Chansons Folles

Evreux, France: Imprimerie de Charles Herissey, 1887. First Edition. Softcover. Good. 16mo 6" - 7" tall. Printing of Charles Herissey, Evreux, a First Edition, published in 1887 in softcover format, short octavo in size, one of only 75 copies published on papier du Japon, this being #17 of 75. Good condition overall, tanned stiff paper wraps, illustrated title to cover, frontispiece engraved by Henry Somm. 132 pp. This anonymous erotic collection is attributed to Gustave Nadaud (1820-1893) and is comprised of 41 different songs, published with music. Interestingly, all the text is printed in lowercase characters, with very large margins and very small musical notations. Laid in, however, are two items of extraordinary association value: 1) a one-page letter written by the author in purple ink that is dated 29 Avril 1882, written on nice stationery that features the letterhead Rue Charles Laffitte, 63, Neuilly, (Seine) le _______, and then 2) a two-page song composed also in the same purple ink and on another page of the same stationery. Some internal foxing but not much, light foxing to endpapers, else a clean and still unmarked volume. A Wikipedia article about Gustave Nadaud notes that he was born on 20 February 1820 in Roubaix and that he passed away, in abject poverty, on 28 April 1893 in Passy, he being a French songwriter and chansonnier." Song of his song cycles were forbidden politically under the Second French Empire, but he also composed and published folk-songs. "A college in Wattrelos, in northern France, is named after him.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.