At the sign of the Reine Pédauque [Rôtisserie de la reine Pédauque. English] [Queen] [The Works of Anatole France in English] Hardcover - 1928

London : John Lane, The Bodley Head ; New York : Dodd, Mead and Company, [Made and Printed in Great Britain at the Mayflower Press, Plymouth ; William Brendon & Son, Ltd], 1928, 1928. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. [6th printing] ; xiv, 275 p. illus., plates. 25 cm. ; LCCN: 28-29305 ; LC: PQ2254.R7 ; OCLC: 3081255 ; Endpapers illustrated by Papé ; decorative black cloth with gold lettering and designs ; untrimmed ; " translated by Mrs. Wilfrid Jackson, with illus. & decorations by Frank C. Papé and an introd. by William J. Locke. ; The "Reine Pédauque" as a mythical queen has its origin in the city of Toulouse at the time when it was the capital of the Visigoth kingdom in 413-508 AD. She is characterized by having the feet of a goose, hence the name, since "Pédauque" in Occitan means "goose foot". There are Reine Pédauques of various origins and meanings carved on the portals of several churches in Toulouse ; "It was in 1893 that Anatole France, then approaching the fiftieth year of his age, occupied himself in the writing La Rôtisserie de la reine Pédauque, undoubtedly the high-water mark of his genius, Mr. W. J. Locke calls it 'the most characteristic example of that elusive point of view which makes for the magic of Anatole France.' Its hero, the Abbé Coignard is certainly an irresistible scapegrace. Superficial observation may dub him an unconscionable villain. He drinks, brawls, puts our own Pepys into the shade as a philanderer, cheats and thieves with effrontery, yet somehow keeps a heart of gold, and maintains a fountain of talk that in its blend of scholarship, philosophy at wit is nothing short of delicious. A word must be said for the felicity of Mrs. Wilfrid Jackson's translation, and the publishers are to be congratulated on their choice of Mr. Frank C. Papé as an illustrator. His work has just the right touch of grotesqueness, and no more, and its delicate blend of grace and irony harmonises excellently with the spirit of the text. Never, so far aw we have seen, has any book of Anatole France's been more fittingly and delightfully produced."--The Bookman, Volume 63, Christmas 1922 ; slight wear to covers, else VG.