Frances BROOKE

The rare first French edition, translated by Jean-Baptiste Robinet, after the first English edition published in 1769. Four attractive separate engraved title pages. Changuion catalogue at the end of the third part. The edition shared in Paris with Le Jay appeared a few months later and does not have engraved titles.
Contemporary binding in full marbled brown sheep. Decorated raised-band spine. Beige morocco title label, tobacco morocco volume label. Triple fillet frame on boards. Loss to lower joint at foot of volume I. 3 corners bumped. Handsome copy, fresh overall.
Epistolary novel set in Canada. "The romantic customs of Canada and the manners of its inhabitants are described in this novel with great truth," Revue des Romans (1839). Frances Brooke (1724-1789), English woman of letters, lived in Canada where she had married an Anglican minister. A lieutenant goes to French Canada with the aim of establishing a settlement, and resides in Quebec, Montreal (of which he gives extensive descriptions). The lieutenant undertakes certain journeys in Canada, to New York, and shares his political reflections on the necessity of uniting the French and English, on the customs of the Hurons, etc. Very interesting novel about Canada around 1765 and the different colonies (definitive cession of French Canada to England in 1763).