Honoré de Balzac / André Dignimont - Le Colonel Chabert [1/250 sur vélin] - 1924

A beautiful edition of Colonel Chabert's work, and the first illustrated book by André Dignimont, featuring fine wood engravings in the text and a frontispiece. Printed in Paris for the Bibliophiles du Palais in 1924.

Limited edition of only 250 copies, this one number 115 printed for Mr. Paul Quenescourt. On fine paper (vellum?).

A pristine copy. Paperback, with printed cover, slipcase and cardboard box with title label affixed to the spine of the slipcase. The double box is slightly worn, rubbed, and faded. Interior is immaculate. The engravings have excellent contrast and the paper is bright white.

The work was first published in 1832, then in its definitive form in 1844. It is one of the major novels in Balzac's vast Human Comedy. It is a portrait of the eponymous character, somewhere between a short novel and a novella, which pays homage to Napoleon I's "old guard."

Hyacinthe Chabert, a colonel in Napoleon I's Imperial Army, was left for dead at the Battle of Eylau in 1807. But he was actually in a cataleptic state and, upon awakening, discovered to his horror that he was buried in a pit. Having managed to escape, he faces a daunting struggle: he must prove he is still alive and try to recover everything he has lost.

André Dignimont was a French illustrator, painter and engraver, born on August 22, 1891 in Paris where he died on February 4, 1965. “Notable figure of Montmartre”, he is renowned for his prints and light illustrations devoted to feminine beauty.

Honoré de Balzac / André Dignimont
Colonel Chabert
Paris, For the Bibliophiles of the Palace, 1924. In-4, 96 pp + 4f list of subscribers.