The first volume of the catalogue raisonné of Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) covers the years 1840–1886. Cécile Goldscheider, a former head conservator at the Musée Rodin in Paris and the author of the catalogue’s essay, discusses significant aspects of Rodin’s career such as his training at the École impériale spéciale de dessin et de mathématiques, collaboration with the sculptor Carrier-Belleuse, his first sojourn in Italy, and the sculptor’s challenging beginnings as well as his first successes. The volume ends on Rodin’s encounter with Camille Claudel, and on the elaboration of the Portes de l’enfer, which both announced the radical turns his life and art were about to take.