1963 Rare First Limited Edition #561- The Planet of the Apes, Planete des Singes
The original 1963 French edition of Pierre Boulle’s science-fiction masterpiece, the novel that would give birth to the extraordinary Planet of the Apes phenomenon.
Author: Pierre Boulle.
Title: La Planète des Singes [Planet of the Apes].
Publisher: Paris: Le Cercle du Nouveau Livre, 1963. First Edition, first printing of this numbered issue. Copy no. 561. Copyright Éditions René Julliard, 1963.
Language: Text in French.
Size: 8" x 5.5".
Pages: 265 pages.
Binding: Near-fine original full green cloth binding, with white and gilt lettering to the front board and gilt lettering to the spine, the front incorporating a subtle pictorial design of a tree and apes. The cloth remains clean and attractive with only light signs of age and use, as shown. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Near fine content. The pages are clean, bright and firmly bound, with only light age toning. This copy is numbered No. 000561 R in the colophon. The volume was completed in printing on January 8, 1963, by Imprimeries Oberthur in Rennes and bound by Prache de Franclieu. The colophon expressly identifies it as part of an “édition originale numérotée.”
Estimate: USD $600–1250.
The book: La Planète des Singes is one of the landmark works of twentieth-century science fiction and the novel that originated the internationally famous Planet of the Apes universe. First published in France in 1963, Pierre Boulle’s story combines an ingenious adventure narrative with satire and philosophical reflections on civilization, intelligence, prejudice and humanity’s confidence in its own superiority.
The novel begins with Jinn and Phyllis travelling through space aboard a solar-sail vessel when they discover a manuscript recounting the extraordinary experiences of journalist Ulysse Mérou. Mérou has travelled to a distant planet where the familiar hierarchy of Earth has been reversed: highly intelligent apes have developed an advanced civilization, while human beings exist largely as primitive animals.
What initially appears to be a fantastic inversion gradually becomes something more unsettling. Boulle uses the premise to examine the assumptions by which societies define intelligence, progress and civilization, while continually challenging the reader’s sense of humanity’s privileged place in the natural order.
The novel achieved international success and was translated into English shortly after its French publication. Its fame expanded enormously with the celebrated 1968 motion-picture adaptation starring Charlton Heston, which subsequently inspired sequels, television productions, remakes and modern film series. Despite the enormous cultural legacy of the films, Boulle’s original novel remains a distinctive and sophisticated work in its own right.
This attractive numbered copy belongs to the original French edition of 1963, making it particularly desirable for collectors of modern first editions, classic science fiction and the origins of the Planet of the Apes franchise.
The author: Pierre Boulle (1912–1994) was a French novelist and engineer whose unusual life provided much of the intellectual and experiential background for his fiction. Born in Avignon, he trained as an electrical engineer before working as a rubber planter in Malaya. During the Second World War he joined the Free French forces, served in Southeast Asia and was captured and imprisoned before eventually escaping.
These experiences contributed to Boulle’s enduring fascination with human behaviour, social structures and the often absurd contradictions of civilization. He achieved international fame with Le Pont de la rivière Kwaï (The Bridge over the River Kwai), which was adapted into the Academy Award-winning 1957 film.
With La Planète des Singes, Boulle created his other great international success. Combining speculative science fiction, philosophical satire and adventure, the novel became one of the most influential French works of popular fiction of the twentieth century and the foundation of one of cinema’s most enduring science-fiction franchises.