Premier de cordée
Copy enriched with a double autograph inscription signed by Roger Frison-Roche and Irène Corday, who played Aline Lourtier in Louis Daquin's film adaptation, released in 1944:
“à Monsieur Marcel Cotillon, R. Frison-Roche,” countersigned “Aline, Irène Corday.”
First published in 1941, Premier de cordée takes the reader into the world of the Chamonix mountain guides. After the death of Jean Servettaz, struck by lightning on the mountain, his son Pierre takes part in the expedition sent to recover his body. A fall leaves him prone to vertigo and jeopardizes his vocation as a guide: the novel then recounts his struggle against fear, in which the friendship and solidarity of the rope party play a central role. A book that captivated generations of readers.
Frison-Roche drew on his own experience as a guide and his intimate knowledge of the Chamonix milieu to write this novel. The gestures of the trade, the dangers of climbing, and the bonds between men give the narrative its authenticity, beyond mere adventure.
The double inscription here brings together the author and one of the leading actresses of the film that helped bring his work to a wider audience.