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Description
CHARBONNEAU (Louis).
Mambu and his love.
Paris: René Kieffer, [1925]. — In-8, 198 x 143: (4 leaves, the first two blank), IV, 221 pp., (3 leaves, the last two blank), illustrated cover. Black half-maroquin with corner pieces, smooth spine decorated with a chequered pattern of beige and havana maroquin surrounding the gilt title in the centre, gilt head, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (René Kieffer).
A deluxe edition, published a few months after the original, of this colonial novel, winner of the Grand Prix de la littérature coloniale in 1925. It begins with a preface by Raymond Escholier, which had already appeared in the 1924 edition.
This is an autobiographical work in which Louis Charbonneau (1865–1951), a merchant and prospector, recounts ‘his marriage in the local custom’ to Mambu, a young African woman he met during his travels in Equatorial Africa, notably in the Belgian Mayumbe (now the Congo). This account, recorded in his diary, had deeply moved Raymond Escholier, who recalls his experience of reading it in his preface: ‘I still remember with emotion that summer evening when I read in one sitting the two thick notebooks that had inspired so much mistrust in me. A soul lived amongst those yellowed pages, a delicate and rare soul, that of the young Mambu (read Mambou), the little black girl who was able to reveal to a white man the mischievous dignity and smiling modesty that can be found in a woman’s heart, Mambu, who taught him to respect women, whatever the colour of their skin; Mambu, the little Black girl who ‘civilised’ a white man’ (p. II).
This illustrated edition features ‘Negro scenes’ by Jean Vergély, adorning the cover, the title page and every page of text. It also includes a full-page map, drawn by Charbonneau himself, depicting the region of the Congo where Mambu lived, inserted at the end of the book in the ‘Note on the Fiote race’.
Limited edition of 1,050 copies. This copy is one of the first 50 printed on imperial Japanese paper (no. 32).
A fine copy bound by René Kieffer.
Provenance:
V. Ducamp, with 2 bookplates.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
Claude Mozis Library – Black Africa and the African diaspora
Auction location
Auction time
10/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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