Georges REMI, known as HERGÉ (1907-1983) THE MYSTERIOUS STAR Original colour edition, 2nd plate A18. 1942, Casterman untitled Pellior red spine, dark blue endpapers. Title in blue on title page. No title at top of page 1. Published in bookshops at the beginning of December 1942. This was the first album to appear directly in colour, following its publication in black & white strips in Le Soir in 1941-1942. In the original 1942 edition of L'Etoile Mystérieuse, the title banner on the title page had been forgotten. Unlike the second edition, which has recovered its banner and printed with a fourth A18 plate, this is the only way to distinguish the edition from the second edition. Hergé began formatting the strips on 15 February 1942 and made a first attempt at colouring page 1 in March... "What title shall I give it, just heaven?" wrote Hergé on 15 March 1942. What do you think of "The Mysterious Star" or "The Mysterious Aerolite"? It doesn't break anything, does it... Would you by any chance have anything better to suggest to me?" Printing began on 2 October 1942 and continued in Tournai until the end of October, with a total print run of 11,887 copies. Hergé judged the album on these first printings to be "a little too sweet" and on 2 December he wrote a two-page critical list on the colour printing, which he considered unsatisfactory. Finally, the albums were gradually sent to bookshops until mid-December, the aim being to have them available in shops before St Nicholas Day (Sunday 6 December 1942). The condition is sublime: the signatures are new, with no foxing or tears, and the boards and spine are absolutely new, apart from very slight rubbing at the bottom of the second board. Only a few copies of this album have been printed. Extremely rare in this condition. Hergé/Tintinimaginatio 2024