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a blue book sitting on top of a white tablean old book with a drawing of a man and a woman sitting on a benchan old book with a picture of a man and a dogillustration of an old book with a picture of a man and a dog
Maître Paul PASTAUD

95 - CHERVILLE (Marquis de). The Story of a Dog Who Was Too Good.…
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Estimate €80 - €120
Sale commission
Description
CHERVILLE (Marquis de). The Story of a Dog Who Was Too Good. Illustrated by Andrieux. Paris, Bibliothèque d’éducation et de récréation, J. Hetzel, publisher, 1867. In-8 (15.7 x 24 cm) comprising 1 half-title page, 1 frontispiece, 1 illustrated title page, 222-(2) pp. Publisher’s cardboard binding. Royal blue percaline, gilt edges. Personalised gilt decoration on the front cover (wide border with corner motifs, title and central panel showing a child sitting on a reclining chair pulled by a dog) and the spine (squares); plain back cover: border and central motif. First edition, first hardback. Gaspard de Cherville, a penniless aristocrat, enjoyed – or rather, did not officially enjoy – a certain degree of literary fame as a ghostwriter for Alexandre Dumas, with whom he got on very well; he was a man of good character, passionate about hunting. Dumas’s twilight years forced him to take on numerous jobs to make ends meet, mainly hunting and nature columns for various publications. A friend of Jules Hetzel, he entrusted this story to him for publication, whilst complaining about the publisher’s stinginess. The book, whose originality lies in the fact that the narrator is a dog, was a great critical success: ‘Nothing could be simpler than this tale; nothing more cheerful or more touching. There is something of Nodier and Dumas in it’ (Les Débats). His passion for nature and animals remained with him until the end at his home in Noisy-le-Roi; he was honoured and awarded a medal by the Société Protectrice des Animaux. Rare personalised cardboard binding – not mentioned by Thiébaud – in an unusual colour.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 1 of 4 – Nos. 1 to 549
Auction location
Auction time 08/19/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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