CUZACQ (René). — The Adour and Its Tributaries. - Lot 65

CUZACQ (René). — The Adour and Its Tributaries. Aurillac, Éditions U.S.H.A., “Les Belles Rivières de France” series, 1937. Large square 8vo, 203 pp., paperback, illustrated color cover based on a painting by M. Gueit. The book is lavishly illustrated with 167 heliogravures, both in the text and as inserts. Contemporary bibliographies confirm the page count and the extent of the illustrations. A monograph devoted to the Adour River and all its tributaries, from the Pyrenees to the ocean, combining geography, landscapes, local history, architecture, and the way of life in the regions it traverses: Béarn, Armagnac, Chalosse, Landes, and the Basque Country. The photographs now serve as an interesting documentary record of these regions during the interwar period. The book is the second volume in the series “Les Belles Rivières de France.” The first edition appears to have actually been published in 1933 — it was listed as early as 1934 by the *Revue géographique des Pyrénées et du Sud-Ouest* — while the copy presented here clearly bears the date 1937 on the title page and a “printed” date of December 1, 1937. Limited first edition of only 80 copies: 30 copies on Imperial Japan paper, numbered 1 through 30, and 50 copies on Holland paper, numbered 31 through 80. Copy from the regular print run. Copy preserved in its attractive original color-illustrated cover. Interior generally clean. Cover shows scuffing and small peripheral tears; spine is scuffed, with damage and small losses at the top and bottom; the inner spine is noticeably weakened and partially split, with the front cover beginning to separate from the book block. Showing signs of use, but a complete and decorative copy.