Thirty Years of Paris and of My Literary Life (1893) – Alphonse Daudet – Early English Copyright Edition
 
Thirty Years of Paris 1893 – Daudet – Early English Memoir Illustrated
Early English copyright edition (1893) of Thirty Years of Paris by Alphonse Daudet, with 120 illustrations and rich memoirs of literary life in Paris.
 
Features
English translation of Daudet’s acclaimed French memoir Trente ans de Paris (first published 1888)
120 illustrations by Bieler, Montégut, Myrbach, Picard, and Rossi
Copyright edition published in London
 
Bibliographic Details
Author: Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897)
Title: Thirty Years of Paris and of My Literary Life
Translator: Laura Ensor
Illustrators: Bieler, Montégut, Myrbach, Picard, Rossi
Publisher: George Routledge & Sons, Limited, London (with Glasgow, Manchester, New York offices)
Date: 1893 (English copyright edition)
Printer: Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay
Format: Hardback with 348 pages
 
About the Book
A handsome 1893 copyright edition of Thirty Years of Paris and of My Literary Life by celebrated French novelist Alphonse Daudet, attractively illustrated with 120 images by several important late-19th-century artists. The work offers a vivid autobiographical portrait of Parisian literary culture, Bohemian life, and Daudet’s career among writers, salons, and publishers.
 
This edition is notable for its rich illustrative programme and English translation by Laura Ensor, bringing Daudet’s memoirs and reflections to a wider readership.
 
About the Author – Alphonse Daudet
Alphonse Daudet was a major French novelist and playwright associated with naturalism and Provençal regional writing. Best known for Letters from My Windmill and Tartarin of Tarascon, his work blends humour, realism, and sharp psychological insight into literary and social life in 19th-century France.
 
About the Illustrators
This volume contains illustrations by Bieler, Montégut, Myrbach, Picard, and Rossi, prominent late-Victorian and fin-de-siècle illustrators. Their styles range from delicate vignette work to dramatic scene compositions, adding texture and atmosphere to Daudet’s recollections of Paris.
 
About the Translator – Laura Ensor
Laura Ensor was an English translator active in the late 19th century, known for rendering major French literary works for British and American audiences. Her translations helped popularise continental European fiction for English readers.
 
Binding & Exterior
Green speckled cloth over boards and spine
Red decorative illustration and titles to the front board
Gilt lettering and small red illustration to spine
Top edge gilt
Copyright edition
 
Condition:
The cover remains intact and robust, very good for its age, with only light wear including:
soft bumping and tiny rips to corners
small marks and light patches of rubbing
minor age handling wear
 
Interior Condition
Top edge gilt
Other edges roughly cut, as issued
Light foxing to page edges
Light foxing scattered internally
Pages otherwise neat and predominantly uncreased
Remnants of pencil on front pastedown and free endpaper
Label: “Readers Rest, Lincoln” pasted to front pastedown
Occasional tiny edge nicks from rough cutting (do not affect text or illustrations)
Binding tight throughout
All 348 pages present and accounted for
 
Physical Details
Approx. 19.6 × 13.6 × 3 cm
Weight approx. 566 g