Paul Léautaud (1872–1956) was an independent-minded novelist, diarist, and caustic theatre critic living and working in Paris. He became known for his uncompromising honesty, sharp wit and eccentric personality. Abandoned early by his mother and raised largely by his father, Léautaud drifted through modest jobs while cultivating a lifelong devotion to literature and self-examination. His lengthy diaries and essays reflect an unsparing look at his own life and the literary world around him.

Amours is a short autobiographical narrative written in 1906 when he was 34, but published posthumously in 1958. It revisits the author’s first love and the emotional intensity of youth, blending candid introspection with vivid memory. He recounts his relationship with Jeanne Ambert, the sister of a friend from his youth, describing their early meetings in Paris, the gradual deepening of affection, and the intense recollection of their first physical intimacy. The narrative is less a conventional plot than a candid meditation on desire, memory, and the mingling of emotional and physical love.

Léautaud’s Amours was one of André Dignimont’s last book commissions, and the sensitive images, faithfully reproduced from his pencil and colour wash originals, capture accurately both the tenderness of the author’s feelings and the details of the city which the lovers inhabit. Several of the images extend over double-page spreads, giving additional scope for fascinating detail.

The Dignimont-illustrated Amours was published by Marcel Lubineau, in a limited, numbered and boxed edition of 475 copies.