Papillon. London: Hart-Davis Ltd 1970. Second Reprint. Cloth boards in pictorial dustjacket, illustrated with front and rear map endpapers. A nice bright copy.

Signed by the author as ‘Papillon’ to title and dated 10. 3. 71.

First published in France in 1969 & translated from the French by Patrick O’Brian, Papillon is Charriere’s autobiographical novel. Henri Charriere, nicknamed Papillon, was transported to French Guiana in 1931.

“Papillon is one of the most exciting and remarkable human documents ever published. It is the story of one man’s incredible triumph over conditions of indescribable adversity, over the brutal impositions of the penal settlement and the total deprivation of liberty.”