Small guide to beautiful books to put under the Christmas tree

Books are always among the most popular gifts at Christmas. This year, publishers are focusing on carefully reissued literary classics.

The Gallimard publishing house is pleased to present us with an unpublished text by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, the manuscript of which has recently been found. Called “Londres”, this novel presents the journey of Ferdinand, a hero of the First World War who has left France for the British capital. There he meets up with his prostitute friend Angèle, who is now married to the English Major Purcell. “Londres” is the great story of a double vocation: medicine and writing. (24 euros)

Flammarion is releasing “Nana”, the classic novel by Émile Zola, in a deluxe edition with a leather cover that weighs…1.7kg. “The archives of Flammarion, founded in 1875, are full of treasures. This sumptuous 1882 edition of Emile Zola’s masterpiece is certainly one of them. It is a Nana in all her splendour that we rediscover in this volume, richly illustrated with more than seventy original engravings, bound in leather and gilded on the edge,” explains Alain Flammarion (190 euros).

For its part, Larousse has launched “luxury editions” of novels or very well-known authors. A hardback cover, beautiful illustrations and a single price (19.95 euros): enough to restore the lustre of masterpieces such as “Les Liaisons dangereuses” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, or “Persuasion” by Jane Austen.

Finally, at Les éditions des Saints-Pères, the handwritten book takes on all its letters of nobility. You will find exceptional editions of great authors and poets. The book devoted to Arthur Rimbaud offers the manuscripts of all his poems known to date, sometimes in several versions. Some of them even have the particularity of having been written by Paul Verlaine. (190 euros)

Hélène Cougot

Passionnée depuis son plus jeune âge par l’art et la mode, Hélène s’oriente vers une école de stylisme, l’Atelier Chardon-Savard à Paris, avec une option Communication. Afin d’ajouter des cordes à son arc, elle décide de compléter sa formation par un MBA en Management du Luxe et Marketing Expérientiel à l’Institut Supérieur de Gestion à Paris dont elle sort diplômée en 2020. Elle a notamment écrit des articles lifestyle et beauté pour le magazine Do it in Paris et se spécialise en rédaction d’articles concernant le luxe, l’art et la mode au sein du magazine Luxus Plus.********** [EN] Passionate about art and fashion from a young age, Hélène went to a fashion design school, Atelier Chardon-Savard in Paris, with a Communication option. In order to add more strings to her bow, she decided to complete her education with an MBA in Luxury Management and Experiential Marketing at the Institut Supérieur de Gestion in Paris from which she graduated in 2020. She has written lifestyle and beauty articles for Do it in Paris magazine and specializes in writing articles about luxury, art and fashion for Luxus Plus magazine.