A Choice Between Two Paths

Description

RAPHAEL MAURICE. One of two things. Paris, Editions du Scorpion, 1949. Octavo, 229 pages, paperback with illustrated cover. First edition. Angel Bastiani is the main pen name of Victor Maurice Élie Jean Le Page (1918–1977), a French writer prolific in the thriller genre, also writing under pseudonyms including Ralph Bertis, Zep Cassini, Luigi Da Costa, Angel Gabrielli, Maurice Raphaël, Victor Saint-Victor, and Vic Vorlier. Born to a Breton naval officer but raised in Toulon, Le Page maintained discretion about his background, claiming his mother's Corsican maiden name. After World War II, he began writing under the name Maurice Raphaël, published by Raymond Guerin at Éditions du Scorpion. His prose style echoed Céline with characteristic slang and caustic formulations imbued with pessimism. Le Page and Albert Simonin were regarded as masters of argot in mid-century French letters. With a turbulent past—allegations of wartime collaboration notwithstanding—Le Page refined his craft while imprisoned at Fresnes and Fontevraud, where he served as librarian and conceived his crime novels. He authored erotic novels, plays, and guides, but achieved greatest recognition through detective novels published in Série Noire and other collections during the 1950s–60s, often set in Corsican and Marseille underworld milieus.