Le Paratexte pour la définition et pour l’étude des collections. Le cas des «Prosateurs français contemporains» des éditions Rieder (1921-1939)

The subject of this article is the paratext of one of the two major literary collections of Rieder’s publishing house, the «Prosateurs français contemporains» (1921-1939). In order to define the profile of the collection and to promote it, the publishersmake extensive use of the peritext, primarily the back-cover, through which they advertise other books in the catalog and propose groupings of works that informs us about their priorities. With the launch of the magazine Europe, in 1923, the collection gains a new epitextual space of promotion and definition –and vice versa. The importance of the paratext is fundamental for the study of «Prosateurs français contemporains» and Rieder editions in general, whose archives were destroyed during the Second World War: the peripheral areas are the only ways to get to the heart of the editorial project.