*SOLD*
 
L'Être et le néant : Essai d'ontologie phénoménologique [Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology] 
John-Paul Sartre
Paris, 1943
 
First edition, first printing - printed on June 25th, 1943 ("Le vingt-cinq juin mil neuf cent quarante-trois" on the colophon). With a wonderful personal inscription by the author to Jean Touzot, Professor Emeritus of French literature at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. “To Jean Touzot, who made people think this book is a novel in cordial gratitude JP Sartre” Sensational copy of a fragile wartime book - tiny chip on the first endpaper, spine slightly toned, otherwise Fine. Uncut and largely unopened. Contemporary newspaper clippings about Sartre tucked into the rear. A rare thing to find in original wrappers, and nearly impossible to find signed(I’ve not seen one in the auction records or in the trade).
 
It’s June 1943 in occupied France, and Jean-Paul Sartre sees his latest philosophical manuscript, Being and Nothingness, published in the midst of World War II. The book becomes one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century, and the de facto bible of Existentialism.
 
“Existentialism, as Sartre formulates it in this treatise, empowers the human being in a period when power seems to rest in the hands of only a few individuals. The philosophy of freedom puts the individual back in the center and allows him to engage in his own projects no matter what oppression or situation he is facing. Further, in a period struck by nihilism and atheism, existentialism gives individuals the possibility to make something of themselves, to flourish in their project without suffering from any alienation caused by a transcendent world of values or by a magnified-Other like God. The individual is thus left alone in a world where no values are to be found already made. He must make values himself and shape himself as he acts. No easy business. The task is crushing and the responsibility immense. However, the human being is up to it; he has everything one needs to take the roads to freedom. In those years of uncertainty, in the midst of the war in occupied France, Sartre’s philosophy may have been just what the doctor ordered! But its impact was more prolonged than that. Sartre’s philosophy has been ever present since then. We ought to take a new look at it at the start of the 21st century as we keep struggling with the nihilistic age. We could thus use it as a bible. Understanding the book well might allow us to find our way out of the sticky situation we have found ourselves in for too long now.” (Daigle)