1964 Jean-Paul Sartre Situations IV | Stanford Library First Edition

In 1964, the literary world was shaken when Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and promptly refused it. That exact same year, Éditions Gallimard published Situations, IV: Portraits. This critical collection gathers Sartre’s definitive essays, prefaces, and personal reflections on the artists and thinkers who shaped his worldview. Within its pages are his deep homages to André Gide and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, his famous preface to Nathalie Sarraute’s Portrait of a Man Unknown, and his historic "Reply to Albert Camus" which formalized the legendary split between the two iconic existentialists.

This specific copy is a Service de Presse (SP) printing of the true 1964 French first edition, bound in the original publisher's cloth. Past the cover, the original red-and-black Gallimard paper wrapper is preserved intact.

Adding to its history, this volume spent its life within the permanent collection of the Stanford University Libraries. The spine features their original stamped white call numbers (PN513 .S25 v.4), and the internal justification page bears their neat hand-written library codes. For a browser seeking an authentic piece of mid-century intellectual history, finding a true 1964 Parisian printing of Sartre in French—with a direct lineage to one of the world's great academic institutions—is a remarkable find.

• The Canvas: The original publisher's textured brown cloth binding remains firm, flat, and uniform in color.
• The Spine: Square and structurally rigid. Features the original gold-gilt title text alongside the authentic white stamped institutional call numbers from Stanford University Libraries.
• The Interior: Securely bound. The original paper covers are bound in place, protecting the clean black and red Gallimard title page. Stanford Libraries classification codes are present in pencil on the justification page. The paper stock exhibits a uniform, natural age-toning correct for 1964 French printings.