Mon sang dans tes veines by Josephine Baker (Signed)
BAKER, Josephine; CAMARA, [Felix Achille] de la; ABATINO, [Pepito]; POGEDAIEFF, Georges A. de (Illus.). Mon sang dans tes veines. Paris: Les Editions Isis, 1931. Roman d'apres une idee de Josephine Baker.
First edition. Presentation copy, signed by Baker and Abatino, and inscribed and signed by Camara: “à Monsieur Pierre Varenne, critique au Paris-Soir, hommages de Joséphine Baker, Pépito Abatino, La Camara. Paris, août 31”. Pierre Varenne (1892-1961) was a French novelist, journalist and librettist.
8vo. 178 pp. Paperback, original wrappers, pages unopened. Minor rubbing to spine. A beautiful copy.
Josephine Baker (1906-75) was a dancer, singer, war hero and humanitarian. An African American expatriate to France, Baker was the first internationally renowned black star and an icon of the Jazz Age. During the Second World War she became an intelligence agent for the French Resistance. In 2021, Josephine Baker became the first black woman inducted into French Pantheon, the Parisian monument that honours the French personalities that marked the History of France since the French Revolution.
Mon sang dans tes veines (My Blood in Your Veins) was conceived by Josephine Baker and written by Pepito Abatino, her long-time manager and lover, and Felix Camara. The novel published at the height of Baker’s fame as a cultural diva, articulates her humanitarian ideals and unique vision of universalism - the main character, a young mulatto girl, selflessly saves the life of a Boston millionaire’s son through a blood transfusion.
The book is beautifully illustrated by the Russian-born artist Georges de Pogedaieff (1894 -1971) with head pieces for each chapter, and 6 black-and-white plates. The very attractive front cover depicts Josephine Baker with the title fitted within the contour of her face.