Antoine de RIVAROL

The rare first collected edition, with a frontispiece portrait. This edition contains most of Rivarol's writings and notably numerous short pieces, but it is not entirely complete; certain royalist or monarchist writings were not retained in this edition under the Empire. At the beginning of the fifth volume, a letter from Madame Rivarol thanking the publisher for having removed the calumnious and mendacious notice from volume I. This notice, indeed, has been removed from numerous volumes.

Contemporary bindings in full marbled brown sheep. Spines decorated with 5 different small fleurons. Dark brown calf title and volume labels. Headcaps torn away, except at foot of volume I...

Edition printed in 140 copies on Sirène Arjomari offset paper with typography entrusted to the Daragnès printing house.
Work illustrated with a portrait of Rivarol engraved in burin by Lemagny.
Rare and handsome copy.

First edition. Two editions appeared at the same time, this one, and a second in Hamburg, published by Fauche. See Tchemerzine V, 409. The continuation of this preliminary discourse, as well as the famous dictionary, would never see the light of day. The second text appeared for the first time in Berlin in 1784, closely following the "subject proposed by the Berlin Academy".
Tchemerzine V, 403: 'Cette édition, très bien imprimée, est aussi recherchée que l'originale'.
Half black shagreen Jansenist binding from the mid-19th century. Spine with 4 raised bands.
The preliminary discourse is an ambitious work, simultaneously a reflection on phonetics, a linguistic reflection, and a...

Reprint of the first edition also published in 1789. A second volume of these portraits would appear a little later.
In original wrappers. Title page margins worn.
The work is a series of portraits, with a key at the end of the book to identify them; it includes Necker, Guillotin, Sieyès... Luchet also participated in writing some of these portraits.