The Adventures Of Tintin – Tintin Et L’Alph-Art – First Edition – 1986

Tournai: Casterman, 1986. First edition.

Quarto. Original pictorial laminated boards. Size: 22.8cm x 30.4cm. Pp. 62.

Illustrated throughout in colour and black and white by Hergé. The original French-language first edition of the unfinished final Tintin adventure, issued three years after the death of Hergé and presenting the surviving preparatory sketches, layouts and narrative notes exactly as the artist left them. Rather than commissioning another artist to complete the story, Studios Hergé chose to preserve the work in its unfinished state, making this volume one of the most revealing and intellectually fascinating titles in the entire Tintin canon.

Tintin et l’Alph-Art occupies a unique place within twentieth-century comic art and European graphic literature. Conceived during Hergé’s final years, the narrative centres upon the worlds of avant-garde art, forgery and deception, themes closely connected with Hergé’s own increasing interest in modern art collecting during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The mysterious Endaddine Akass, art galleries, counterfeit sculpture and unfinished narrative threads combine to produce a work that is simultaneously a Tintin adventure and an extraordinary documentary record of artistic creation in progress.

The present 1986 Casterman edition is the true first appearance of the work in book form and remains the most desirable edition for collectors of Tintin and bande dessinée. Produced in the classic large-format Tintin style, the book reproduces Hergé’s sketches, annotations and dialogue drafts with notable clarity, allowing readers direct insight into the development of the storyline and the artist’s working methods.

Condition is very good indeed overall. Binding nice and firm with slight rubbing to the edges. Pages very nice and clean throughout. Spine slightly creased. A very good indeed, tight, clean copy.

Code: 003681

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Cataloguer: Daniel Hornsey

Daniel Hornsey has specialised in fine and rare books, ephemera, and collectors’ editions for over thirty years. As a long-standing member of the antiquarian book trade, he has advised private collectors, curated catalogues, and sourced works for leading dealers, libraries and institutions across the world.

Hornseys’ exhibit regularly at book and map fairs in London and throughout the UK and are members of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association, the PBFA.

His fascination with Hergé’s work — especially ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ — began in childhood. Daniel recalls reading Tintin in original European editions and quickly recognising that these were not merely children’s books, but finely illustrated narratives crafted with artistic depth and wit.

As noted by the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve, Hergé’s ‘ligne claire’ style has influenced generations of European comic artists and his original drawings and paintings command very high prices with his painting of ‘The Blue Lotus’ jar fetching £2.8m at auction in 2021.

By presenting these works through Hornseys’, he hopes to contribute to the continued appreciation of one of the 20th century’s most influential illustrators, helping new generations discover the artistry and legacy of Hergé.