KARR Alphonse Sous les tilleuls.

Carteret, I, p. 454 (citing the present copy).

First edition.

Novelist and journalist, friend of Victor Hugo, Alphonse Karr was a writer in the Romantic vein. He was born in Paris in 1808 to a German father, a pianist and composer, and a French mother. After brilliant studies at the Collège Bourbon in Paris, he devoted some time to teaching and then, in the 1830s, led the life of the eccentric young Romantics of the time and devoted himself to poetry, hoping to earn a living from his poems. In 1832, at the age of 24, he made his literary debut with a novel whose plot was inspired by an ill-fated love affair. Originally submitted in verse to Le Figaro, the newspaper decided to publish it on condition that he rewrite it in prose. The novel alternates chapters, moving from epistolary form to third-person narrative, with titles in the Gothic alphabet. A love story with a tragic ending, ‘Sous les tilleuls’ (Under the Lime Trees) was a phenomenal success. He went on to become a regular contributor to the newspaper, but never regained the success of his first work.

This copy has an added 5 plates, engraved by Porret after drawings by Tony Johannot, a successful German-born illustrator and painter. As was customary at the time, the last engraving in the second volume depicts the tragic ending of the story. An autograph note is bound at the head of the first volume. " Monsieur le directeur, donnez moi je vous prie une place au concert de demain lundi. Vous obligerez votre serviteur Alphonse Karr, rue Cadet 6".

Very nice copy.

Provenance : Fould Rattier (bookplate).