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an old book with a piece of paper on top of it next to a piece of paper with a piece of writing on itan old book with a picture of a man and a womanan open book with a black and white drawing of a streetan open book with a picture of a cat on itan open book with a poem written in french on top of ita open book with a picture of a bird on itan open book with a drawing of trees on itan open book with a picture of a cat on itan open book with a picture of an octopus on itan open book with a drawing of a cross on itan open book with a picture of a group of people in the backgroundan old document with a poem written on it sitting on a tablea book with a picture of a man and a woman on itan old document with a poem written on it sitting on top of a table
KÂ- MONDO / KAPANDJI MORHANGE

211 - JAMMES, Francis and BONFILS, Robert. Epitaphs.
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Estimate €100 - €150
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Description
JAMMES, Francis and BONFILS, Robert. Epitaphs. First edition of this collection by Francis Jammes, illustrated by Robert Bonfils with 24 woodcuts. Our copy is enhanced by a dedication from the author and contains a typewritten epistolary elegy in verse addressed to his friend Charles de Bordeu. Paris, published by l’Art Catholique, 1921. Large 8vo, paperback, covers illustrated with woodcuts. 47 pp., 24 monochrome woodcuts, including a two-tone frontispiece and those on the covers. Two small tears on the spine; covers slightly browned, as is often the case; a reddish stain between the front endpaper and the first white flyleaf. First edition of this collection of epitaphs in verse by Francis Jammes (1868–1938), illustrated by Robert Bonfils (1886–1971) with 24 woodcuts, including a frontispiece. Limited edition of 1,175 copies; this is one of the 1,100 numbered copies printed on Lafuma pure-fibre laid paper (no. 799). Our copy is enhanced by a handwritten note from the author (pen, smudged grey ink, loose cursive script) reproducing one of the epitaphs from the collection (p. 45): “Against the cross stood the weeping mother”. A typewritten epistolary elegy addressed to his friend Charles de Bordeu and signed “Francis Jammes – 22 May 1924 Hasparren” is also included in this volume, along with a copy of it (in black ink). Charles de Bordeu (1857–1926) lived not far from Francis Jammes, who was based in Hasparren in the Basque Country from 1921 until his death. This poem, which celebrates the friendship between the two men of letters, was published in a magazine two years later, the year of Charles de Bordeu’s death. “My dear friend, on that day when the sun scorched the terrace Whilst the harvest slumbered in the height of July, When the quail, motionless amidst the millet, No longer feared the dog that the leaden air harrassed [sic], Here it is rising once more, this fine day, Here it is rising at last in our memories After more than thirty years, yet in all its glory, In all its duration and all its love. The door opens to the wind blowing from the grave; Your mother enters, as if bearing some black torch, And her silver hair illuminates your manor Where, from the top of the bell tower, the turtledoves fall. O Blessing; when the dining room Showed me, upon its walls, your grandeur and your ruin, Mingling the names of kings with the clamour of the bells, And adorned only with orange trees. O my brother, dearest of my brothers; You gave me your bread, you gave me your salt, Your salt shone as brightly as the rainbow, Your bread tasted of the earth’s virtues. The door opens once more. The first shadow has fled, but I see appear, Beneath the white quince tree that kissed your window, She who gave you her tears and her Faith. Ah, tell me if I was able, when twilight Spread over Abos, to draw from your old well Water clearer and purer than today Our shared friendship in those bygone days. To people like you, one cannot give: What one might give them, they themselves bring to us; But let me cast upon the soul of a dead woman The lilies that once greeted her newborn child.” A touching copy.
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About the sale Miscellaneous Books
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Auction time 07/06/2026 at 2:00 PM
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