Signed books by François Augiéras
For interested parties, including readers of my essay “A Stranger to This Planet” on the life and work of François Augiéras (1925-1971), here are some photographs and descriptions of several signed original edition copies of Augiéras’s books I’ve collected: Le Vieillard et l’Enfant (of 1950, 1958, and 1963), Le Vieillard et l’Enfant II: La méditation nocturne (1951), Le Vieillard et l’Enfant III: Un musée au Sahara (1952), Zirara (1958), Le Voyage des morts I & II (1954-1955), Le Voyage des morts (1959), and Un voyage au Mont Athos (1970). Also included are photos of an unsigned copy of Le Vieillard et l’Enfant of 1954, one of 35 printed on Bellegarde vellum.
Le Vieillard et l’Enfant (1950)
Le Vieillard et l’Enfant was first published in its entirety in 1950 by Pierre Fanlac in Périgueux. Though the book’s colophon states that it was “imprimé en belgique,” a handwritten colophon by Augiéras on another collector’s copy reads "imprimé à Périgueux / par Fanlac Editeur / fin 1950, / 100 exemplaires." Before that, beginning in 1949, Le Vieillard et l’Enfant had only been published in parts, and these were almost entirely destroyed by the author. As such, this is the true première édition intégrale of the author’s first book. It contains 138-[6] pages and bears the pseudonym Abdallah Chaanba. The original red wraparound band is still present on my copy and features a quotation from André Gide: "L'intense et bizarre joie que j'éprouve à la lecture (et relecture) de ces pages remarquables entre toutes." This quotation is also printed on the half-title.
Further distinguishing the extreme rarity of my copy is a dedication in the author’s beautiful penmanship from his address in Périgueux. Augiéras’s longtime friend Paul Placet confirmed to writer and actor Jean-Paul Cathala, from whom I acquired the book, that this was indeed Augiéras’s familial address when he arrived to “settle” in France after his years in Algeria. Only 100 copies of the first edition were printed, hors commerce and at the author’s expense; of those that survive, I am proud to possess this one.
Le Vieillard et l’Enfant II: La méditation nocturne (1951)
Printed by Imprimerie Fontas in 1951, this pamphlet is the original edition of the second part of Le Vieillard et l’Enfant. According to a letter which Augiéras wrote to Jean Boyé, this edition was printed in a run of 350 copies. A handwritten note by Augiéras on the cover of my copy marks it as containing edits made in January 1952.
Le Vieillard et l’Enfant III: Un musée au Sahara (1952)
Printed by Imprimerie Fontas in a run of 100 copies, this is the original edition of the third part of Le Vieillard et l’Enfant. My copy, dated February 1953, belonged to novelist Eric Jourdan, adoptive son of novelist Julien Green. Jourdan gave the copy to Jean-Claude Lachnitt, who had it bound by an artist. Two little gilded erotic motifs adorn the front cover.
Le Vieillard et l’Enfant (1954)
The second edition of Le Vieillard et l’Enfant was published by Éditions de Minuit in 1954, with the pseudonymous surname changed from Chaanba to Chaamba. Some call this the true édition intégrale, as it is the longest existing version of the book, expanding on what Augiéras had labeled the édition intégrale of 1950 to include Le Vieillard et l’Enfant II: La méditation nocturne and Le Vieillard et l’Enfant III: Un musée au Sahara. Like the first part of Le Vieillard et l’Enfant, these second and third parts were originally self-published pamphlets, sent around the world to various literary figures, gradually allowed Augiéras to build the notoriety necessary to be published by Éditions de Minuit. While not signed, my copy of the 1954 edition is one of only 35 numbered copies to be printed on Bellegarde vellum.
Le Vieillard et l’Enfant de 1958 (1960)
Completed in 1958, a third “Belgian” edition of Le Vieillard et l’Enfant appeared in March of 1960, printed in Périgueux by Imprimerie Fontas in a shortened form of 80 pages. In a handwritten dedication on another collector’s copy, Augiéras described the revised text thusly:
Version définitive de 1958.
75 pages seulement, mais
simples, humaines, dans le
ton juste, je crois.
Très "arabes", hurlantes
vers la fin, lisibles
I acquired a copy of this edition from Jean-François Fourcade of Librairie Fourcade in Paris. It is one of the rare copies to be printed on colored paper (yellow, blue, pink, and red) and is signed by the author—this time with the pseudonym A. Chaamba—and dedicated to Pierre des Ligneris.
Le Vieillard et l’Enfant (1963)
In 1963, Éditions de Minuit republished the revised edition of Le Vieillard et l’Enfant. I’ve acquired a copy of this edition from Christophe Champion of Librairie Faustroll in Paris. It is signed by the author and dedicated to Gisèle Julliard.
Zirara (1958)
Just 40 pages long and appearing under the Abdallah Chaamba pseudonym, Zirara is Augiéras’s second book, published in Toulouse in 1958 (actually 1959) by the literary review Structure (Hors Collection) in a limited run of only 200 copies. I acquired my copy of the original (and only) edition from David Deiss of Elysium Press in Vermont. It is in near fine condition in wrappers. As a handwritten note by Augiéras on the cover details, Zirara was published “Hors commerce, / en compte d’auteur.”
Le Voyage des morts I & II (1954-1955)
Parts of what would eventually become the novel Le Voyage des morts (1959) originally appeared in two self-published pamphlets printed hors commerce on colored paper by Imprimerie Fontas in Périgueux in 1954 and 1955. Limited to around 100 copies, Le Voyage des morts I and Le Voyage des morts II feature numerous redactions and handwritten corrections by Augiéras. My copies are stapled together to form one booklet and previously belonged to one of the author’s friends and collaborators, the artist Marcel Loth. I am proud to own one of what Augiéras called his “petits livres en couleurs,” shipped from the desert of Africa to the rest of the world.
Le Voyage des morts (1959)
The finished novel Le Voyage des morts was published in its entirety in 1959 by La Nef de Paris Éditions, again under the pseudonym of Abdallah Chaamba. This original edition, too, I acquired from David Deiss of Elysium Press. It is in very good condition in wrappers. The pages of the book remain uncut, and it appears unread. The yellow wraparound band is still present on my copy and features a quotation from René Étiemble: “Des pages admirables.” The dedication is addressed to Jacques Farny.
Un voyage au Mont Athos (1970)
Un voyage au Mont Athos was published by Flammarion in 1970 under the author’s own name. It was the last of Augiéras’s books to be published in his lifetime, as he passed away in 1971 at the age of forty-six. The dedication is warmly addressed to Augiéras’s close friend Bernard Offner from the author’s hospice in Montignac. Another acquisition from David Deiss of Elysium Press, my original edition is in very good condition in wrappers as well.
My copy includes a photograph of the author, the back of which is signed to Offner as well.
For those curious to learn more about the various editions of Augiéras’s works, self-published and otherwise, I recommend consulting the Bibliographie des écrits de François Augiéras, established by Pierre E. Richard and published by Éditions La Palourde in 2010. The book has proven invaluable to my own research.