Alain Fournier – The Wanderer – First Edition 1929

A first UK edition, first printing of Fournier’s masterpiece, published by Constable, London in 1929, translated from the French by Francoise Delisle – printed using the American sheets from Houghton Mifflin and Co. (with their name present to the foot of the spine as called for). A very good book with boards bound in publisher’s original green cloth, crimson titling within a Rococo cartouche to the front board and crimson titling to the spine, some toning to the spine, the boards slightly cocked, toning and light spotting to the text block, free from internal inscriptions with a former Australian retailer’s company sticker to the front paste-down, a little wear and some small marks to the boards with pushing to the corners.

Le Grand Meaulnes (1913), often called The Wanderer in English, is a lyrical novel of adolescence, longing and the pursuit of an almost dreamlike lost happiness. Narrated by Fran√ßois Seurel, it follows the charismatic Augustin Meaulnes and his obsessive search for Yvonne de Galais after a magical encounter. In English, it first appeared as The Wanderer in 1928, translated by Fran√ßoise Delisle, with an introduction by Havelock Ellis and published by Houghton Mifflin. Later English versions adopted other titles, including The Lost Domain, The Lost Estate, and Big Meaulnes, reflecting translators’ difficulty with the French title.

The first UK edition of The Wanderer (Le Grand Meaulnes) was published by Constable & Co., London, in 1929, and bibliographical descriptions identify it as the London issue of the 1928 American sheets.