The Wanderer (Le Grand Meulnes)

London: Constable and Company Limited, 1929.

First UK Edition, translated by Françoise Delisle, with an Introduction by Havelock Ellis. Printed using the American sheets from Houghton Mifflin and Co. (with their name present to the foot of the spine as called for). 8vo. pp xxxii, [2 blanks], 306, [2 blanks]. Publisher's original green cloth with title and author name in crimson lettering within a Rococo cartouche to upper board and crimson titling to the spine. Spine lightly faded with a shallow surface crease, text block square with sharp corner points free on rubbing. Without old inscriptions or other interior markings. With the unclipped and untorn dust-jacket, with artwork by Jack Perkins, backstrip of which is quite faded and browned on the inside, showing original US price of $2.50. Other than general toning and a touch or rubbing at corners and head of backstrip the rarely seen jacket is clean and complete and something of a joy to behold. The book first appeared in French in 1913 under the title 'Le Grand Meulnes'. It is a lyrical novel of adolescence, longing and the pursuit of an almost dreamlike lost happiness. Narrated by François Seurel, it follows the charismatic Augustin Meaulnes and his obsessive search for Yvonne de Galais after a magical encounter. Later English versions had other titles, including 'The Lost Domain', 'The Lost Estate', and 'Big Meaulnes', reflecting translators' difficulty in traducing the French title.