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27 - BARBUSSE (Henri) and RENEFER (Raymond). *Le Feu* (Diary of a…
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Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
Sale commission
Description
BARBUSSE (Henri) and RENEFER (Raymond). *Le Feu* (Diary of a Squad). Illustrated with 86 engravings by Renefer and accompanied by a previously unpublished preface by the author. A superb first edition on Imperial Japanese paper, containing Renefer’s etchings with a note and a double set of woodcuts, on China and Japanese paper, in an impressive mosaic binding by Charles Lanoë. Paris, Gaston Boutitie, 1918. In-4 (260x310 mm), full midnight blue morocco, on the front cover a large mosaic composition of morocco dyed brown, blue, ecru and red, depicting a desolate landscape strewn with barbed wire, leafless trees and two crosses, with an explosion at its centre whose flames reach the letters of the title at the top of the design, whilst shards of earth or shrapnel are scattered all around; on the back cover, a machine gun embossed and set in a mosaic of taupe morocco leather, spine with 4 blind-stamped false ribs framed with the title, author and date in gold lettering, blind-stamped fillet on the edges, wide inner frame set with a strip of red morocco interspersed with geometric figures and signed "Ch. Lanoë Del. R.D.", multicoloured silk endpapers and linings, double endpapers, edges gilt on endpapers, covers and spine preserved, edged slipcase (Ch. Lanoë). 338 pages, 86 illustrations by Renefer, including 10 original etchings as inserts and 76 woodcuts engraved by Eugène d’Eté. Minor rubbing on the spine, slight foxing at the margins of some plates on China paper. First illustrated edition of the famous war narrative by Henri Barbusse (1873–1935), published in 1916 and winner of the Prix Goncourt that same year, here adorned with 86 illustrations by the painter, illustrator and engraver Raymond Renefer, a pseudonym of Jean-Constant-Raymond Fontanet (1879–1957), including 10 original etchings and 76 woodcuts engraved by Eugène d'Eté. Renefer was himself still at the front when the art publisher Gaston Boutitie asked him, in 1917, to illustrate the first edition of *Le Feu*. Precise and sincere, his illustrations provide a powerful account of soldiers’ lives in the no man’s land of war. Noël Clément-Janin wrote of this edition: ‘What matters is to see, alongside the narrative, an image as truthful as the text itself. It is, if you like, a parallel illustration, the idea for which stems from the text, but the execution of which is grounded in reality. Such an illustration could only have been created at that very moment when the fighting was still raging, by an artist at the front, with his references constantly before his eyes.” Limited edition of 314 numbered copies; this is one of the 30 first-edition copies on Imperial Japanese paper (No. 16), containing the etchings with a note and accompanied by a double set of woodcuts, on Chinese and Japanese paper. A superb copy, beautifully executed by Charles Lanoë with a striking mosaic composition on the front cover.
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About the sale Fine antique and collectible books, manuscripts and modern illustrated works
Auction location
Auction time 06/29/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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