Bataille Secrète en France. 167 dessins de l'auteur [TOGETHER WITH] Original pencil and ink cover maquette and one additional pencil and ink illustration, the latter signed

New York: Brentano's, [1944]. First Edition. Octavo (20cm.); original cream pictorial wrappers printed in red and black depicting a signed illustration by Girard of a fallen soldier; 292pp.; illus. by the author throughout, including many full-paged. Spine a bit darkened, top textblock edge stained with very shallow bleeding onto leaves. A Very Good and tight copy. Text entirely in French. Extensively illustrated contemporary account of the German occupation in France and the French Resistance. Girard, a French painter and poster artist, was the founding member of the Resistance organization known as the CARTE network, which he ran from Antibes, a free zone in France. In 1942 CARTE drew the attention of the British Special Operations Executive, which provided the organization with arms, radio operators, and funds. After traveling to Britain under SOE orders in 1943, Girard was forbidden from returning to France during which time his wife was arrested and incarcerated in the Ravensbruck concentration camp until the end of the war. As a result, Girard broke with the SOE and left in self-imposed exile for the United States where he voiced his opposition to the British and the Gaullists.

TOGETHER WITH:

Original pencil and ink maquette drawing of a fallen soldier (20x13.5cm.) nearly identical to the cover illustration. Additional pencil sketch on verso with variation of the fallen soldier and cover text. Slight rust-staining from previously removed paper clip, else Very Good.

TOGETHER WITH:

Original pencil and ink illustration (28x21.5cm.), signed. Depicts a scrum of bedraggled men and women overseen by four large and sinister German guards, either at a train station or a concentration camp, though it is unclear. This illustration does not appear in the published work, though variations of the guards do make appearances throughout. Tears at hole punches not affecting text, some minor staining along top edge, else Very Good.