André Gide - Les Caves du Vatican‎ [E.O. 1/64 réimposés sur vergé d'Arches] - 1914

Printed edition less than a month after the first, on the same presses of the Sainte-Catherine printing house in Bruges. Unlike the April print run, it features the usual layout and covers of the editions of the Nouvelle revue française. As such, it benefits from a limited edition, reprinted on Arches laid paper — here, number 5 of the 64 copies printed.
Softcover, cover on Japanese paper, case. Uncut margins.
Item in perfect condition. Almost new.

One of Gide's most famous books was also one of those that cost him the most to write. His project dates back to 1893, with indications about the characters beginning to appear in the Journal as early as 1905, and Gide started writing it in 1911. The work progressed slowly, as evidenced by the heavily scribbled draft. Finally, on June 24, 1913, the author confided in his Journal: 'Finished the Caves yesterday. Surely, I will still have a lot to revise after I give it to Copeau to read and after the proofs. Curious book; but I am beginning to be fed up with it and sick of it. I still don't believe it's finished, and I find it hard to stop thinking about it.' Indeed, after submitting his copy, he had to tackle it again. Copeau had read it. Read and corrected. During the summer of 1914, Gide complained: 'My best hours are spent refining the passages in the Caves that Copeau was not satisfied with; I struggle a lot with it and only manage with a tremendous nerve-racking effort.' The result would match the effort put in. For the framework of his story, Gide started from a sordid news story—a dark tale of fraud that made headlines in 1892. In Lyon, scammers had convinced overly credulous people, and to extract some money from them, claimed that Pope Leo XIII was being held prisoner by cardinal freemasons in the Vatican's cellars.

André Gide
Les Caves du Vatican
Paris, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue française, (May 12) 1914
1 volume, octavo (22.5 x 17.5 cm), of 296 pages and [4] pages.