A presentation copy of Albert Camus, "L'Envers et L'Endroit," signed and inscribed by the author on the half title page as "à Monsieur Robert Tivate [?] / en bien sincère hommage / Albert Camus" [trans: "To Mr Robert Tivate [?] / with my sincerest homage / Albert Camus." The book is a second edition reissue of the same title, originally published by Edmond Charlot in Algiers, French Algeria, 1937. The reissue was published in Paris by Librairie Gallimard in 1958. Softcover, with original wrappers and deckled text block. Expected wear including uneven toning to the insides of the covers, and even toning to the inner pages. Else near fine. 126pp. 4.625" x 7.375" x .5."

"L'Envers et L'Endroit" has been translated into English under the titles "Betwixt and Between" or "The Wrong Side and the Right Side." The book is a collection of five essays documenting four places: Belcourt, the depressed, low-income quarter of Algiers where Camus grew up; the Balearic Islands off the northeastern coast of Spain; Prague; and Venice. Camus wrote the essay collection in 1935-1936, when he was in his early 20s.

Camus was famously reluctant to reissue this, his first book, and indeed, he stalled for more than two decades before finally agreeing to it. As he explained in the Preface found in the eventual second edition, "at twenty-two years old, excepting a genius, one scarcely knows how to write," noting that while he did "not renounce any of what is expressed in these writings … their form always appeared to me as maladroit" (p. 11-12). Nevertheless, Camus decided that, now in his 40s and just one year after being awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature, he needed to pause and reflect on the source of his literary inspiration. In the Preface, Camus boldly stated that he believed that "his writing had not even begun." Camus was killed in a car accident just two years later, on January 4, 1960, at the age of 46.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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