GRACQ, Julien. Autour des sept collines. Paris, José Corti, 1988.
In-8 (186 x 122 mm), 147 pp., (2) ff. Black half-maroquin, smooth spine, author and title stamped in gold, fancy endpapers (Poupelin).
First edition, with a letter from the author. A precious Association copy to the French journalist, literary critic and television presenter: ‘To Bernard Pivot / ’... the marriage of the palm tree / with the buildings of the district / des Terres. / in excellent memory of / our meeting / Julien Gracq".
Julien Gracq, whose real name was Louis Poirier, was a tutelary figure of French literature, but he always kept his distance from the Parisian literary scene. This beautiful handwritten account, addressed to Bernard Pivot, the great transmitter of contemporary literature on television, is all the more significant given Gracq's habitual rejection of the limelight.
