Jean Nourse

New collected edition of the works of Montesquieu.

Illustrated with a fine frontispiece portrait by de Sève and engraved by Littret, appearing here for the first time in its first state, along with two folding maps in the first volume.

Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, spines with raised bands with gilt compartments, floral gilt tooling, and guilloché tooling on the bands, red morocco title labels and green morocco volume labels, boards framed in gilt with floral cornerpieces, gilt tooling on board edges, marbled edges; rubbing to edges and corners, one corner of vol. I worn, some scuffing, small wormtrack with a lack of leather on the front board of vol. I, minor marginal stain on the plate of vol. I and on p. 1 of vol. II, as well as p. 667 of vol. III.

A handsome contemporary binding copy of Montesquieu's works, expanded with the 'Lettres familières'. The edition was prepared by François Richer with the assistance of Montesquieu’s son, based on the author’s manuscripts.

 

Rare French first edition, illustrated with 3 frontispieces by Eisen engraved by Pinssio.
Contemporary full brown calf, marbled and glazed. Red morocco title label, beige morocco volume label. Head of volume I torn away. Joints of volume I narrowly split at head and tail. Rubbing. Title pages browned, as well as some pages. Good copy.
The novel appeared in England in 1748 unsigned, Smollet assumed authorship once success was achieved. This picaresque novel declared a model, which it followed and transgressed, that of Gil Blas by Lesage, which according to Smollet lacks psychology and a tighter narrative linking events together. The work quickly achieved success and was finally translated into France in 1761 under Fielding's name, who was at the height of his success in France; one should not be surprised, for commercial reasons, to find his name attached to the work, especially since the translator did not know the true name of the author. This is one of the greatest English novels of the 18th century in which the hero, in a picaresque and sometimes burlesque vein, tries all conditions to achieve a condition, that of gentleman: in turn sailor on all seas, soldier in France, fortune hunter, the vicissitudes of existence dear to the English novel (Robinson Crusoe, Tom Jones) allow the author a severe critique of the society of his time. In a skillful balance, Smollet manages to transgress and blend all the literary genres of his era: travel narrative, autobiography, sentimental novel, critique of morals, satire of society, denunciation of hypocrisy, prostitution of bodies and minds, etc. One could not finish detailing the richness of the book.

Second edition from the same publisher, the first having been published the year before in 1769. We know that the publisher was actually Delalain and that it was printed in Paris, but the publisher used a false address to evade censorship.
Contemporary brown calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with acorn tools. Red morocco title label. Upper joint narrowly split at head. Handsome copy.
Le pornographe is a manifesto for the regulation of prostitution. The author is the inventor of the neologism that combines two Greek roots and literally means: one who writes about prostitutes. This project for regulating prostitutes has the originality of having a literary form, Restif using letters to Madame des Tianges to detail the situation of prostitutes. The author's main thesis being as follows: This appearing as a necessary evil, it must be controlled by creating specialized houses, supervised by police and doctors, and administered in a manner to guarantee an establishment for the children of women of pleasure. The most surprising thing for the reader is to observe that the author has created rules for everything: food, linen, hygiene... There is certainly a real fascination of Restif for prostitution, but it never descends into immorality; on the contrary, the author seems to be seeking a new morality that takes immorality into account. The second part deals with the situation of prostitution in several countries and cities of Europe.
Bookplate of F. M. Caye.

New edition, the best and most complete, established by Prosper Marchand (the first edition of 1709 contained only 5 volumes). Title pages in red and black printed on heavy paper. 9 title vignettes. 12 pages of catalogue at the end.
Contemporary full speckled calf bindings. Spines with raised bands ornately decorated. Havana morocco title and volume labels. Headcap of volume II worn away. Lacking at head of volume V. Headcaps of volumes VIII and IX worn away, same at head of volume IX. Upper joint split at tail of volume VIII. Corners worn on volumes VIII and IX, same on volume VII. Some corners bumped.
From his first military victories, the Comte d'Estrades was an important figure in history during the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, ambassador and diplomat in England, Holland, Germany, he was one of the plenipotentiaries in the preparation of the peace of Nijmegen. Marshal of France, governor of Dunkirk (after having negotiated for its repurchase), perpetual Mayor of Bordeaux and viceroy of New France, he accumulated honors and offices. The Comte had amassed a great number of documents on his multiple activities. We know today that some of these documents and certain letters were falsified by the Comte d'Estrades himself to glorify his memory.
The correspondence and documents are classified by years, from 1637 to 1677. The whole constitutes an incredible mass of letters and memoirs on European affairs.
Bookplate: Ex bibliotheca Jos. Henr. Chave, Parochi.

First edition illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author by Tinney.
Contemporary full brown calf binding. Spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and fleurons, as well as a red morocco title label; two contemporary library labels at foot of spine. Blind fillet frame to boards. Gilt roll on leading edges and headcaps. All edges red.
Head damaged with lacks, joints cracked and corners bumped.
Very fresh copy.
Biography composed partly from Thou's own memoirs and extracted from l'histoire du seizième siècle by Durand.