Important series of Americana catalogues, issued by the King of contemptuous Parisian booksellers

Librairie Ch. Chadenat

[EUROPEAN AMERICANA / ANTIQUARIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY]. Bibliophile Americain: Catalogue de livres, cartes et documents manuscrits relatifs a l'Europe, Asie, Afrique, Amerique, Oceanie

Paris: Librairie Ch. Chadenat, 1889-1898. First Edition. Together 21 catalogues in two volumes, numbered 2-22 (no. 1 "does not exist" - see below), all original wrappers bound in (mostly folded vertically in half, some chipped or a little soiled). Contemporary blue half calf over blue cloth boards (extremities rubbed but the bindings are perfectly sound), inner margins of certain catalogues are very tight. In vol. 1, the verso of the final binder's leaf bears a contemporary inscription in pencil: "Dec. 29, 1898" (presumably when the catalogues were bound). Item #3654

SIGNIFICANT, UNBROKEN RUN OF ORIGINAL CHADENAT "BIBLIOPHILE AMERICAIN" CATALOGUES, rare in private ownership. It is with good reason that Chadenat's name is very frequently found alongside that of Sabin in superior catalogue descriptions of Americana and European Americana, despite the fact that Chadenat's catalogues almost never come up for sale. Our set is distinguished by the fact that it contains NINE catalogues that are not in the BnF. Indeed, Philippe Barbat and Pierre Gheno describe the BnF collection of Chadenat as "tres lacunaire" (see their article on Charles Chadenat in: Feuille de routes, No. 44, Septembre 2005, pp. 118-12).

Charles Chadenat (1859-1938) has been lauded for being THE KING OF GRUFF BOOKSELLERS. Olivier Jacquot explains that Chadenat was the owner-manager of the Librairie Americaine in Paris, and -- according to Blaise Cendrars -- was "a character of a type that no longer exists, gruff, unwelcoming, unfriendly, easily flanking the door; a contemptuous, exclusive spirit, a soul of another era" [who] "did not like to sell his books and only did so when constrained by circumstances, nine times out of ten reluctant." He did, however, deign to sell books to one or two of his long-standing and loyal customers. Still, Chardenat is remembered as a connoisseur, madly in love with his books," who "sometimes hesitated to part with the most glorious." (SOURCE: Olivier Jacquot, "Charles Chadenat, 1859-1938" in: "Amoxcalli," 2018, online).

CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION:

No. 1 does not exist according to Jean Viardot (his sale, Alde Paris, 29 Sept. 2014, lot 216)
2: Mai 1889 (nos. 1324-3003)
3: Novembre 1889 (3004-3868)
4: Fevrier 1890 (3869-4810)
5: Mai-Juin 1890 (4811-5731) - NOT in BnF
6: Septembre-Octobre 1890 (5732-6548)
7: Mars-Avril 1891 (6549-7843)
8: Septembre-Octobre 1891 (7844-9241)
9: Mars-Avril 1892 (9242-10399)
10: Octobre-Novembre 1892 (10340-11432) - NOT in BnF
11: Mars-Avril 1893 (11433-12547 - NOT in BnF
12: Juillet-Aout 1893 (12548-13014) - NOT in BnF
13: Novembre-Decembre 1893 (13015-14061)
14: Fevrier-Mars 1894 (14062-14945) - NOT in BnF
15: Juin-Juillet 1894 (14946-15799) - NOT in BnF
16: Mars-Avril 1895 (15800-16951)
17: Aout-Septembre 1895 (16952-17695) - NOT in BnF
18: Fevrier-Mars 1896 (17696-18774)
19: Juin-Juillet 1896 (18775-19868)
20: Janvier-Fevrier 1897 (19869-20912) - NOT in BnF
21: Octobre-Novembre 1898 (20913-21966) - NOT in BnF
22: Octobre-Novembre 1898 (sic!) (21967-23121).

The Jean Viardot set, a broken run of 45 issues, is the only one listed in RBH which currently lists more than 11 million records in the Rare Book Transaction database.

PROVENANCE: Bookplate inside front covers of both volumes: "From the bibliographical library of William [P]aul Wreden (1910-1995), noted San Francisco bookseller and publisher who entered the field in 1937; he began a ranching business (Pinole Land & Cattle Company) in San Luis Obispo County, in 1941. Wreden is perhaps best remembered for selling, at the 1972 San Francisco Book Fair, a 3-volume Elizabethan manuscript daybook dating from 1581 to 1596, which he had acquired in London some two decades before. The diary was seen by Folger acquisitions librarian Elizabeth Niemyer and purchased on the spot. After it had arrived at the Folger, Laetitia Yeandle discovered that under the heading of 12 June 1593 is the earliest recorded purchase of any of William Shakespeare's printed works. Knowingly or unknowingly, Wreden's MSS became one of the most important Shakespeare items to appear in the 20th century. Wreden closed his shop in Palo Alto in 1991, selling most of his remaining stock to Serendipity Books in Berkeley. NOTE: Andrew Preston, "Moving Lines: The Anthropology of a Manuscript in Tudor London" (University of Akron MA Thesis 2014, p. 87), wrongly states that Wreden "donated" the MSS to Folger. We are grateful to Elizabeth DeBold, Folger Shakespeare Library, for directing us to the illustration of the Diary of Richard Stonley in: "Shakespeare Quarterly," Spring, 1973, Vol. 24, No. 2.

Price: $1,050.00