Introducing the scholarship winners for the 2022 ILAB Congress: Raphaël Thomas (France)

Raphaël, how did you start working in the rare book trade and what were your first encounters?

I was first a student at the École du Louvre in Paris where I studied history of Art (2001-2004). Then, after some different jobs and experiences, I worked in Paris with Jacques Desse (Les Libraires Associés : https://www.facebook.com/Les-Libraires-Associ%C3%A9s-525064834336748), specialized in curious books, children books and pop-up books. After that, I worked with Alain Cambon (Paris, Quartier Latin), specialized in antique and rare books, Jansenism and architectural drawings. In 2016, I left Paris for Rennes and I opened my own bookshop.

What do you specialize in and please describe your business a little to us?

I specialize in Breton regionalism (Breton = from Brittany, the French region around Rennes, and where we eat crèpes!), books and historical and regional curiosities, and I followed what I learned to Alain Cambon by publishing catalogs of architectural drawings.

Jacques Desse and Alain Cambon are my two sponsors (godfathers?) in the SLAM.

I work with a regional clientèle, whom I propose my thematic catalogues and I exhibit my books at several Parisian book fairs (at the Grand Palais since 2019). The London book fair (Firsts) in September after the Congress will be my first fair out of France.

What do you do if you are not pre-occupied with rare books?

I share my life with my wife, Cécile, who is a curator for historical monuments in Brittany. We have two lovely children, two boys, 2 and 4, who take a lot of our time, and a cat!

I am very grateful to the ILAB to have invited me to the Congress and I am very glad (and a bit proud) to participate to it. I only hope my level in english will be sufficient (I work on it!)
Thank you to Sally Burdon, Angelika Elstner, Stuart Bennett, and other members of the ILAB committee, and to Hervé Valentin, who proposed me to participate to this scholarship when he was president of the SLAM. I was censed to go to the Amsterdam Congress two years ago. I am very pleased that my scholarship has been transferred to the Oxford Congress.

A portrait of Raphaël Thomas can be found on the website of the French antiquarian booksellers' association, SLAM, see original article HERE.

Here in English translation:

Raphaël Thomas presents his bookshop in Rennes. He offers a wide range of books with two specialities: Breton regionalism and architectural drawings:

The chance of beautiful encounters and a fascination for the book as an object since I was very young led me to become a bookseller. After studying art history and a few internships at art galleries, I found my first job selling old posters on the Internet. Then I had the chance to work with Jacques Desse, at the Libraires associés, first at the Puces, Marché Dauphine, then in the big and amazing bookshop of the Goutte d'Or. There I learned how to write index cards, discovered the catalogue as an art form and experienced my first great adventures as a bookseller: the catalogue "De la Jeunesse chez Gallimard: 90 years of children's books" (Prix de la Bibliographie 2009) and the discovery of the photograph showing Arthur Rimbaud in Aden. I then continued my apprenticeship in the VIth arrondissement, when Alain Cambon gave me his trust. I worked for six years in his bookshop in the rue Monsieur le Prince, discovering other facets of the profession. Six years of collaboration that had all the makings of a school for old-fashioned bookshops. At the same time, I started buying books and unpacking them about once a month at the Brassens market. Jacques Desse and Alain Cambon are naturally my two patrons at the Slam. In 2016, personal reasons led me to leave Paris and move to Rennes, where I opened my bookshop.

When I arrived in Brittany, I quickly noticed that the Bretons, true to their reputation, are particularly attached to their history and their region. I then gradually specialised in Breton regionalism. I published two catalogues a year of books on Brittany and Breton curiosities, trying to keep a balance between old books, historical classics, illustrated books, linguistics and books in Breton, customs, legends, archaeology booklets, adding some drawings, paintings and objects. In addition to this fascinating speciality, I have always been keen to continue to offer books, old and new, in all fields, whetting my curiosity as I make discoveries. At the same time - as an extension of what Alain Cambon did, and with his approval - I offer original drawings and architectural documents, through a catalogue each year. I also present them to institutions and collectors at the Grand Palais exhibition since 2019.

I am currently presenting (from 5 February to 7 May 2022) a catalogue and exhibition entitled "Rennes + 1922", echoing the exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-arts de Rennes: "Rennes 1922, la Ville et ses artistes de la Belle Époque aux Années folles". You can therefore see at the moment in the bookshop a large decoration on Isorel by the Rennes artist Louis Garin, representing the Palais de Justice and the Hôtel de Ville of Rennes. On the other hand, I recently acquired a very interesting watercolour representing the construction of the Joinville Bridge at the end of the 18th century. An original drawing showing the construction of such a building at that time with its various trades in action is exciting and unusual. I have also recently acquired an exceptional correspondence of about 150 postcards and autographed letters signed by the Breton chansonnier Théodore Botrel to Abbé Millot. These are the kinds of discoveries that motivate me: presenting documents that teach us, that enrich our knowledge in a field. This thrills the former student of the École du Louvre that I am. I like what resonates today in the past and sheds light on the future if we take the trouble to look at it. Sometimes, the survival of certain ancient and modern documents, which booksellers highlight, can offer us sweet anachronisms, seemingly light and amusing, but which are much richer in teaching than any contemporary evidence.

In the early years of my career, I presented my books at several fairs in the West of France, in Caen, Redon, Angers, Le Mans, Orléans... At present, I only do the Paris fairs: "Bibliomania", "Olympe de Gouges", the Place Saint-Sulpice and the Grand Palais. I hope to return soon to the provincial fairs, in particular those of Lille and Colmar and, why not, in the near future, to exhibit at fairs abroad. I also have a potential project, in the medium term, to open a larger shop. I will continue to develop my two specialities, Breton regionalism and architectural drawings, and continue to publish paper catalogues in the digital age, while directing the bookshop towards other fields. I have several ideas in mind. To be continued...

Librairie Raphaël Thomas
14, rue du Docteur Francis Joly
35000 Rennes
www.librairie-raphael-thomas.com
librairie-raphael.thomas@gmail.com