Voyage au bout de la nuit.: Roman.

Paris: Editions Denoël et Steele,, 1932. The author's debut, inscribed to one of his earliest and most ardent defenders First trade edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the half-title "A mon Marcel Espiau, hommage de l'Auteur, Louis Céline", together with an autograph letter signed by the author, inviting Espiau to dinner to celebrate "the benevolence and the good taste of his jury" [our translation]. Espiau was instrumental in awarding the Prix Renaudot to Céline for this, his debut. Voyage au bout de la nuit was published in October 1932 to immediate and widespread critical acclaim. It was quickly touted as the favourite for the Prix Goncourt, and Céline was assured of his victory. In 1926, a group of critics, Espiau among them, had created the Prix Renaudot while waiting for the nomination of the Goncourt. Though not officially related, the juries of both prizes announce the winners at the same time and place, on the first Tuesday of November, at the Drouant restaurant in Paris. The Renaudot is often considered a consolation prize, with the jurors ensuring that they have an alternative laureate in case their first choice receives the more prestigious Goncourt. Voyage did not win the Goncourt that year. In a scandal that fuelled Céline's notoriety, the Goncourt was awarded instead to Guy Mazeline's Les Loups. Céline's subsequent fame resulted in 50,000 copies of Voyage selling in the following two months. Despite the consensus that the Goncourt decision was a travesty, Espiau still had to fight bitterly to have Voyage awarded the Renaudot: it took three rounds of voting for Céline to emerge victorious, with a small majority of six votes out of ten. Céline left France almost immediately for a "little medico-sentimental tour of Europe" (quoted in Gibault). He was mortified by the loss, having been vocally confident of his success, and overwhelmed by the attention the affair had garnered his debut. On his return to France, he sent Espiau this letter of invitation, apparently unpublished. The letter invites Espiau to dine with Céline and the previous winner of the Renaudot, Philippe Hériat. The letter is undated, aside from a "le 3". Espiau gave continued vocal support of Céline, writing in an article for Les Nouveaux Temps in 1941 that "I liked Céline straight away, the barely dry proofs of his unalterable Voyage au bout de la nuit. I immediately fought for him within a literary panel – the only one who crowned him – and where, moreover, everyone was quickly won over... a writer of his kind is a blessing from the gods". Céline was grateful for the support, sending thanks for the article: "I know you and remain greatly in your debt for the admirable courage with which you defended my first book, at the time when the league of Perfect Thinking already had me in a lasso" (Letter to Marcel Espiau, March 1941). This is the uncommon first printing of the trade issue, with the following points: "Grande Imprimerie de Troyes" imprint in the colophon, "Le Flute Corsaire" advertised on the bottom right of rear wrapper as "Sous presse" and with no imprint below the red frame, and a lowercase "m" printed upside down on p. 150 line 10. Some copies, although not this one, also have the lowercase m on p. 541 line 37 and 8 pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear on grey-blue paper dated 1932; these are not of priority. Octavo. Original white wrappers printed in red and black, edges untrimmed. Housed in a custom cream flat-backed box, lettered and ruled in red and black imitating the wrappers. Spine lightly sunned, two short closed tear to foot of spine and rear corner, trivial chip and a few nicks to head, front joint a little rubbed, contents uniformly toned. Letter folded, one nick and one short closed tear, a little paper adhered to verso, very sharp and bright. A beautiful copy, clean and fresh. En français dans le texte 366; Connolly, The Modern Movement 74F. Gibault, Céline 1932-1944: Délires et persécutions, 1985.