Mérimée - Collection Romantique - 1930

THE FATAL LOVE AND THE FANTASTIC: A MASTERPIECE OF FRENCH ROMANTIC LITERATURE
A precious Paris edition from the 1930s that gathers three of Prosper Mérimée's most celebrated and intense works: La Vénus d'Ille, La Double Méprise, and Les Âmes du Purgatoire. Published within the renowned "Collection Romantique" by Éditions Nilsson of Paris, the volume unites the author's refined psychological and fantastic prose with the unmistakable visual style of the famous Italian illustrator Roberto La Boccetta, active in the vibrant Parisian art scene of the early twentieth century. The specimen constitutes a perfect fusion between great nineteenth-century literature and the cultivated editorial taste of interwar France.
REASONS FOR COLLECTING
• Exquisite edition of the "Collection Romantique" by Éditions Nilsson.
• Splendidly illustrated by the renowned artist Roberto La Boccetta, famed for his elegant and sinuous style.
• Contains three cornerstones of French romantic and fantastic fiction.
• Fascinating testimony to Parisian publishing of the 1920s/30s.
• A sought-after volume for collectors of French literature, illustrated books of the twentieth century, and lovers of period bindings.

MARKET VALUE
Nilsson's editions of the "Collection Romantique", especially those illustrated by prominent artists like La Boccetta, maintain stable interest on the antique and hobbyist markets. For copies in good condition with period or well-preserved editorial bindings, the commercial value generally ranges between 200 and 300 euros, depending on the freshness of the interior and the condition of the binding.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Period half-leather binding in dark brown, with boards covered in marbled paper. Spine with titles and raised bands stamped in gold, some signs of age on the headcaps and hinges. Paper uniformly browned with time. In old books, with a multi-century history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (6); 184; 4nn; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
La Vénus d'Ille. La Double Méprise. Les Âmes du Purgatoire.
Paris, Éditions Nilsson, 1930.
Mérimée, Prosper.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Éditions Nilsson brought to life, between the 1920s and 1930s, the "Collection Romantique", a successful line aimed at reviving the masterpieces of nineteenth-century French literature in accessible yet carefully designed formats in terms of typography and ornamentation. In this volume, Mérimée's mysterious, gothic, and psychological atmospheres (notably the uncanny masterwork La Vénus d'Ille) find a perfect visual counterpart in Roberto La Boccetta's plates. His illustrations, characterized by soft geometric lines and Deco hints, reinterpret nineteenth-century romanticism in a modern and sophisticated light, typical of the mature Belle Époque and the Roaring Twenties.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Prosper Mérimée (Paris, 1803 – Cannes, 1870) was one of the greatest French writers, historians, and archaeologists of the 19th century. An undisputed master of the novella and short story, he managed to combine formal rigor and archaeological study with a taste for mystery, exotism, and psychological drama. Famous worldwide for having written Carmen (from which Georges Bizet derived the famous opera), Mérimée explored like no other the theme of the intrusion of the supernatural into everyday life and the most destructive human passions.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
This edition was printed in Paris around 1930. The Nilsson printing house distinguished itself by broad circulation of illustrated classics, widely loved by the international bourgeois public for the excellent balance between the quality of the illustrations and editorial care. The volumes of this series were sold both in paperback and ready for rebinding by individual buyers, as in the case of this specimen.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
• Catalogue général de la Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).
• WorldCat, Record of the edition "Collection Romantique" (Éditions Nilsson, 1930).
• Vicaire, G., Manuel de l'amateur de livres du XIXe siècle (for the context of the original work).