MARIA CHAPDELAINE. Recit du Canada Francais. 29 Bois Originaux de Jean Lebedeff

Paris: Le Livre de Demain, Artheme Fayard & Cie, Editeurs, 1939. Reprint. Soft cover. Very Good. Quarto. Pp. 126, [1], woodcut illustrations throughout. Unopened copy. Original dark yellow paper covers printed in red and black. Interior fresh and crisp. Covers lightly dust soiled. Inscribed in French on the front blank Souvenir of your visit to Musee Louis Hemon, and signed Eva Bouchard (Maria Chapdelaine), Peribonka, 13 July 1940. The story goes that when tourists came to the town they would ask for Maria Chapdelaine. The townsfolk would send them to Eva Bouchard. At one point in time it was thought that Eva Bouchard was the inspiration for Maria. "... the twenty-year-long association of Eva Bouchard, a school teacher from Peribonka, with the fictional Maria, represents one of the most interesting moments of literary history. In 1929 at Montreal and later in Toronto at the First Canadian Book Fair in 1941, Eva Bouchard was introduced as the "original Maria" of Hémon's book. She autographed copies of the book with the signature, "Maria Chapdelaine". And until quite recently, the original Bédard homestead, near Peribonka, in which Mile. Bouchard set up what she called the "Louis Hémon Museum", actually bore the sign: "Foyer de Maria Chapdelaine". However, the collection of exhibits, which visitors could see here for a small admission charge, consisted almost solely of testimonials and tributes to Eva Bouchard in her 20-year-long portrayal of Maria." - Margaret K. Zieman, "Origins of Maria Chapdelaine.