BERALDI (Henri) - Lot 35

BERALDI (Henri) One hundred years in the Pyrenees. Paris, 1898-1904. 7 volumes, large in-8; title vignettes by Charles JOUAS. Edition of 300 copies. Minor foxing. Autograph letter from Henri Beraldi to Félix Garrigou. A note states "On the death of Professor Garrigou in 1920, the 4 volumes were purchased by Dr. Armand Sarramon". ½ marbled basane with later corners, spine ribbed, gilt title and tomaisons, gilt heads, publisher's covers preserved. A good copy. First edition of the essential history book, the first to be acquired by every serious bibliophile. It reads like a novel, and its style is inimitable: lively, incisive, devilishly humorous, it takes him less than two sentences to bury the writers he doesn't like, but when he likes, he doesn't count. The 1977 reprint by Les Amis du Livre Pyrénéen is a credit to Beraldi's quality of editing.