Tintin Au Congo by HERGE - 2019

2019. First Edition. (Bruxelles, Belgium: Moulinsart SA 2019). First Edition. ISBN: 2 354800 000004. A boxed set of 110 lithographs of the original 1931 version of Herge's most controversial book Tintin Au Congo, colourised, numbered and limited to 3000 copies, this being # 0617. Mint in original publisher's shrink-wrap. It was originally issued with two enamel figurines (boxed separately) as well as a matching tin of coffee both of which are present. These are usually missing. NB: all the pre-war Tintin adventures were originally serialised as b/w strips and then collected into book format. This is a boxed set of 110 lithographic prints reproduced from the 110 page 1931 French 1st edition and, in addition, colourised for maximum effect. The Herge Foundation hasn't bowed down to political correctness and continues to reprint Tintin Au Congo (citing that it's the best-selling Tintin adventure on the African continent) in various translations including English but all these editions are based on the second version of 1946. After France had been liberated, Herge found himself jobless as he was initially seen as a Nazi collaborator for continuing the Tintin strip in Le Soir, a Nazi-controlled newspaper. He used this period of unemployment to rework/redraw and colour in all the pre-war adventures to fit the new 62 page standard format as we know them today. Congo was a big embarrassment to him, not so much for the imperialistic views expressed but because of the animal carnage Tintin indulges in as a big-game hunter. These scenes were reworked or simply cut out and can only be seen in their entirety in the pre-1946 editions. Photographs available upon request.