La Petite Illustration (January 1938-September 1939, issues #852-934, 4 vols.)

Paris: L'Illustration, 1939. Hardcover. VG- (Page margins are tanning naturally; text and illus. are clear.). CAVE. 4 vols. Green library buckram, gilt letters on spines, various paginations, BW illus. Text is in French. A four-volume bound set representing the last 82 issues of the publication of "La Petite Illustration," a weekly art supplement distributed with L'Illustration, a weekly Parisian newspaper. This periodical ran from 1913-1939, and appears to have ended with the war's encroachment on Paris. Its parent paper stopped publication in 1944. This ground-breaking supplement published plays, novels, and poetry, and often was the first or only outlet to do so. In this lot, you will find the scripts for Shakespeare's "Othello," adapted by Jean Sarment (#881), and Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac" (#905), among many other plays. #919 is an issue of poems. Novellas include French versions of Pearl S. Buck's "Le Tigre" (#901), James Hilton's "Au Revoir, Monsieur Chips!" (#913); and Hamlin Garland's "Le Vagabond" (#921). Serialized novels include: "Anne-Jeanne" by Gaston Rageot (#857-859); "L'Epaisseur d'un Cheveu (A Hair Divides)" by Claude Houghton (#873-875); "Marcus Fleurette" by Lucie Delame (#884-886); "La Double Escapade" by G. A. Birmingham (#892-894); "La Cendre Chaude" by Henry Bordeaux (#908-910); "La Vallee Perdue" by Noelle Roger (#915-197); "Danse Pour ton Ombre!" by J. H. Louwyck (#931). Contemporary pieces include "Le Peril Exterieur: L'Hitlerisme" (#895); "Le Peril Interieur: Le Communisme" (#897); and "La Defense Passive: Protection des Populations Civiles contre les Attaques Aeriennes" (#927). An uncommon find, to be sure.