MÉRIMÉE (Prosper). - Lot 67

MÉRIMÉE (Prosper). *Mosaïque*, by the author of *Le Théâtre de Clara Gazul*. Paris: H. Fournier the Younger, 1833. — In-8, 216 x 131: (2 ff.), 439 pp. Red Jansenist morocco, ribbed spine, gold-edged lining, gilt edges (Cuzin). First edition of this collection of texts that Mérimée wrote between 1829 and 1832. Among these texts is “Tamango,” first published in October 1829 in the *Revue de Paris*. It is a realistic and socially conscious short story that denounces the horrors of the slave trade through the story of Tamango, a Senegalese warrior, and Captain Ledoux, a slave trader, illustrating the moral contradictions and dehumanization inherent in slavery. A fine copy bound by Cuzin, formerly in the collections of Eugène Paillet (1829–1901) —counselor to the Paris Court of Appeals, president of the Société des Amis des Livres, and mentor to the collector Henri Beraldi—, Adolphe Bordes (1858–1918), and Robert Fleury (1921–2010). Scuffing at the hinges; stains on the back cover. Scattered foxing. Provenance: Eugène Paillet, with autograph signature on the first blank page. - Adolphe Bordes. - Robert Fleury, with bookplate (1997, no. 248).