COCTEAU, Jean (1899-1963). Opium. The Diary of an Addict. Ernest Boyd, translator. New York et al: Longmans, Green and Co., 1932.

8vo. 27 plates after drawings by the author. Original gilt lettered green cloth, black top stain (extremities sunned); in unrestored unclipped dust jacket (spine sunned, some minor wear at extreme ends and fore-corners).

FIRST EDITION, based on the author’s own addiction to, and recovery from, opium in 1929. “He explains that initially under the drug’s spell he had lived some of his finest hours, during which he opened himself up to the deepest layers of his being and experienced feelings of euphoria. But opium was a ‘living substance’ and like all drugs exacts a price. The opium-eater is, as he puts it, eventually eaten by opium” (Williams, p.142).