CONCHON (Georges). - Lot 118

CONCHON (Georges). L’État sauvage. Novel. Paris: Albin Michel, [1964]. — In-8, 198 x 128: 267 pp., (2 ff.), printed cover. Blue half-maroquin with corner pieces, decorated ribbed spine, gilt head, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (R. and R. Mativet). First edition of this novel, which won the Prix Goncourt the year of its publication. In this novel, the novelist and journalist Georges Conchon (1925–1990) explores forbidden love, racism, and postcolonial violence. He tells the story of Avit, a young French civil servant sent on a mission to a newly independent African capital. There he discovers that his ex-wife, Laurence, is now living with Patrice Doumbé, a Black minister in the new government. The entire city—both Black and White residents—unites against this interracial couple, whose love defies racial prejudice. One of 17 copies printed on Marais vellum (No. 8), the only edition printed on large-format paper. A fine copy bound by René and Roger Mativet. Spine slightly faded.