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a book that has a picture of a man on itsomeone is holding a book with a handwritten poem on ita black book with a poem on it sitting on a white surfacean open book with a picture of a cat on itan open book with a black and white image of a cat
KÂ- MONDO / KAPANDJI MORHANGE

103 - FALLET, René. The Bicycle.
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Estimate €80 - €150
Sale commission
Description
FALLET, René. The Bicycle. Paris, Julliard, ‘Idée Fixe’ series, 1973. Narrow 12mo (21 x 10.5 cm), paperback. 122 pp. Slight scuffing. First edition accompanied by a dedication from René Fallet to his friend Pierre Onténiente: “For Pierre on four wheels, from his friend on two”. After following the 1967 Tour de France, René Fallet, together with a friend, Robert Sausa, created a pseudo-cycling race in 1968, *Les Boucles de la Besbre*, with unusual rules: breakaways were forbidden, the winner was known in advance, and stops at local pubs were compulsory. The first edition took place on 20 August 1968 and the last in 1976. Michel Audiard and Jean Carmet, amongst others, took part in this race; René Fallet won it in 1970. A special edition was held in 2003 to mark the centenary of the Tour de France and the twentieth anniversary of René Fallet’s death. Here, René Fallet pays a poetic and humorous tribute to the bicycle. “Don’t say: ‘I’ve got a bike’ – if you own a shapeless thing fitted with balloon tyres, a bell and a luggage rack, you’d make the world laugh – the marvellous world of cycling. You’ve only got a bicycle. A ‘vélo’ is a woman. A ‘bicycle’ is a ‘travelot’ in sewer-worker’s boots. It is not the horse that is man’s finest conquest, but the ‘vélo’. There are no ‘velocipedic’ butcher’s shops.” (excerpt). A precious copy signed by Fallet.
See original version (French)
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About the sale Collectors’ books for sale – First editions – Illustrated editions – Varia IV
Auction location
Auction time 11/02/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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