Claude-Prosper Jolyot de CRÉBILLON

Second edition, partly original, notably augmented with several additional pieces, complete with the caricature  woodcut portrait of the widow Oudot as frontispiece, printed in green, as is the title. According to Barbier, the burlesque portrait was engraved by one of the authors, the comte de Caylus himself.

Contemporary full mottled brown calf, smooth spine richly gilt with fleurons, palms and scrollwork, brown-red morocco lettering-piece, triple gilt fillet bordering the boards with fleurons at corners, gilt...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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