Villon François. Poems (Poèmes). With signed autograph dedication by Pavel Antokolsky to Grigol Abashidze, 1958. In French

Villon François
Poèmes.
Avec une dédicace autographe signée de Pavel Antokolsky à Grigol Abashidze.
Paris: R. Laffont, 1958.
252 pp., illustrations, couverture illustrée. Format in-16.
***
Villon François
Poems (Poèmes).
With signed autograph dedication by Pavel Antokolsky to Grigol Abashidze.
Paris: R. Laffont, 1958.
252 pp., illustrations, illustrated cover. Format in-16.

A truly unique and bibliophilic copy from the prestigious “Les Cent chefs-d’œuvre de la langue française” series (issue 4): the complete poems of François Villon (1431–1463?), the greatest French poet of the late Middle Ages. This 1958 Paris edition, prepared by surrealist poet and scholar Philippe Soupault on the basis of the authoritative Longnon-Foulet text, includes the Grand Testament, Petit Testament, famous ballads (e.g., “Ballade des pendus”, “Ballade pour prier Nostre Dame”), rondeaux, and the enigmatic poems in thieves’ jargon (“le Jargon”). Richly illustrated and in the elegant small in-16 format typical of Laffont’s classics series.
What elevates this copy to rarity is the signed autograph dedication on the flyleaf (or half-title) from Pavel Grigoryevich Antokolsky (1896–1978), one of the leading Soviet poets, translators, and Villon specialists, to Grigol Konstantinovich Abashidze (1914–1994), prominent Georgian poet, translator, and public figure. Antokolsky, who produced acclaimed Russian translations of Villon and wrote extensively about him, likely presented this French edition to his Georgian colleague during one of their literary encounters in the 1950s–1960s Soviet cultural milieu. The inscription links two major Soviet-era poets across national traditions, both deeply engaged with Villon’s legacy — Antokolsky through translation and criticism, Abashidze through his own lyrical and patriotic work influenced by European classics.
A superb association copy for collectors of François Villon, medieval French literature, 20th-century French publishing, Soviet poetry and translation history, Georgian literature, signed dedications by Antokolsky, and cross-cultural literary exchanges in the USSR.