LOTI (Pierre). - Lot 63

LOTI (Pierre). Diary. 1878–1881. [1882–1885.] Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1925–1929. — 2 in-8 volumes, 205 x 205 and 190 x 203: (2 ff.), 282 pp., (1 blank f.), printed cover; 197 pp., (1 blank folio), printed cover. Paperback. First commercial edition, published by Samuel Viaud, the author’s son. Pierre Loti maintained close ties with Africa, primarily through his travels as a naval officer and his literary works inspired by those journeys. In his *Journal intime*, he reflects on Africa through two defining experiences. First, he reflects on his stay in Senegal (1873–1874), where his trips back and forth between Saint-Louis and Dakar aboard the Pétrel left a deep impression on his imagination, later inspiring his novel *Le Roman d’un spahi* (1881). His notebooks are filled with descriptions of colonial landscapes, encounters with local people, and reflections on the atmosphere of West Africa. Next, his stopovers in Algeria (1880–1881) feature prominently in the second volume. Aboard the Friedland, he spent time in Algiers and Bône, recording in his journal his impressions as a traveler, the customs of North African ports, and his emotions upon encountering these exotic lands. One of 75 numbered copies printed on Japanese imperial-size paper (No. 11). Spine slightly faded. Minor, insignificant tears on the covers. The spine of the second volume’s cover has come away from the book block.