BALZAC (Honoré de) - CHASLES (Philarète) - RABOU... Lot 7

[BALZAC (Honoré de) - CHASLES (Philarète) - RABOU (Charles)]. Contes bruns [by an upside down head]. Paris : Urbain Canel, Adolphe Guyot, 1832. - In-8, red half calf with corners, spine gilt, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (P.L. Martin). Rare first edition of this collection of 10 fantastic tales. Honoré de Balzac, Philarète Chasles and Charles Rabou were then three young ambitious journalist writers, trying to make a place for themselves in the gothic vein of the time. With the Brown Tales, they chose to place themselves somewhat outside the traditional fantasy by combining cynical comedy, burlesque fantasy, maudlin romanticism and realism. The edition includes the following tales: "Une Conversation entre onze heure et minuit" (by Balzac); "L'œil sans paupière" (by Philarète Chasles); "Sara la danseuse". "A Good Fortune" (by Philarète Chasles); "Tobias Guarnerius" (by Rabou); "The Miser's Pit" (by Philarète Chasles); "The Three Sisters" (by Philarète Chasles); "The Regrets" (by Rabou); "The Public Ministry" (by Rabou); "The Great of Spain" (by Balzac). The illustration includes two vignettes by Tony Johannot engraved by Cherrier, the first placed on the cover, the second on the title. According to Champfleury: "The fortune of this book is perhaps due as much to the vignette as to the stories of Balzac, Philarète Chasles and Charles Rabou. An upside-down head, with haggard eyes and hair whose every hair seems to bear desolation, struck the readers of the time extraordinarily" ("Les Vignettes romantiques", page 390). The work contains, bound in fine, the publication prospectus of a work entitled "L'émeraude", printed on green paper. A fine copy, washed, bound by Pierre-Lucien Martin. It is complete with the two covers and the back cover. Restored tear on the edge of the first cover, not missing. Provenance: C. Chatelin, with ex-libris stamp on the false title.