Claire (1931) by Jacques Chardonne, winner of the Grand Prix du Roman from the Académie française, explores the decline of a passionate love, haunted by the fear of aging and the passage of time. This psychological novel, which marks the apex of the author's refined style, depicts the reclusive and tragic life of a bourgeois couple confronting inevitable decline.
Critics unanimously praise Chardonne's delicate writing, his chiaroscuro technique, and his subtle analysis of the fatality of love, haunted by the fear of loss and time.
Jacques Chardonne, born Jacques Boutelleau (1884–1968), was a major French writer and publisher of the 20th century. Recognized for his fluid, subtle, and analytical style, he remains a complex figure in literary history due to his political affiliations during World War II.
Chardonne is often referred to as "the novelist of the couple." His narratives delicately explore the psychology of love, marital disillusionment, and the customs of the upper bourgeoisie.
On the art of bookbinding: By juxtaposing these two leaves on the cover of the book, the binder has materialized the meeting of two opposing worlds: the tree of our Western forests (Claire's secret in Fontainebleau) and the exotic latex tree (Jean's life in the Far East). It is the union of these two essences that creates the harmony of the couple, before time and the obsession with decay come to wither their happiness.
Trees play a crucial and symbolic role in Jacques Chardonne's novel Claire. It directly echoes the two settings and the two botanical universes that structure the destiny of the two main characters: the Fontainebleau forest and the rubber plantations in the Far East.
Editions L'Edition d'art H. Piazza
1938
Format 14*20 cm, 221p
One of 150 copies on Van Gelder Dutch paper with a black suite of illustrations
Adorned with delicate colored illustrations by Berthold Mahn
Spectacular mosaic full morocco binding
Front cover adorned with 2 raised leaves
and a set of interconnected gilded fillets symbolizing the wind
Doubled endpapers in tawny morocco
Gilded top edge
Very delicate bookmark
Covers preserved
Condition
Very beautiful bibliophilic work with slight signs of use
rubbing on the edges
slight rubbing on spine caps
Fresh interior
Note that the bookmark has bled onto the page edge, yellowed discharge.
slight foxing on the first black illustration page
