GOURMONT Remy de. Aesthetics of the French language. Deformation. Metaphor. The cliché. Free verse. Le vers populaire. Paris, Mercure de France, 1899; in-8, 323 pp. half-fawn morocco with corners, pinched ribbed spine, gilt head, cover and spine (C. Dreneau). Rare first edition. "Je mettrai en un volume mes rêveries philologiques et sémantiques' wrote Gourmont to Valéry in 1898. Copy no. 1, one of 12 on Hollande paper, the only large paper edition. A very fine copy, perfectly established by Constant Dreneau. Self-employed after 1949, Constant Dreneau (1907-1972) worked on commission for decorators, notably Pierre-Lucien Martin, whose designs he executed. Ex-libris JV Pellerin (not fixed).