While regular readers of this blog are already aware that the French were the first to issue a foreign translation of Matheson's novel in 1955, It would be almost 20 years before Denoël would release the book in hardcover.
The book was illustrated by Jean Martin Bontoux (1927-2002), and in addition to the novel included three of Matheson's short stories: "The Children of Noah," "The Last Day," and "Shipshape Home."
What's interesting is the book exists in two distinct bindings, each using identical book blocks. The first features the simplicity of the original Présence du Futur releases (and a belly band trumpeting the original Bontoux illustrations). According to Robert Massin, the designer who came up with the look of the Presence du Futur line in 1954, "What we took for a rocket was only the shadow cast by a tennis ball photographed by François Molinard."
The other edition has a black cover featuring one of the illustrations and a wraparound clear plastic jacket, and no external reference to Denoël. The spine of this edition states "CAL," which stands for Culture, Arts, Loisir (Culture, Arts, Leisure), which was a collection of 'Masterpieces of Science Fiction and Fantasy' published between 1973-1975 under the direction of Louis Pauwels. I Am Legend was one of the first three titles alongside Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles and Fredric Brown's Martians Go Home! Later volumes included two H.P. Lovecraft short story collections and Isaac Asmiov's Foundation trilogy. The collection was comprised of a grand total of 11 titles, all featuring a similar trade dress.
The last time I saw Richard Matheson was in 2007, at a signing he did promoting the Will Smith film adaptation (and tie-in release) of I Am Legend. In addition to getting the movie tie-in signed, I hand-picked a few items from the archive to bring to get signed, including my advance proof of Bloodlines (since I played a small role in the creation of that book), and this illustrated CAL French edition of the novel.
Bontoux provided the following two-page spreads, along with a few smaller spot illustrations.
I've not been able to determine if one edition preceded the other; though I was glad to be able to determine the difference between the two publications.
Check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!
