FRENCH REPUBLIC Constitution. [Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1958]. Pet. in-folio (33 x 28 cm), in ff. bound with a blue-white-red silk cordon, bound in red chagrin embossed with a Russian leather motif, title gilt on upper board. Paul Reynaud, a supporter of Charles de Gaulle's institutional ideas, was elected President of the Constitutional Consultative Council in 1958, and thus played a part in drafting the Constitution. "On several occasions during the Fourth Republic, Paul Reynaud called for constitutional reform, but each time to no avail. Called upon to form the new government in 1953, he nonetheless made the approval of his candidacy by his peers conditional on their voting in favour of a law stipulating that if the government were to be overthrown less than 18 months after taking office, the same government could automatically dissolve the Assembly. As the initiative was deemed "dangerous" by the Left, the MP for the Nord was not invested as the new President of the Council. In the years that followed, he again tried to push through reform proposals, but always in vain. He therefore welcomed General de Gaulle's return to power after the crisis of 13 May 1958. He had written an article in 1950 entitled 'Vive la Ve République' (Long live the Fifth Republic) and could not but be in favour of the new President of the Council's plan to change the regime" (Tellier). This copy of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic is an invaluable record of the post-war relationship between Charles de Gaulle and Paul Reynaud, and is copiously annotated in blue and red pencil and ink. Reynaud underlined and marked numerous passages and added notes to some of them. Article 49, which engages the responsibility of the Government, arouses a great deal of interest and annotations. Title XII "of the Community"), on the other hand, is crossed out entirely in blue pencil. Binding damaged: leather missing (showing padding), spine completely split, front cover detached. Fresh inside. Commentary: Paul Reynaud, President of the Constitutional Advisory Council, and the Fifth Republic On the essence of the Fifth Republic and the arcana of its development, let us quote the words of de Gaulle in his Mémoires d'espoir: "(...) I direct the work of reforming the institutions; on this subject, on which everything depends, I have for twelve years fixed and published the essentials. What is going to be done is, in short, what has been called 'the Bayeux Constitution', because there, on 16 June 1946, I drew up the one that France needed." "Michel Debré, assisted by a young team drawn from the Conseil d'État, drew up the draft, which I then examined with the appointed ministers. I then asked for the opinion of the "Constitutional Consultative Council" of thirty-nine members, twenty-six of whom were members of parliament, created by the same law that decided on the revision and chaired by Paul Reynaud. I went there several times to listen to useful suggestions and to clarify my own thinking. The Council of State then presented its observations. Finally, the Council of Ministers deliberated on the text as a whole, with everyone, starting with President Coty, putting forward their comments. The text, thus adopted, will be submitted to the people in a referendum. "In none of these discussions is there any opposition in principle to what I have wanted for a long time. That, from now on, the Head of State should really be at the head of power, that he should really be accountable for France and the Republic (...)". "(...) In fact, three major questions give rise to exchanges of views between the Consultative Committee and myself. Will we still be able," the deputies worried, "to overthrow the ministry, even though from now on it will have to act only on the President's authority? My response is that the censure pronounced by the National Assembly necessarily entails the resignation of the government. What," I am asked by many, "is the justification for Article 16, which charges the Head of State with providing for the salvation of France in the event that it is threatened with disaster? "I would remind you that, in the absence of such an obligation, President Lebrun, in June 1940, instead of travelling to Algiers with the public authorities, called Marshal Pétain and opened the door to the French government. On the contrary, it was by announcing Article 16 ahead of time that President Coty avoided civil war when he demanded that Parliament cease its opposition to the return of General de Gaulle. The Community," ask the Commissioners, will it be a federation, as proposed by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, or a confederation, as advocated by Léopold Senghor? Bibliography: Thibault TELLIER, "Une sortie sacrificielle? Paul Reynaud et la crise parlementaire de 1962", in Quitter la politique. Fins de carrière politique en France (20e-21e siècle), Nancy, Éditions de l'Université de Lorraine, 2024.