AROUND THE LIBRARY TRUNK
Imagination and inspiration come together at Louis Vuitton, which never ceases to revisit its love of words and travel.
This is a story of trunks, of monograms, of secret drawers, promised writings and rebirths. In the mid-19th century, when modern means of transportation were encouraging dreams of exploration, Louis Vuitton began to create personalized trunks. Photographic equipment, musical instruments, camp beds, shower rooms and dressing tables all took to the road as special orders attained new heights of ingenuity and sophistication.
Ernest Hemingway – a restless spirit if ever there was one – also took to imagining his ideal trunk. Gaston-Louis Vuitton brought it into being and, in May 1927, delivered the library trunk, a marvel of secret drawers and snug shelves that would henceforth accompany the writer on his travels. It subsequently disappeared, only to reappear in the basement of The Ritz in Paris, along with the long-lost manuscript of A Moveable Feast, Hemingway’s posthumous masterpiece. Years later, this intriguing tale was taken up by Nicolas d’Estienne d’Orves, whose short story Sentinels of the Void joined works by Yann Moix, Virginie Despentes and Eliette Abecassis, among others, in the anthology The Trunk, a paean to the celebrated literary spirit of Saint-Germain des Prés and Louis Vuitton’s love of words. This spirit is revived, just a stone’s throw from Café de Flore, in the Louis Vuitton writing store, where one-off pens, exclusive inks and crystal inkstands mix with the “Writing” collection and the now legendary library trunks.
Trunks
Ernest Hemingway
Gaston Louis Vuitton