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the front cover of a book with red writing on itan old book with a black and white title on it
Maître Paul PASTAUD

767 - BOULENGER (Marcel). *Apologie du duel*. Paris: Société des T…
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Estimate €20 - €30
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Description
BOULENGER (Marcel). *Apologie du duel*. Paris: Société des Trente – Albert Messein, 1914. 8vo, paperback, printed cover with inlay (spine worn, a few pinholes). First edition, limited to 530 numbered copies; no. 233 of 500, printed on Arches laid paper. Interior in very good condition. “Marcel Boulenger, the consummate dandy, presents himself as an ‘old connoisseur of sport’. And the duel is, in his view, a sport practised chiefly in literary, political and sporting circles, and in ‘high society’, of course. For, in France during the Belle Époque, a man of taste is forced to resort to a duel to avoid ‘scandal and fuss’, he assures us. The nascent cinema, moreover, shows images of high-society duels on the screen. Boxing also fascinated sportsmen: dressed in their finest, they would crowd round the rings, accompanied by beautiful women. This was, admittedly, ‘very Roman Empire, very Tacitus’, notes Boulenger, who also saw in it a ‘very 1914-style picturesque scene’. Duellists and boxers would soon find other ways to channel their taste for combat.” Back cover of the 2011 reprint, *Le Bretteur*.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 2 of 4 – Nos. 550 to 1084
Auction location
Auction time 08/20/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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