André Gide - Isabelle [cartonnage Paul Bonet] - 1949

André Gide. ISABELLE

Gallimard, Paris, 1949, (18 x 12 cm), 160 pages, decorated publisher's binding, cellophane dust jacket.

Edition limited to 2,050 numbered copies on alfa paper from Papeteries Navarre, bound according to the model by Paul Bonet.

Volume in very good condition, still protected by its fragile cellophane protective cover.

André Gide wrote a work titled 'Isabelle,' which is a novel published in 1912. This story recounts the confrontation between the narrator's imagination and reality. The narrator, Gérard Lacase, experiences love at first sight upon seeing a portrait of Isabelle in an almost abandoned castle, nurturing a romantic and almost fantastical fascination with her, who becomes a nearly ghostly figure. However, this idealized image collapses when Gérard meets the real Isabelle, a woman far from the romantic figure he had imagined: she is described as a cynical adventurer with questionable morals, seeking to recover her inheritance and manipulate her family. The novel thus explores the theme of illusion and disillusion, subverting the traditional expectations of romantic storytelling.

The story is also marked by an atmosphere of a mysterious castle, where lush nature and pathways become symbols of illusions and psychological imprisonment, and where themes of desire, freedom, and captivity intertwine. 'Isabelle' questions the difference between the poetic dream and pragmatic reality, expressing the conflict between idealistic desire and the confrontation with the character's and the world's truth.

Thus, 'Isabelle' is less a romantic tribute to a woman than a reflection on romantic imagination and its limits, on the lies we sometimes tell ourselves in the pursuit of love and idealized beauty.

This work offers an in-depth psychological and symbolic dimension, characteristic of André Gide's style, blending realism, introspection, and subtle critique of romantic illusions.