Description
First edition and leading copy
of the 8 volumes of Robert Sabatier’s masterpiece.
A magnificent ensemble in perfect state, from the leading copies.
Sabatier, Robert. Le Roman d’Olivier.
Albin Michel, 1969-2007.
So 8 parts in 8 volumes 8vo [213 x 138 mm and 235 x 150 mm] in wrappers, as issued.
First edition and leading copy of the 8 volumes of Robert Sabatier’s romanesque masterpiece:
Les Allumettes suédoises : one of 25 numbered copies on Marais wove paper, only large paper; uncut copy.
Trois sucettes à la menthe : one of 100 numbered copies on Marais wove paper, only large paper; signed handwritten copy by the author, uncut copy.
Les Noisettes sauvages : one of 100 numbered copies on Marais wove paper, only large paper; signed handwritten copy by the author, uncut copy.
Les Fillettes chantantes : one of 100 numbered copies on Marais wove paper, only large paper; signed copy, uncut copy.
David et Olivier : one of 100 numbered copies on Marais wove paper, only large paper; signed handwritten copy by the author and bearing an autographed message signed by the author.
Olivier et ses amis : one of 60 copies on white Dutch Van Gelder Zonen laid paper, only large paper; uncut copy.
Olivier 1940 : one of 20 copies on Dutch Van Gelder Zonen pur chiffon laid paper, only large paper; uncut copy.
Les trompettes guerrières : one of 20 copies on Dutch Van Gelder Zonen pur chiffon laid paper, first large paper; uncut copy.
“This semi-fictional autobiography is dedicated to the Parisian childhood and youth of the author. David et Olivier tells of a young boy’s carefree life spent next to his mother, the pretty haberdasher, and the friendship that ties him to David Zober, the tailor’s son, in the Montmartre of old. But Olivier is now an orphan in Les Allumettes suédoises. He wanders the streets day and night and discovers its fairy-like aspects. Sabatier makes the village atmosphere of these neighborhoods come to life, the one of the Butte in particular. Many characters are here described and their memories live on in our minds: “Si la rue connaissait ses heures de fête, elle possédait aussi ses acteurs.” Olivier is then adopted by richer uncles and aunts and we find him in Trois sucettes à la menthe, where he tries to fit into this bourgeois family. He discovers a new way of life in its midst and new neighborhoods: the Buttes-Chaumont, the canal Saint-Martin, the faubourgs, the boulevards with their mysterious passages. After the city, he discovers the countryside in Les Noisettes sauvages, during a holiday in Saugues, at his paternal grandparents’ house. The mores, the legends, the wakes in front of the fire excite this young Parisian, whose grandfather is a blacksmith. Olivier grows up, he is sixteen years-old in Les Fillettes chantantes. He splits his time between his job as a printer’s apprentice, and his runs in Paris, and his holidays in Touraine, Montrichard and Saugues. He never stops falling in love and wanders from l’île Saint-Louis to the quartier Latin or Montparnasse. He reads a lot and writes verses. Most individuals encountered in the previous books are present in this one. It is a celebration of adolescence, a blend of worries, contradictions and exaltations. Olivier represents the messenger of a world lost and forgotten in this work where the author’s lyricism manifests itself in numerous pages, as does his friendship for the humble, the meek and fringe-elements of all sorts.” (Christine de Clinchamps, Dictionnaire des Œuvres)
The multitude of readers of the “roman d’Olivier” praised Robert Sabatier as a popular writer in the most generous sense of the word. In this work, the author never departs with his solid realism, based on his memories. It is very emotional but never in an excessive way. Robert Sabatier’s characters are authentic, all the more so since the author claims to be the direct memory of a time now gone.
A magnificent ensemble in perfect state, from the leading copies of one of the most successful romanesque sagas of the second half of the 20th century.
