A really good find, and the best copy I have seen in the last 10 years, you would not believe the trouble that I went to to finally get this in my hands, but now I have it a near fine copy, which is still resistant to being opened, hence the images are restricted to the cover and the title page.
1.16.1 QUIET DAYS IN CLICHY Henry Miller, 1956
First and original edition | HENRY MILLER | QUIET DAYS | IN | CLICHY | Photographs by | BRASSAÏ | THE |OLYMPIA PRESS | 8 Rue de Nesle, Paris 6 | 1956 Collation: 176 pp. [1]-[22]4; the final gathering is actually signed 21, but should be 22 because due to a printer’s error the fourth and fifth gatherings are both signed 4 causing all subsequent statements to be off by 1. 17.5 x 10.5 cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on thick, white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] QUIET DAYS | IN |CLICHY, reverse blank. p. [5] title, as above. p. [6] FOR A |COMPLETE LIST OF HENRY MILLER’S WORKS | ON SALE IN FRANCE, | WRITE TO : | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 8, Rue de Nesle, Paris 6 | Printed in France | [rule] | All rights reserved by Henry Miller. Copyright 1956. pp. 7-171, text. p. [172] blank. p. [173] PRINTED BY | IMPRIMERIE MAZARINE | AND IMPRIMERIE AULARD, | PARIS, | IN JULY 1956 | FOR | THE OLYMPIA PRESS, | 8 rue de Nesle, Paris 6e | PRINTED IN FRANCE | [rule] | Dépôt légal, 3e trimestre 1956. pp. [174-176] blank. Sixteen pages of plates interspersed through the text.
Binding: Thick card wrappers, with abstract design in black, gold, grey and white across front cover, spine and back cover. Thin gray free endpapers.
Frontcover; title and author printed in black within gold panel, superimposed over grey designs: HENRY MILLER | QUIET DAYS | IN CLICHY. Printed in black within gold panel: With photographs by Brassaï.
Printed in black yellow panel on back cover: THE OLYMPIA PRESS. At the foot of front inside flap: COVER DESIGN BY T. [Shinkichi] TAJIRI. Back inside flap blank. Notes: (1) Some copies of this edition have been reported in which the plates have a gloss finish instead of a matt finish. See: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Dr. James F. O‘Roark Collection of the Works of Henry Miller (Santa Barbara: Joseph the Provider, catalogue 22, item A182). The compilers of this catalogue noted that their copy lacked the colophon, and so were unable to say whether this copy represents a special issue or whether it received individual attention. However, a letter from Roger Jackson, Henry Miller’s bibliographer, to the present author dated October 22, 1992, indicates that in all respects save the difference in photographs the copies he’d examined with matt and glossy plates were identical. It would seem that trial copies of the first edition with illustrations in both states were run off, perhaps to determine which looked better. Since copies with matt plates are more common one must assume that this design prevailed, but that the few copies with the glossy plates were released with the main print run rather than merely destroyed. (2) In William Ashley’s copy of this edition there is only one signature numbered 4 (on p. 33), and yet the arrangement of the stitching and faulty numeration of the later signatures is identical to the compiler’s copy. The only way I can account for this is to think because the signatures are located close to the edge of the leaf, in Mr. Ashley‘s copy the signature was missed during printing or cut off during the trimming/binding process. (3) Prosecuted on May 5th, 1959 under article 14 of the 1949 law.
Bibliographical description courtesy of Patrick Kearney, The Paris Olympia Press, Liverpool University Press 2007. The index number indicates the actual location of the description within the bibliography.
Well a significant amount of progress has been made but still some way to go, I am continuing to list both Olympia press and other erotica for trade and a decreasing number of wants, but enjoying it very much, despite my shy and rather silent readership. See below for the collection as it stands today, and with a few more items on the way, its getting better every day.
Introduction and description courtesy of Patrick Kearney, The Paris Olympia Press, Liverpool University Press 2007, P.89 . Index numbers [ Example 4.1.1, are description locators within the bibliography].
Listing here are 6 of the 10 titles which is in itself a very rare occurrence. Images are of the actual books which are duplicate copies from my personal collection, as always they are available to trade against my wants, or failing that other rare items of erotica that might enhance my listings and offer me more of a target audience to find the Olympia Press titles I still need.
Like Collection Merlin, The Atlantic Library was a short series (comprising ten titles), all published in 1954, all sporting a design that prefigured the soon-to-be-launched Traveller’s Companion Series, but in orange.
The first and third books were English translations of works by Rene Roques: Interdit aux Juene Filles (Forbidden to Young Girls), translated by Peter Leroy as Three Passionate Lovers; and et Treize Fois Impure (…and Thirteen Times Impure), translated by James O’Leary as Ladies at Night, the first two novels in Roques Interdit aux Juene Filles collection. The first title was already a bestseller by the time Girodias published the English translation, having sold over 50,000 copies in various French editions. In 1955, et Treize Fois Impure was banned under the 1949 Law concerning the sale of books to minors, but, oddly enough, the English translation published by Girodias was not.
The connection with Roques did not end there, for it appears Girodias also distributed the French editions of the first three titles in the Interdit aux Jeune Filles collection, the two above and also No. 3, Viol (Rape), evidence for which is found in the Olympia Press Teaser Paris Exotique (3.2), in which an extract from et Treize Fois Impure (Passion de la Nuit) can also be found.
The second book in the series, Helen and Desire, was the first Olympia Press title written by Alexander Trocchi of Merlin fame (writing under one of his many pseudonyms, Frances Lengel). He would write four of the ten Atlantic titles (including No. 10, My Life & Loves, Volume Five, supposedly the fifth book in Frank Harris’s outlandish autobiography). Young Adam, No. 6, would eventually be made into a movie (2003). In total, Trocchi would write seven Olympia Press titles and translate one (The Debauched Hospodar, 1.6).
Five of the Atlantic titles also appear under the Traveller’s Companion Series: Helen and Desire, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (as Memoirs of Fanny Hill), An Adults Story, The Watcher and the Watched, and My Life and Loves. Lust appears under the Ophelia imprint.
Atlantic Library titles are rare, several quite so.
4.1.1 THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS René Roques, 1954
RENÉ ROQUES | THREE | PASSIONATE | LOVERS | A novel translated | from the French | by Peter Leroy | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris-6e Collation: 192 pp. [1]-128. 18.0 x 11.4 cm, all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1-4] blank. p. [5] THREE | PASSIONATE |LOVERS. p. [6] THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | LATEST VOLUMES | THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS by René Roques | LADIES AT NIGHT … by René Roques | LUST … by Count Palmiro Vicarion | HELEN AND DESIRE … by Frances Lengel | See excerpts at the end | of the present volume. | Catalogues will be supplied free on request. | Apply to: The Olympia Press, 13 rue Jacob, | Paris 6, France. | [rule] |All rights reserved in all countries by René Roques | and The Olympia Press. p. [7] title, as above, reverse blank. pp. 9-166, text of Three Passionate Lovers. pp. 167-171, extract from Lust by Count Palmiro Vicarion [Christopher Logue]. pp. 172-177, extract from Helen and Desire by Frances Lengel [Alexander Trocchi]. pp. 178-188, extract from Women at Night by René Roques. p. [189] PRINTED JANUARY 1954 | BY IMPRIMERIE RICHARD, PARIS | Printed in France | [rule] | Dépôt légal 1er trimestre 1954. [rule]. pp. [190-192], blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front-cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] RENÉ ROQUES | THREE | PASSIONATE | LOVERS | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white down spine, and all within a black panel:] THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS | [in white across bottom of spine:] 1. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A. | PRINTED IN FRANCE. Notes: Three Passionate Lovers is a translation of Interdit aux Jeunes Fille (Paris: La Clé d’Or , 1951). A reprint published, apparently, by the author (Paris: R.R., 1953) was distributed by The Olympia Press.
[One copy Very Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
COUNT PALMIRO VICARION | LUST | THE ATLANTIC LIBARY [sic] | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris Collation: 224 pp. [1]-148. 17.8 x 11.4 cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] LUST. p. [4] A LIST OF TITLES | ALREADY PUBLISHED IN | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | HELEN AND DESIRE … by Frances Lengel | LUST … by Count Palmiro Vicarion | THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS, by René Roques | LADIES AT NIGHT … by René Roques | Complete catalogue supplied on request. | [rule] | All rights reserved in all countries. | Copyright by The Olympia Press, 1954. p. [5] title, as above, reverse blank. pp. 7-218, text. p. [219-220] blank. p. [221] PRINTED FEBRUARY 1954 | BY IMPRIMERIE RICHARD | PARIS | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 1er trimestre 1954. | [rule]. pp. [222-224] blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front-cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] COUNT | PALMIRO VICARION | LUST | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white down spine, and all within a black panel:] LUST | [in white across bottom of spine:] 4. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A | PRINTED IN FRANCE.Notes: Concerning this novel, and in reply to a question about its reprinting under the Ophelia Press imprint, Mr. Logue wrote to the present writer in 1975: All I know about Lust is; 1) I wrote it; 2) I was paid for it but once; 3) M. G. [Maurice Girodias] did not tell me of his reprints.
[One copy Very Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.5.1 MEMOIRS OF A WOMAN OF PLEASURE John Cleland, 1954
JOHN CLELAND | MEMOIRS | OF A WOMAN | OF PLEASURE | [small device of leaves] | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris Collation: 256 pp. [1]-168. 17.8 x 11.3cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] MEMOIRS | OF A WOMAN OF PLEASURE‘. p. [4] The texte [sic] of this unabridged | version of the authentic | MEMOIRS OF FANNY HILL | is based on the original | edition published by | G. Fenton, London 1749 | under the present title: |Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasureŗ. p. [5] title, as above, reverse blank. pp. 7-248, text. pp. [249-250] blank. p. [251] THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | LATEST VOLUMES | 1. THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS. by René Roques | 2. HELEN AND DESIRE … by Frances Lengel | 3. LADIES AT NIGHT … by René Roques | 4. LUST … by Count Palmiro Vicarion | 5. MEMOIRS OF A WOMAN | OF PLEASURE … by John Cleland | 6. YOUNG ADAM … by Frances Lengel | Complete catalogues will be supplied | free on request. Apply to: | The Olympia Press | 13 rue Jacob, Paris, France. p. [252] blank. p. [253] PRINTED | APRIL 1954 BY | IMPRIMERIE MAZARINE | PARIS | Printed in France | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 2e trimestre 1954, pp. [254-256] blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front-cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] JOHN CLELAND |MEMOIRS | OF A WOMAN | OF PLEASURE | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY‘. Spine: [lettered in white up spine, and all within a black panel:] MEMOIRS OF A WOMAN OF PLEASURE | [in white across bottom of spine:] 5. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A | PRINTED IN FRANCE. Notes: (1) Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure is one of the most enduring erotic novels in any language, and has probably been in print constantly since it was first published at London in two volumes, the first in 1748 and the second early in the following year. Many editions have omitted an episode in the novel involving a graphically described homosexual encounter that is witnessed by the leading character whilst resting at an inn near Hampton Court. This present edition is one of the few that include this incident. (2) Mr. Jan Moret reports an altered state of this printing that has a blue sticker on the back wrapper indicating a price increase to Francs 1.200.
[One copy Very Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.8.1 AN ADULT’S STORY Robert Desmond [Robert Desmond Thompson], 1954
ROBERT DESMOND | AN ADULT’S | STORY | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris Collation: 208 pp. [1]-616, 78. 17.8 x 11.2 cm, all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper.Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] AN ADULT’S STORY, reverse blank. p. [5] title, as above. pp. [6,7] catalogue, with descriptive blurbs, of all ten titles in the Atlantic Library series. At the foot of p. [7] is: Printed in France | [rule] |Copyright 1954 by The Olympia Press. p. [8] blank. pp. 9-206, text. p. [207] Printed in France | [rule] | Printed by Imprimerie Richard, Paris, April 1954 | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 2e trimestre 1954. pp. [208], blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front-cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] ROBERT DESMOND | AN | ADULT’S | STORY | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white up spine, and all within a black panel:] AN ADULT‘S STORY | [in white across bottom of spine:] 8. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A. Notes: Robert Desmond was an English national working in a bank in Rotterdam, Holland. In 1996 he was living in Hackney, East London. Mr. James Armstrong researched and identified the author.
[One copy Very Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.9.1 THE WATCHER AND THE WATCHED Thomas Peachum [Philip Oxman], 1954
THOMAS PEACHUM | THE WATCHER | AND | THE WATCHED | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by |THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris, France Collation: 288 pp. [1]-916. 17.8 x 11.4 cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] title, as above. p. [4] THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | 1. THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS by René Roques | 2. HELEN AND DESIRE By Frances Lengel | 3. LADIES AT NIGHT by René Roques | 4. LUST by Count Palmiro Vicarion | 5. MEMOIRS OF FANNY HILL by John Cleland | 6. YOUNG ADAM by Frances Lengel | 7. THE CARNAL DAYS OF HELEN SEFERIS | by Frances Lengel | 8. AN ADULT’S STORY by Robert Desmond | 9. THE WATCHER AND THE WATCHED | by Thomas Peachum | 10. MY LIFE AND LOVES (5th vol.) by Frank Harris | A complete up-to-date catalogue will be | sent on request. | Printed in France | [rule] | All rights reserved by The Olympia Press, Paris. pp. 5-286, text. p. [287] PRINTED JUNE 1954 | BY | IMPRIMERIE RICHARD, |PARIS | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 2 e trimestre 1954. | [rule]. p. [208] blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] THOMAS PEACHUM | THE | WATCHER | AND THE | WATCHED | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white up spine, and all within a black panel:] THE WATCHER & THE WATCHED | [in white across bottom of spine:] 9ř. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A. | PRINTED IN FRANCE. Notes: Published under the author’s true name by Sphere Books at London in 1970.
[Two copies one Very Good, one Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.10.1 MY LIFE AND LOVES VOL. 5 Frank Harris [Alexander Trocchi], 1954
FRANK HARRIS | MY LIFE | AND LOVES | FIFTH VOLUME | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris Collation: 192 pp. [1]-616. 17.6 x 11.4 cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper.Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] MY LIFE | AND LOVES, reverse blank. p. [5] title, as above. p. [6] PRINTED IN FRANCE | [rule] | Copyright by The Olympia Press, Paris. pp. 7-186, text. pp. [187,8] catalogue, with descriptive blurbs, of all ten titles in the Atlantic Library series. p. [189] PRINTED JUNE 1954 | BY | IMPRIMERIE RICHARD | PARIS | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 2e trimestre 1954.ř. pp. [190-192] blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] FIRST PRINTING |FRANK HARRIS | MY LIFE | AND LOVES | Fifth volume | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white up spine, and all within a black panel:] MY LIFE AND LOVES | [in white across bottom of spine:] 10. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A. | PRINTED IN FRANCE. Notes: The story behind this fabricated fifth volume of Harris’s celebrated memoirs will be found in Maurice Girodias, The Olympia Reader (New York: Grove Press, 1965), pp. 345-349.
[Two copies one Very Good, one Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
Well an amazing find and not listed in Kearney. Nor to the best of my knowledge in any of the other collections auctioned in recent years. Something of a landmark, and almost definitely the last advertising pamphlet issued by the press from its Paris base.
Internal evidence suggests that this leaflet was prepared specially
for distribution at the 1966 Frankfurt Book Fair, which is held
annually in mid-October.
Scarce, late piece of Paris Olympia Press ephemera, from Sept. 1966,
comprising a single leaf of silver-coloured paper measuring 42 x 27 cm,
folded length-wise to create four pages. Page one carries the masthead
‘Olympia Press News’ superimposed over a photograph of what
appears to be Maurice Girodias walking down a Paris street with a
nun in the foreground.
Pages 2-3 comprise a note by Girodias, dated Sept. 22 1966, headed
‘Olympia Press News, Good and Bad,’ in which is discussed, among
other things, the success of American and English editions of many
of his books, a publishing deal with New English Library in London,
the proposed revival of Olympia magazine and plans for Japanese
and Swedish publications.
The balance of page 3
comprise a catalogue of the New English Library editions already
in print.
