Limited first edition of Sartre's theatrical work, finely bound
Morts sans sépulture.
8vo. 194, (10) pp. Finely bound in decorated grey morocco, encased in limp cardstock wrappers with leather spine label, altogether in a custom slipcase. Original wrappers bound in at front and rear, including spine.
€ 2,500.00
Limited first edition of Sartre's work, this copy numbered 1849 of 6000 and finely rebound by Véronique Sala-Vidal in 2005. The French philosopher and author Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-80) initially wrote this play in two acts in the midst of WWII, though it could not be published nor performed until after the war. Its subject matter - the torture and eventual death of most of a French Resistance group - is drawn from Sartre's own time as a prisoner of war, but even more strongly from the experience of his friends in the French Resistance, and of the senseless violence and sudden, often absurd, moments of death or salvation he witnessed or heard about during Nazi occupation.
Notably, this copy was owned by "Picard" (first name illegible) in 1980, per the dated ownership inscription on the original front free endpaper. Sartre's friend and fellow philosopher, Yvonne Picard, was more involved in the Resistance than Sartre, and after her capture by German police died at Birkenau; though unsubstantiated, it is not impossible that there is a connection to her family.
In near-perfect condition.
