Claude-Prosper Jolyot de CRÉBILLON

Edition with illustrations colored in pochoir by Georges Villa, one of 100 numbered copies on Marais vellum.
Handsome copy.
Our copy, as indicated in the justification page, contains the full suite of illustrations.

New edition, after the original published in 1736. 3 title pages in red and black.
Contemporary full marbled calf binding. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title label. Headcaps worn. Upper joint cracked. 3 corners bumped, one cut. Some foxing, mainly in margins.
Famous libertine novel in the form of memoirs of M. de Meilcourt. To become a master libertine, Meilcourt follows the lessons of the Marquise de Lussay and her master Versac while he is in love with young Hortense de Theville. Laclos drew inspiration from this work for Les liaisons dangereuses.

Dutch counterfeit of the illustrated 1743 edition with the Peking imprint, the first edition of the text alone dating back to 1734. A frontispiece repeated in both volumes (the emperor of China and his court with monkeys in the trees). Title pages in red and black. Curiously, the publisher retained the title of l'Ecumoire while all other editions are titled Tanzaï et Néardané.
Contemporary full speckled brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Small lack to upper joint at head, and one at foot. Handsome copy, fresh.
This licentious and erotic tale, which sailed on the fashion for marvelous orientalism, achieved immediate success upon its publication, although it caused scandal and the author was accused of obscenity and irreligion; some even saw in it a criticism of the bull Unigenitus (against Jansenism) and Cardinal de Rohan, and Crébillon was imprisoned following these accusations. Tanzaï is a fairy tale and political tale, whose strange plot always surprises the reader, the entire story revolving around a golden skimming ladle with an enormous handle... Indeed, fictional inventiveness is exhibited without restraint in this work by Crébillon fils, it made Voltaire write in 1735: "I know nothing so mad as this book. If I had written it I would be burned." The book is presented in the preface as a classic of Chinese literature.

New edition, reprint of the original published by the same publisher in 1754. Some title pages in red and black. Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with fillets. Red morocco title label. Loss at foot. Title label rubbed and scraped, erasing the letters ONT of "Conte". In the seventh part, the binder has placed p.11 before the first page of text. Some parts do not have a half-title, this is not a defect, only the red and black title pages have a half-title and are not paginated. Very fresh paper.
Third tale published by the author, after Tansaï et Néardané (1734) and Le Sopha (1739), this last oriental and fairy tale benefited from a complex genesis as evidenced by the different states of the manuscripts between 1742 and 1752. Crébillon seeks to reconnect with the success of his first two tales by reiterating several of these writing modes, historical inscription more or less veiled by references to political current events, to scientific discoveries or to the amorous customs of the time, the analysis of feelings or a study of the meanders of consciousness, the marvelous framework. "on peut lire ce conte " astronomique " comme une suite d'expériences, comme une vaste enquête sur les déterminations qui pèsent sur les rois, sur les interférences entre vie privée et vie publique et sur les rapports d'influence réciproque de l'esprit et du corps" ["one can read this 'astronomical' tale as a series of experiences, as a vast inquiry into the determinations that weigh on kings, on the interferences between private life and public life and on the reciprocal influence between mind and body"]. Jean Sgard, Crébillon, OEuvres complètes, Classique Garnier 1999-2002. Like Le Sopha, this tale is inspired by the Thousand and One Nights and relies on a narrator, it is often considered as its sequel.

Second edition and first Dutch edition. Title pages in red and black. One repeated title vignette.
Contemporary full speckled calf binding. Spine with raised bands richly ornamented. A small lack at head. 2 corners slightly bumped. Split to upper joint at head. Good copy. Famous epistolary and libertine novel of a tragic passion that ends with the death of the lover. Here is the dawn of a total and devouring love, of which one knows not whether it is addressed to a real man or to an ideal. Crébillon chose to give us only the letters of the Marquise who dramatically applies herself to analyzing the least of her feelings, whose passion of love will lead her to death, thus fulfilling the letter that her name bears: M.

The Sylphe was first published in 1730, it is Crébillon's first tale. Lettre d'un jeune officier is in anonymous first edition; very rare, this first edition appears to be absent from all libraries. At the end of the letter, a signature: L.B.D.K. Rare edition.
Modern cream parchment paper boards binding. Black sheep title-label.
An erotic tale, the Sylphe, a spirit appearing to a woman weary of men, is the demon of masturbation.

First edition, rare. Title in red and black.
Contemporary brown sheep. Spine richly decorated in compartments. Red morocco title- and volume- labels (nicely decorated). Upper joint of volume one split at head. 5 corners bumped. Rubbing. A few scratches and scrapes to covers. Spotting to first three leaves of each volume. Brown stain to edge of first volume, touching a few leaves. Quite a good copy nonetheless, with attractive spines.
This licentious and erotic fairytale, which plays on the contemporary fashion of fantastical Orientalism, proved very popular as soon as it was published, though the subject of some scandal. It led to the author being accused of obscenity and impiety; some people even saw it as a critique of the Unigenitus Bull (targeting Jansenism) and Cardinal Rohan. Crébillon was imprisoned as a result of these accusations. Tanzaï is a political fairy-tale like story, the strangeness of whose plot never fails to surprise the reader, the entire story revolving around a golden straining spoon with a giant handle.
The limitless inventiveness of fiction is well illustrated by this work of Crébillon fils’, which inspired Voltaire to write in 1735: “I know of nothing else as madcap as this book. Had I written it, I would have been burned.”

New edition printed in a small number of copies on laid paper.
Light spotting on the front endpaper, otherwise a handsome copy.