"THE SPARK OF JOURNALISM THAT WOULD NEVER DIE": A PARIS SOUS LA BOTTE DES NAZIS, 1944, WITH OVER 225 PHOTOGRAVURES OF PARIS UNDER FOUR YEARS OF NAZI OCCUPATION

EPARVIER, Jean. A Paris sous la botte des Nazis. [Paris Under the Boot of the Nazis]. Paris: Raymond Schall, (1944). Quarto, original photographic paper-covered boards. $2200.

First trade edition, published only three months after the Liberation of Paris, with over 225 black-and-white photogravures, many secretly documenting the Nazi-occupation of Paris from June 1940 to August 1944.

In this extraordinary photobook published only three months after the Liberation of Paris, the city's four-year occupation by German forces is recorded in over 225 black-and-white gravures attributed to leading photographers such as Roger Schall, Robert Doisneau, Pierre Vals, Maurice Jarnoux, Pierre Jahan, and the Seeberger brothers. The book's striking images show Nazis marching through the Arc de Triomphe in June 1940, streets littered with smashed barricades, sightseeing German officers, underground prisons with the handprints of tortured prisoners dug into walls, and a series documenting an execution by firing squad. The book closes with the triumphant return of Général de Gaulle through the crowded streets of Paris. Published by Raymond Schall, whose brother Roger Schall, one of the leading photographers of the day, provided the cover image and many uncredited photographs within. When Nazi forces required all photojournalists to register their work, Schall complied but withheld many negatives until their first printing here in book form. In 1962 the editor of Paris Match praised Schall and those like him "who kept alive the spark of journalism that would never die." Featuring a facsimile of de Gaulle's announcement declaring the city's liberation. Introduction by Jean Eparvier. Text in French. Published simultaneously with a limited edition of 1525 copies. As issued without dust jacket; without scarce original printed book band. Half title with owner signature darkened.

Interior fresh with only two expertly repaired small closed edge-tears, light rubbing, faint soiling to boards. Near-fine.