FLAUBERT (Gustave). Salammbô. Paris, Michel Lévy, 1863. In-8° (229 x 149 mm), red morocco, ribbed spine, gilt fillets on spine and covers, gilt edges, both covers preserved (Canape, 1918). FIRST EDITION. Copy of the first printing (with the mistakes effraya for effrayèrent and Scissites for Syssites). ENVOILED FROM FLAUBERT "TO MY FRIEND CHARLES BEUZEVILLE" (1812-1885), editor of the Journal de Rouen, who contributed to the success of Madame Bovary and Salammbô through his advertisements, the publication of extracts and glowing reviews. As early as September 1862, the Journal de Rouen, whetting the appetite of its readers, announced the forthcoming publication of Flaubert's new novel and the enormous sum that Michel Lévy claimed to have paid for the manuscript; on 27 November, it trumpeted the release in Paris of the first copies of the "eagerly awaited" work, and the following day Beuzeville himself published a long article: "We recognised from the very first pages of Madame Bovary that we were dealing with one of those men who have more than talent, with one of those intellects who leave a deep imprint on every step they take in the literary career, with one of those creators who impose the types they have dreamed up and to whom they have given an active body and a truly human soul (...). On opening Salammbô, one immediately finds that nervous, clear, precise and seductive style that is the hallmark of writers of strong pedigree, of the breed to which the author of Madame Bovary belongs..." (cf. André Dubuc, Salammbô, p. 4). (cf. André Dubuc, Salammbô à l'heure rouennaise. Les amis de Flaubert 1962, Bull. n°21). Beuzeville was one of the recipients of a large paper copy of Madame Bovary (no. 27 on the Lambiotte list of 48). We know that large paper copies of Salammbô are much rarer (25 Hollande of which only 13 are known with dispatch) and that Flaubert only sent an ordinary copy to Victor Hugo (Pierre Bergé sale, 28 October 2024) for whom he professed the greatest admiration and who had also received a large paper copy of Madame Bovary. A VERY FINE COPY WITH LARGE MARGINS, PARTICULARLY FRESH AND WELL PRESERVED. Small epidermis on one hinge. Ex-libris of Raoul Baguenault de Puchesse (1876-1945), a great industrialist, descendant of a family of bankers, politicians, historians and scholars. He was one of the founders of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon.