The First Man.

CAMUS, Albert.

Item Number: 119460

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.

Early printing of the first American edition of Camus’ deeply moving autobiography, the original manuscript of which was discovered in the car wreckage when Camus was killed and was subsequently transcribed by his daughter. Octavo, original half cloth, pictorial endpapers. Translated from the French by David Hapgood. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket by Carol Devine Carson.

First published in France in 1994 - thirty-four years after the handwritten manuscript was discovered in the car wreckage that killed Camus - this autobiographical novel recaptures Camus' often difficult childhood in Algeria. Because the pages were never honed and edited by Camus - the handwritten manuscript was simply transcribed by his daughter - the story of childhood carries with it a lyrical spontaneity, vastly different than anything published during Camus' lifetime.