André Gide - Corydon [cartonnage Paul Bonet] - 1947

André Gide. CORYDON

Gallimard, Paris, 1947, (18 x 12 cm), 224 pages, publisher's decorated binding, rhodoid jacket.

Edition limited to 1,040 numbered copies on alfa paper from Papeteries Navarre, bound according to the model by Paul Bonet.

Volume in very good condition, with minimal signs of use on the packaging, interior in excellent condition, still protected by its rhodoid dust jacket.

The work caused a scandal upon its release, despite the recognition of homosexual themes in Gide's earlier works such as The Immoralist (1902).
A close friend, Paul Claudel, asked him to give up his publication before finally breaking with him.
Gide also rejected the dominant theories of his time, notably Magnus Hirschfeld's 'third sex' theory or the view of 'men-women' as presented in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.
He was more inspired by Sigmund Freud's thinking, for whom homosexuality was a natural variant, not a disease.
Corydon was translated into English by the poet Richard Howard, who received the Pulitzer Prize for his translation, and was published in the United States in 1950.
The essay is considered a courageous and pioneering plea for homosexuality, reflecting the thoughts of a writer breaking away from the moral standards of his time.