Pilote de Guerre
first edition
1942 · N. Y.
by ST. EXUPERY, Antoine de
N. Y.: Éditions de la Maison Française, 1942. First edition, preceding the French edition. Limited to 526 copies, of which this is one of 450 printed on Corsican paper. Although not called for, this copy is signed by St. Exupery. The American edition of Pilote de Guerre was published in February, and the French edition, published by Gallimard, was issued in November. By February of 1943, however, the Vichy government, in collaboration with the German authorities, had ordered the suppression of the book owing to its candid remarks about the Nazis as well as its praise of a French Jewish pilot, Jean Israel. Of the original edition of 2100 copies, 1726 were destroyed, leaving only 402 of the edition extant. The present correct first edition, unlike the later French editions, preserves the original unexpurgated text that so offended the Germans. A fine copy, enclosed in a cloth folding box. 8vo, original printed wrappers. A fine copy, enclosed in a cloth folding box. (Inventory #: 22982)