We have never finished with the ogre of French letters! The proof with the publication of this guide to the Uffizi Museum by Alexandre Dumas, a previously unpublished masterpiece on “the most beautiful [institution] from all over Italy and therefore the world”. The fruit of two years of hard work by the Éditions du Chêne teams, The Gallery of Florence told by Alexandre Dumasin seven volumes, was established and annotated by Cristina Farnetti, expert from the Italian Ministry of Culture, and Jocelyn Fiorina, president of the Society of Friends of Alexandre Dumas, author of this exceptional discovery. Without doubt the most romantic and stunning Art history ever written.
The Gallery of Florence told by Alexandre Dumas, éditions du Chêne, 1,900 pages, 149 euros.
Graphic: the Staël mystery
A profound illustrator with intense, intimate and magnetic lines, Stéphane Manel explores the life and work of Nicolas de Staël in a graphic novel combining investigation and memories. Using sensitive touches, he reconstructs the mysteries surrounding the painter's last days. From Antibes to the Sahara, this artistic journey connects Staël to his peers, from Picasso to René Char, and summons major figures to shed light on an unfinished and fascinating work. 
Staël exercisesSeghers editions, 240 pages, 25.90 euros.
Art: frightening masterpieces
What a superb object this is. Book of Shadows, with its cloth binding shaped in the style of a medieval grimoire and the marbling of its black edge, offering a walk through the history of 19th century art. This fantastic journey, presented by art historian Alix Paré, has as its common thread “the taste for the supernatural and apparitions”. It is divided into major themes – moon, charms, witchcraft, enchantment, specters, angels, demons – and punctuated with analyzes of pictorial and literary works. Among the impressive iconography of this book we find works that are sometimes little-known, from Romanticism, Symbolism and Pre-Raphaelitism. Bewitching.
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The Book of Shadows. A history of art from Johann Heinrich Füssli to Odile RedonAlix Paré, éditions du Chêne, 479 pages, 59.90 euros.
Poetry: letters to a young poet
Through its “Grande blanche illustrated” collection, Gallimard gives carte blanche to contemporary artists to illustrate the greatest authors of literature. After Miquel Barcelo for The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Patti Smith for A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud, it is the American artist Kiki Smith who confronts the collection L'Amour la Poésie by the surrealist poet Paul Éluard, published in 1929. For a superb result. His works in shades of blue and gold use different techniques – drawing, engraving, collage – and enhance the dreamlike beauty of Éluard's poems and his torn between romantic and poetic experiences.
Love poetry, Paul Éluard, Kiki Smith, Gallimard, 176 pages, 45 euros.
Mode : Jane Birkin, l’ex-fan des sixties
“Melancholy and disillusioned / I have something of a tomboy”, whispered Jane Birkin between two “The doo the doo dah”. It took the eye and archives of Sophie Gachet, fashion journalist, to analyze the impeccable elegance of the ex-fan of the sixties. From minidresses to Converse, from flare jeans to tuxedos, we untie the ecru ribbon of this (very beautiful) book to try to grasp this mystery. We turn the pages, we discover countless unpublished photos, we close it and we say to ourselves that, definitely, Jane Birkin deserved this subtitle: a style icon! Not to be missed.
Jane Birkin, Style IconSophie Gachet, E/P/A, 244 pages, 35 euros.
Tribute: Bernard Pivot, a taste for words
Who was Bernard Pivot, the most famous reader of the JDD and legendary presenter of “Apostrophes”? Agnès and Cécile Pivot pay tribute to their father in a moving album combining photos, archives and other testimonies like this one: “Having been the altar boy of Jesus, Mary and the saints for ten years, this saved me from doing political stupidities and being the altar boy of Marx, Mao, Pinochet, Castro and other tyrants of this planet. » From the Beaujolais vineyards to the Goncourt academy, we discover the life, intimate and public, of a passionate journalist, witness to history and football fan: the portrait of a man who loved life as much as words .
Bernard Pivot. The Taste of OthersAgnès and Cécile Pivot, Pierre Assouline, Calmann-Lévy, 180 pages, 22.90 euros.
Novel: the right to make mistakes
Roman d’anticipation, An almost perfect worldt immerses us in a hyperconnected society in which everything is controlled, down to the emotions of citizens. Technological advances, at first glance fulfilling and comfortable, turn out to be liberticidal. With this beautiful initiatory novel peppered with philosophical reflections, Laurent Gounelle highlights intuition and the power of decision as qualities essential to our humanity.
An almost perfect world, Laurent Gounelle, Mazarine Collector, 352 pages, 22.90 euros.
Bestseller: confessions of a child of the century
To know what Jordan Bardella is looking for, you have to understand where he comes from. These are the confessions of a child of the 21st century: from his family origins to the eve of the legislative elections, we understand how and why this boy, who resembles many others, ends up taking his destiny in hand. And, since he could one day govern France, he sets out his vision of France and the future he promises it.
What I'm looking for, Jordan Bardella, Fayard, 324 pages, 22.90 euros.
Bestseller: Memory in the skin
In a cry combining nostalgia and love for France, Philippe de Villiers denounces the “memoricide” in progress, a succession of events and political decisions erasing the French soul. To do this, he draws on the thread of his own memory, from his childhood to today, including the creation of Puy du Fou. Faithful to his fights, he encourages free souls not to lose hope.
Memoricide, Philippe de Villiers, Fayard, 384 pages, 21.90 euros.
Oenology: Wine, flavors and colors
Because wine is seen as much as it is tasted, Florence de La Rivière invites you to rediscover visual tasting through a sensory and artistic approach. She explores the chromatic and lexical richness of wines to describe their appearance, thanks to meetings with experts and images by Jérôme Bryon, a trained architect whose photographs are marked by the dynamics of forms. A tribute to colors and the art of living, to be savored without moderation.
The Eye of Wine, Florence de La Rivière, Bénédicte Bortoli, Jérôme Bryon, éditions de la Martinière, 216 pages, 45 euros.
United States: the shameful secrets of the White House
In a didactic and illustrated book, punctuated by short chapters, Stéphane Bern, the famous specialist in “small stories in the big one”, opens the doors of the White House wide for us through two eventful centuries. This stronghold of the most powerful presidents in the world is above all the witness to funny and chilling anecdotes. A haunted house that you will never perceive the same way again…
The Riddles of HistoryStéphane Bern, Fayard, 288 pages, 24 euros.
Religion: immersion with Coptic monks
Who are the heirs of the first hermits? Nicolas Diat, who has published numerous works on monastic life, here offers an investigation into the very roots of monasticism. Combining biblical references, history and personal experiences, the author allows us, with great accuracy, to grasp a part of the life of these hermits, these “strong souls” to the edifying way of life of simplicity and depth, going against our current society.
Humilitas. The birth of men alone, Fayard, 180 pages, 17.90 euros.
Story: bet everything on Saint Rita!
Amandine Cornette de Saint Cyr didn't believe it. And yet! When this pure Germanopratin learns that she must have an operation to remove her uterus, she turns to the saint of hopeless causes. Nothing left to lose: here she is on her way to a pilgrimage. Truculent, funny and touching, this intimate story is a true message of hope for those who are going through trials of which they see neither the meaning nor the outcome!
Help Saint RitaAmandine Cornette de Saint Cyr, Fayard, 152 pages, 19 euros.
Watercolors: High places of Christianity
High places of Christianity From Bethlehem to Rome, from Domrémy to Notre-Dame de Paris, the pilgrimage to which Gilles Bexon and Defendente Génolini invite us allows us to travel to 75 high places of Christianity. Next to the beautiful watercolors of the first, there is a text from the second, telling the history of each of these places, accompanied by a prayer or an extract from the life of a saint. A very nice Christmas gift, which encourages travel and meditation.
High places of Christianity. From the Holy Land to the confines of the West, Gilles Bexon et Defendente Génolini, Via Romana, 160 pages, 15 euros.
Travel: draw me the Amazon
In 2020, Jean-Christophe Rufin descended the Amazon River for two months, Brazilover more than 3,000 kilometers. Jack of all trades, the writer and academician with multiple careers reveals in this pretty travel diary his passion for drawing and watercolor, “concentration tools » imposing a slow rhythm, necessary for observation. The drawings which punctuate the story reveal the “secret relationship between watercolor and this Amazonian world made of colors diluted in water” and bring out the strength of Brazilian landscapes, from Sao Gabriel to Belém.
On the Amazon River, Jean-Christophe Rufin, Calmann-Lévy, 150 pages, 29.90 euros.
