La Pléiade originale Schiffrin (1931-1940): identification guide for collectors

An original Pléiade from Schiffrin—i.e., a volume published between 1931 and autumn 1933 under the imprint ‘Éditions de la Pléiade / J. Schiffrin & Cie’—is a very different proposition from a modern Pléiade purchased in a bookshop today. Same pocket format, same Garamond typeface, same bible paper, but an editorial imprint that changes everything for the collector. Here’s how to spot them, without being misled by later reprints or rebound copies.

Schiffrin: from Baku to the Éditions de la Pléiade

Jacques Schiffrin was born in Baku in 1892, son of an oil industrialist. Emigrating to France in the early 1920s, he founded in Paris, in 1923, the Éditions de la Pléiade / J. Schiffrin & Cie. The house began with illustrated editions and Russian translations, including Pushkin, which Schiffrin translated himself.

The concept of a Bibliothèque de la Pléiade took shape around 1930. The aim: to gather the works of a major author into a single volume that would fit in a pocket, yet be printed and bound like a prize book. The first volume appeared in autumn 1931, a Baudelaire, tome I, completed at the printers Coulouma, Argenteuil. Schiffrin was 39 and virtually penniless; he went into debt to launch the series.

The original design: a portable luxury object

Schiffrin drew his inspiration from parish missals, designed to withstand a century of daily use. The design he established in 1931 was later adopted by Gallimard and has barely changed in 90 years:

• Format: approx. 105 × 175 mm. A slight difference from today’s Pléiade (105 × 170 mm): a few millimetres, nothing more.
• Paper: extremely thin bible paper. The 1931 prospectus describes it as ‘papier des Indes’—a flattering commercial term that in reality denotes high-quality European bible paper.
• Typography: 9-point Garamond. A choice that has never been questioned.
• Binding: full flexible leather (goatskin, calf, sometimes vellum depending on the volume and stock), gilt in fine gold on the spine.
• Dense pagination: 600 to 1,500 pages in a single volume that fits in the hand, thanks to the thinness of the bible paper.

To place this innovation in its editorial context, see our study on French publishing schools (NRF, Mercure, Pléiade).

A dozen volumes before the Gallimard takeover

Between autumn 1931 and summer 1933, Schiffrin published around a dozen volumes under his own imprint. Sources mention Baudelaire, Racine, Voltaire, Edgar Allan Poe, Laclos, Musset, Stendhal, followed by Vigny, Heine and Mérimée. All bear on the title page the imprint « Éditions de la Pléiade / J. Schiffrin & Cie », with no trace of Gallimard.

It is this detail, and this alone, which defines a original Schiffrin Pléiade in the strictest sense. The takeover by Gaston Gallimard was finalised in July 1933. From the autumn of 1933 onwards, new volumes appeared under the imprint « NRF / Gallimard », though Schiffrin remained in editorial charge until November 1940.

Schiffrin vs Gallimard: what changes at a glance

November 1940: the abrupt end

On 5 November 1940, Gaston Gallimard dismissed Jacques Schiffrin, in application of the first Jewish Statute promulgated by the Vichy regime on 3 October 1940. The founder of the Pléiade moved to the southern zone, found no work, and eventually sailed for New York with financial help from André Gide. There he founded Pantheon Books, and died in the United States in 1950 without ever returning to France.

Volumes published between autumn 1933 and November 1940 thus bear the Gallimard imprint, but were still conceived and directed by Schiffrin. Many booksellers still classify them under the broader « Schiffrin period ».

Print runs, original prices, large-paper editions

Schiffrin never published print-run figures volume by volume, and the Gallimard archives for this period are only partially accessible. A few solid points nonetheless:

• The 1931 Baudelaire saw a 1935 reprint by Coulouma, identifiable by a nota bene added at the end without pagination changes. Many copies in circulation today are in fact this reprint rather than the original 1931 first printing.
• Schiffrin did not develop numbered print runs on Japanese or Dutch paper for the Pléiade series. There was no “large-paper” edition in the classic bibliophile sense, unlike the NRF white series of the same period.
• The initial retail price, around 100 francs in 1931, placed the full-leather volume above ordinary books but well below a traditional bibliophile edition.

To understand how to read a print-run statement correctly and spot variants, see our guide on identifying a first edition.

Current market value and common pitfalls

As of 2025–2026, a Schiffrin Pléiade in fine condition, with original binding, sells through specialist booksellers for roughly €80 to €250 per volume. First printings from 1931–1933 of Baudelaire, Racine, or Laclos regularly exceed €300 at auction, reaching up to €600 for pristine copies with original slipcase and bookmark in place. By comparison, modern Pléiade lots sold at Drouot often fetch around €30 each—a striking price gap between the two eras.

Common pitfalls include later resewn bindings, spines rebacked with newer leather, 1935–1940 reprints sold as first printings, and mismatched slipcases. For families inheriting a library containing early Pléiade volumes, see also our guide to libraries and estates and the method for valuing inherited rare books.

Five-step identification method

1. Title page. Look for “Éditions de la Pléiade / J. Schiffrin & Cie.” If you see “NRF” or “Gallimard,” the book dates after summer 1933.
2. Colophon. Identify the printer (Coulouma in Argenteuil for 1931–1935) and the full date. Note any reprints: a volume dated 1935 by Coulouma is not a 1931 first printing.
3. Paper. Hold a page up to a light: genuine bible paper, very thin yet opaque, with a slightly ivory tint. Thick white paper is a red flag—likely a later facsimile.

For the basics of the vocabulary (colophon, type area, gathering, bookmark), see our glossary of antique book anatomy.