SEGALEN (Victor). Stèles. "Pei-King", "des presses du Pei-T' - Lot 105

SEGALEN (Victor). Stèles. "Pei-King", "des presses du Pei-T'ang", 1912. Volume, format 28.7 x 14.1 cm: sheets of various sizes printed on one side only, joined and folded Chinese-style into a regular portfolio forming 106 pp. of which several are blank, gray paper applied to the first and last pages as a cover, printed title page glued vertically to the first cover page; all set between two wooden boards, the first with engraved Chinese title highlighted in green ("古今碑録" or, in Victor Segalen's translation, "Recueil de stèles anciennes et quotidiennes"), bound in grey cloth; tiny scratches on the boards, one with discreet restoration; some dampstaining (publisher's binding). Set in a brown cardboard case with black percaline spine (Julie Nadot). ORIGINAL EDITION, OUT OF STOCK, ONE OF 81 NUMEROTES ON IMPERIAL PAPER FROM KOREA (no. 28). Composed on the Lazarist presses in Peking in May and June 1912, and released on August 13, 1912, this edition comprises a mere 286 copies "not for sale": 81 on Korean paper (a symbolic number corresponding to the number of flagstones on the terrace of the Temple of Heaven), the first 21 of which on strong paper; 1 unnumbered passe-partout copy on the same paper, 2 copies on chine (one personal, the other for his wife Yvonne) and 2 copies on japon (one personal, one in reserve). These 86 copies were intended for the author, his family and friends, as well as personalities such as Paul Claudel (the work's dedicatee), Claude Debussy, André Gide, Pierre Loti, philosopher Jules de Gaultier and sinologist Édouard Chavannes. The remaining 200 were printed on vellum. The 1912 edition of Stèles was the only one corrected by Victor Segalen. Autograph signed letter enriched with the end of a then unpublished "stèle", with its Chinese epigraph taken from a classic "TO JEAN LARTIGUE, with new & lively affection. Pei-King, August 1912..." TITLED "DEUX PINCEAUX, UN COEUR" IN VICTOR SEGALEN'S MANUSCRIPTS, THE "STELE" OF WHICH THE PRESENT SENDING CITES THE LAST STROPHES, was first published in "Stèles inédites", by Marie-Jeanne Dury in the journal Création (t. IV, October 1973,). Here, however, Victor Segalen omits the name "Mi Yuan", "secret garden", a literary expression for perfect friendship, which he leaves blank ("C'est , là-bas, qui écrit"). The Chinese epigraph to this "stele", "元白夢魂銜杯花下" reads "yuan bai meng hun xian bei hua xia", and means "Yuan-Zhen and Bai Ju-yi dreaming, the cup to the lips under the flowers". Victor Segalen noted it in the collection Allusions littéraires published by the sinologist Corentin Pétillon in 1895 (No. 8 in the collection Variétés sinologiques, printed by the Catholic Mission of Shanghai), and translated it as follows: "The spirit of Yuen and Pé dreamed that they were drinking together (biting the cup) under the flowery groves. These two friends, one a minister and the other the chairman of a ministry, sometimes went for walks in the gardens of the bonzerie 茲恩寺 [Zi'en si]. Now, one day Pé Kiu-i [白]居易, suddenly seized by the thought of Yuen Tchen [元]楨 who had just left for 梁州 [Liang-zhou] composed verses about these intimate talks. At this moment, too, a similar inspiration seized Pé and dictated the same poetic recollection. This fact proves that, despite distances, the hearts of friends are always united. Corentin Pétillon had extracted this fine anecdote from a work by Dong Chengzhong (董成重), Original Request on Primary Education (幼学求源), commentary on The Jade Forest of Primary Education, also known as Primary Education, a treatise by Cheng Dengji (鄒聖脈) continued by Zou Shengmai (鄒聖脈). JEAN LARTIGUE, THE "PRECIOUS COMPANION", THE "INCOMPARABLE FRIEND". Naval officer and future admiral, godson of Pierre Loti, Jean Lartigue (1886-1940) met Victor Segalen in China in 1909, when he was serving aboard a gunboat at the mouth of the Yang-Tseu-Kiang. The two men met in Peking and discovered an intellectual complicity based on mutual admiration, further strengthened by their shared taste for literature and Chinese culture - they both qualified as interpreters. They exchanged views on their sinological and literary work: Victor Segalen consulted him on the placement of the seals he wished to apply to the volumes of Stèles, asking him to find a suitable red ink, and Jean Lartigue was one of the first to receive a copy of the work, in China itself. Victor Segalen wrote to him on August 11th