Description
A first edition, first printing of Le Feu by Henri Barbusse, published by Ernest Flammarion, Paris in 1916. A near fine copy with boards three quarter bound in marbled paper with with leather and gilt corners and gilt titles to the tooled leather spine, extensive rubbing to the spine and corners, surface damage to the marbled paper, inscribed and dated in black ink to the front free end paper, ghosting to the prelims, the text block with deckle edge and gilt top stain.
Le Feu by Henri Barbusse is a 1916 novel drawn from his experiences as a soldier in World War I. Presented through the voices of French infantrymen, it offers a stark, realistic portrayal of trench warfare, emphasising exhaustion, fear and comradeship. Rejecting romanticism, Barbusse exposes the brutality of modern war, creating one of the earliest and most influential anti-war novels of the twentieth century.
