ABBé PREVOST
Le philosophe anglois, ou histoire de Monsieur Cleveland, fils naturel de Cromwel, Ecrite par lui-même & traduite de l'anglois
Chez Paul Vailant|à Londres [London] 1777|9.50 x 16.50 cm|six volumes reliés
New edition, illustrated with 12 figures by Desrais. Title pages in red and black. The volumes were successively published in 1731, 1732, 1734 and 1739 and the complete novel would appear for the first time in 1741.
Contemporary marbled full calf bindings. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title and volume labels. Marbled edges. Headcaps of volumes I and V worn. Nevertheless a good copy.
It was in England that Abbé Prévost (one of the greatest and most prolific novelists of the 18th century) wrote the English episodes and the utopia of Cleveland which forms part of his early works: in this travel narrative, the hero, "Cromwell's natural son," seeks philosophical certainties and emotional tranquility. To this end he explores the limits and possibilities of love, savage life, Protestant dogmatism, through rich ordeals. Cleveland's American utopia of a new world dies, because there is no redeemed world, founded on natural morality, that can resist evil. Thus, like most of Prévost's works, Cleveland is born from a tension between society and individual aspirations.
Contemporary marbled full calf bindings. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title and volume labels. Marbled edges. Headcaps of volumes I and V worn. Nevertheless a good copy.
It was in England that Abbé Prévost (one of the greatest and most prolific novelists of the 18th century) wrote the English episodes and the utopia of Cleveland which forms part of his early works: in this travel narrative, the hero, "Cromwell's natural son," seeks philosophical certainties and emotional tranquility. To this end he explores the limits and possibilities of love, savage life, Protestant dogmatism, through rich ordeals. Cleveland's American utopia of a new world dies, because there is no redeemed world, founded on natural morality, that can resist evil. Thus, like most of Prévost's works, Cleveland is born from a tension between society and individual aspirations.
€400