ormesson published his sixth novel with Éditions Gallimard. While his first five had met with only a succès d’estime — though Au revoir et merci (1966) would later gain lasting recognition — d’Ormesson, not yet a member of the Académie française, won over both the public and the most demanding critics with La Gloire de l’Empire.
The novel centers on a fictional emperor, Alexis, who fights off invaders. For this remarkably successful feat of imagination, d’Ormesson received the Académie française’s Grand Prix du Roman and genuine literary recognition, later declaring in 2015 that “La Gloire de l’Empire changed my life.”

A fine copy of the first printing, presented to Georges Charensol, one of the founders of the Prix Renaudot in 1925 — he would remain on its jury until 1984, the longest tenure ever held in that position. A distinguished literary and film critic, he is especially remembered for his participation in the radio program “Le Masque et la Plume,” where he and Jean-Louis Bory formed a celebrated duo from 1964 to 1979, skillfully alternating between good faith and provocation.

In 2012, François Morel even brought their exchanges to life, staging an adaptation of some of their sparring matches in a show entitled Instants critiques.