Collection: Histoire du XIXe siècle

Victoria's Century, Jacques Chastenetis an original edition from the collection, one of 50 numbered copies on pure Lafuma laid paper, dedicated to Victorian England as seen by a French historian. Another profile: Memoirs of General Marquis Alphonse d'Hautpoul, Estienne Hennet de Goutel, also an original edition, in which the author recounts the military campaigns of his ancestor. The 19th century thus combines two categories that we systematically distinguish in our descriptions: numbered luxury editions, intended for collectors, and memoirs or accounts by witnesses, where the interest lies in the historical content as much as in the materiality of the copy. The period also covers colonial expansion, from the expedition to Algiers to the first conquests, an area extended in our shelves by biographies of figures like Lyautey, and which we document with the same bibliographic rigor as imperial biographies. Laid paper and original edition are the most useful technical benchmarks for reading a description of this collection. historycovers all periods; 20th century historyextends the narrative to the two world wars.

They are dated testimonies, to be read as such: they reflect the author's point of view and era, not a neutral history. We indicate in the description when the text carries a marked ideological charge, without altering the content.

A luxury edition comprises the first numbered copies of an edition, on superior paper (laid, Holland, Japan), in a limited number. Victoria's Century is a direct example: 50 copies on pure Lafuma laid paper, compared to a much larger regular print run.

The description specifies the link between the author and the narrated events: descendant, officer present on the ground, or later historian. Regarding Marquis d'Hautpoul, the author recounts the campaigns of his own ancestor, a primary source on the family, secondary on the facts themselves.