L’Hôtel du Nord
Presentation copy inscribed by the author: “à monsieur Ch. Florentin de la part de Mme J. R. de Broisle, hommage de l'auteur […] E. Dabit Gand 1930 rue Paul de Kock 19.”
Mounted on the inscription leaf: a pen drawing signed Dabit on a leaf (140 x 105 mm), depicting Madame Raymonde (played by the unforgettable Arletty in Marcel Carné's film of the same name) lying on her bed in her hotel room.
L’Hôtel du Nord is first of all a novel — Eugène Dabit’s, awarded the prix du roman populaire in 1931. But in the collective memory, it is above all the wonderful film directed by Marcel Carné in 1938: sets by Trauner, dialogue by Jeanson, and unforgettable scenes played by Jouvet and Arletty. Eugène Dabit never saw any of it: he died in 1936 of scarlet fever, without having seen his novel brought to the screen. The film premiered on 10 December 1938 at the Cinéma Marivaux in Paris. Critics praised a “sunny” film, Carné’s direction, and the triumph of Arletty, propelled to stardom by a role written for her.
A precious copy with a signed drawing by the author. When the book was published, the publisher Robert Denoël, an astute businessman, persuaded Dabit to exhibit his paintings, drawings and gouaches in the basement of the Trois-Magots, at 60 avenue de La Bourdonnais. The author, who had reserved for himself the 25 deluxe copies, planned to add a gouache and a drawing to each of them, in order to sell them directly to collectors. A few additional drawings were subsequently added to other copies of the first edition.