A wink from a bookseller LE FEU FOLLET old books bookstore, in Paris Founding director: Pascal Antoine “Le Feu Follet”, a small eternal flame of the rare book, endowed with magical powers, has been illuminating the Boul’Mich for more than 20 years, a stone’s throw from the Luco (the Luxembourg Gardens… and the Senate!). Located at 31 rue Henri Barbusse and 121 Boulevard Saint-Michel, the two establishments of the eponymous bookstore offer their benefits to lovers of old books, exceptional autograph letters, incunabula or even rare prints, from museums , private collections and cultural funds from around the world. In this palace of medieval culture and culture in general, there is a passionate and fascinating character, Pascal Antoine, who worked his way through the mines of malachite, a semi-precious stone from Haut Katanga (the famous Shaba of Mobutu), green stone of persuasion widely used in lithotherapy, before he fell, in 1998, into the crucible of his youthful loves, the book. Here, presented by eight booksellers (national record for this type of bookstore), 30,000 precious books, from the 15th century to the present day, patiently await their future and happy owners. Who says precious books does not necessarily mean expensive books: “We offer rare books and first editions from €20 to €17,000 (rare indeed!) covering 500 years of the history of ideas, the printing of the perpetuation of written memory” confides Pascal Antoine. A true epic of literature, in short, “accessible to all types of bibliophiles”. Let us fix the ideas, out of curiosity: a great “modern” author if not the greatest? “I would say a Marcel Proust original limited edition version, dedicated to one of his contemporaries: between €5,000 and €20,000 (!) depending on the dedication” specifies Pascal Antoine. That being said: “No, the old book is not an investment product, I don’t see it that way,” he adds, a little shocked...and cautious. On l’aura compris Le Feu Follet est un trésor. Une dernière question : pourquoi ce nom d’enseigne un brin ésotérique : « Un clin d’œil à Drieu la Rochelle ...et à Louis Malle bien sûr ». Mais c’est aussi la reprise d’un thème qui ne doit rien au hasard ! Oui, Antoine prénommé Pascal, entrepreneur dans l’âme a la littérature dans le sang. Comme il le dit joliment : « Je suis toujours à la mine, à la mine des livres » (l’école du même nom, Ecole des Mines, est à deux pas). Librairie Le Feu Follet, 31 rue Henri Barbusse et 121 bd Saint Michel, Paris 75005. Tel. 01 56 08 08 85 Texte et interview réalisés par Rodolphe de Saint-Hilaire pour Culture-Tops