About forty years ago I was taking a long trip on foot over

Il y a environ une quarantaine d'années, je faisais une longue course à pied, sur

mountain heights quite unknown to tourists, in that ancient region

des hauteurs absolument inconnues des touristes, dans cette très vieille région

where the Alps thrust down into Provence.

des Alpes qui pénètre en Provence.”

Beginning: The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono

Imagine a book about a man who planted trees in an edition that itself comes from a tree, for this magnificent volume is covered with the bark of the mulberry tree.

Imagine also an ancient and enchanted land in the south of France. The Vaucluse inspired Jean Giono to write this book and the renowned photographer, Martine Franck, to create five hauntingly beautiful photogravures of scenes from that magical land.

Andre Malraux called Giono (1895-1970) “one of the greatest writers of our generation.”  Inspired by God or Pan, perhaps—Giono’s hero in this story expresses humanity's ancient kinship with the earth and reverence for all living things.

The original French text alternates, line by line, with the English translation.

The complex photogravure process, in which a photographic image is transferred to a copper plate using gelatin coated paper, can reveal subtleties that even the photographer had not seen in the negative. The book is covered with mulberry bark and the Nigerian goatskin spine has the title stamped in 22‑karat gold. The lined slipcase is covered in black Italian cotton.