Hombres (Hommes)

Paul Verlaine

Paris

:

[Albert Messein]

,

1903

.
First Edition.

19cm x 12.5cm. [iv], 48, [4] pages. Lettered wrappers. Text is in French.

The first edition of Verlaine’s third and final collection of poetry, being a homage to homosexual love and sex, and including ‘Le Sonnet du trou du cul’ (The Sonnet to an Asshole), co-written with Arthur Rimbaud in 1871. Originally distributed as hand written copies, this is the first trade edition produced by Albert Messein after Verlaine’s death, ‘Imprime sous le manteau et ne se vend nulle part’ (Printed under the cloak and not sold anywhere). One of 500 copies of the standard first edition, this being number 75. Handwritten corrections to the pagination from page 44 as usual.

Upper fold of wrappers front panel splitting, and with a small chip to the crown fore-edge corner. Spine rubbed. Minor soiling to the rear panel and occasional to the interior. Rough edges, a few with very minor corner chips. Very Good Condition.