LITERARY REVIEW. *Le Banquet*. - Lot 53

LITERARY REVIEW. *Le Banquet*. Paris, Librairie Rouquette, later Briquet, 1892–1893. 8 volumes, large 8vo, paperback; in a black half-maroquin slipcase and case (Devauchelle binding). A literary journal published between March 1892 and March 1893, to which Daniel Halévy, Marcel Proust, Jacques Bizet, Fernand Gregh, Gaston-Armand de Caillavat, Robert Dreyfus, Horace Finaly, Louis de la Salle, Jacques Baignères, Henri Barbusse, Léon Blum, and Robert de Flers. Although intended to be a monthly publication, the journal ultimately ran for only 8 issues. PROUST TOOK HIS FIRST LITERARY STEPS THERE BY CONTRIBUTING EIGHT ARTICLES OR ESSAYS THAT WOULD BE REPRINTED IN HIS FIRST BOOK, *LES PLAISIRS ET LES JOURS*, IN 1896. "The history of *Le Banquet* is notable for its brevity—one might even say for its absence. A small journal founded in March 1892 by a group of friends centered around Fernand Gregh, it ceased publication a year later, after eight issues, when its main contributors accepted an invitation from the famous *Revue Blanche* to join its pages.” (J. Deguy, p. 41). Handwritten annotations on the covers of the first two issues provide details about the authors of the articles, as well as about Nietzsche’s article and the study of Proust, identifying “Madame de Mailly” in *La Cydalise* (No. 2—April 1892). COMPLETE COLLECTION OF ALL EIGHT ISSUES, RARE Light water stain on the last 5 issues.