Un Avion de Plus dans le Ciel de la France Libre

P E Limbaret

Leopoldville : L'Amicale francaise du Congo Belge, 1941

Extra-limited edition of 25 Lettered Copies of "serie special III." [Part of limited edition of 700 copies.] Oblong folio, 36 x 51 cm. Publisher's 1/2 red/blue cloth over off-white boards. Minor rubbing.  Good binding. [2] leaves, 55 caricatures mounted on 30 leaves.  Mostly color illustrations. Caricatures of French personalities in the Belgian Congo on the Second World War.  Each plates signed Pel (Rene Pellos of his real name Pellarin 1900-1998). Pellos was a caricaturist, humorist, illustrator, screenwriter, author of comics and advertising (programs, envelopes, plates, calendars, Carnival masks, postcards.) (Dico-Solo 653).  The caricatures are all anonymous, except for Captain Leriche in Brazzaville. The anonymity was to help secure the entourage and the caricature itself. In return for a payment of 1,000 francs for the purchase of a plane from France Libre, subscribers received this album. General de Gaulle emphasized in his "Memoirs of War" (T. 1, chapter on Africa) the help given by his compatriots living in the Belgian Congo: "Il (de Larminat) trouva au Congo Belge l'appui direct, mais determine, du gouverneur-general Ryckmans, la sympathie de l'opinion, enfin le concours actif des Francais établis dans le territoire, moralement groupes autour du Dr Staub".  This copy has a small tag tipped in for a Mousier Bluntz