Saint-Cendre
One of 25 copies on Hollande paper (no. 13).
Saint-Cendre is the book most closely associated with the name of Maurice Maindron (1857–1911), a singular figure in the literary life of the late nineteenth century, at once a novelist, a naturalist and a specialist in ancient weapons.
In 1899 he married Hélène de Heredia, one of the three daughters of José-Maria de Heredia, thereby becoming the brother-in-law of Henri de Régnier, husband of Marie de Heredia, while Pierre Louÿs, who carried on a celebrated affair with Marie, belonged intimately to the same circle.
Published by Éditions de la Revue blanche in 1898, the novel is set in sixteenth-century France.
From the library of René Rouzaud, with his bookplate. A French poet and lyricist, his name remains associated above all with Édith Piaf, for whom he wrote the lyrics of several songs, including the celebrated La Goualante du pauvre Jean, set to music by Marguerite Monnot. His bookplate takes up the term “la goualante.”