« Le Nègre »
Accompanied by the first edition in book form, with its dust jacket. It differs considerably from this first version proposed by the illustrator, which is nonetheless quite accomplished. This copy comes from the personal archives of the illustrator, Jean Jacquelin, with the estate stamp.
The book was published by Presses de la Cité in the fall of 1957, as part of the new series of cartonnage bindings launched that same year by Sven Nielsen.
It was in the spring of 1945 that Simenon met Sven Nielsen, owner of Messageries du Livre, who aspired to become a publisher. This marked the beginning of a long and solid friendship: Simenon would publish with Presses de la Cité for the following thirty-six years. In contrast to the sober Gallimard covers, Nielsen chose to illustrate “his” author’s novels with color pictorial dust jackets. First drawn, then, from 1953, photographic, then, starting with Le Fils (1957), a return to publisher’s cartonnage covered with a dust jacket illustrated in color with a motif or stylized figure. This entire new series was created by Jean Jacquelin, until 1962, comprising twenty-seven titles:
Le Fils (1957, first-edition cover); Le Nègre (1957, first-edition cover); Strip-Tease (1958, first-edition cover); En cas de malheur (1958, reissue cover); L’Escalier de fer (1958, reissue cover); Dimanche (1958, first-edition cover); Le Président (1958, first-edition cover); Le Passage de la ligne (1958, first-edition cover); La neige était sale (1959, reissue cover); Les Témoins (1959, reissue cover); Le Veuf (1959, first-edition cover); La Vieille (1959, first-edition cover); Les Volets verts (1959, reissue cover); Une vie comme neuve (1960, reissue cover); Trois chambres à Manhattan (1960, reissue cover); Les Complices (1960, reissue cover); L’Ours en peluche (1960, first-edition cover); Le Temps d’Anaïs (1960, reissue cover); Lettre à mon juge (1960, reissue cover); La Mort de Belle (1960, reissue cover); Feux rouges (1961, reissue cover); Je me souviens (1961, reissue cover); Betty (1961, first-edition cover); Le Train (1961, first-edition cover); Les Fantômes du chapelier (1961, reissue cover); La Porte (1962, first-edition cover); Les Autres (1962, first-edition cover).
A very fine composition; a unique piece.