First editions and first illustrated editions of literature classics from 15th to 18th century in contemporary bindings

First edition in-12 of Jacques le Fataliste et son maître, the very first issue to include three engraved frontispieces. The text is preceded by a tribute to Diderot by Jacques-Henri Meister, a close friend of the author and Grimm's successor at the head of the Correspondance littéraire.

Contemporary marbled sheepskin bindings, gilt borders to the covers, smooth spines with gilt compartments and fleurons, brown lettering-pieces and numbering-pieces, gilt roulette to the board edges, pastedowns in blue paste paper, all edges gilt. Rubbing to the joints and corners, a few scattered spots to the leaves, otherwise an attractive copy.

Reprint of the 1709 Regensburg edition by the heirs of Mathias Kerner, published under a false imprint (actually printed in Rouen). This copy illustrated with 10 plates (numerous portraits), including 2 folding plates (the procession of the League and the estates of the League) and one in-text illustration. Title pages printed in red and black. Frontispiece repeated in all 3 volumes. Contemporary bindings in full polished calf. Spines with raised bands, richly decorated. Red morocco lettering-pieces and brown morocco volume numbering-pieces. Headcap of volume III restored. Split at head of upper joint of...

A rare first edition, of which no subsequent reprint exists, complete with all his Neo-Latin poems, chiefly composed in Rome. The volume also contains two Greek poems at ff. 60 and 62, together with a poem which inspired the celebrated sonnet Happy he who like Ulysses.

Modern binding in full limp vellum, smooth spine, red edges, white pastedowns and endleaves.

Some defects within: discreet restoration to inner margin of title verso; small tear without loss at foot of ff. 2-3; dampstaining to lower margin of ff. 25-28 and 45-48; minimal marginal defect to f. 44, not affecting...

First collected edition of the works by the author of Les Étourdis ou le Mort supposé, a comedy that enjoyed great success just before the Revolution.

The set includes a portrait frontispiece in the first volume, four engraved plates, and ten engraved headpieces.

Bound in contemporary full polished and mottled brown calf, gilt decoration, smooth spines with six false raised bands highlighted with gilt fillets and repeated gilt floral tools, gilt fillet frames on covers bordered with a garland roll, gilt tooling to head- and tailpieces, green morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges on boards, marbled edges, contemporary bindings.

Some...

First edition of Joseph von Hammer's major history of Persian belles-lettres, published in Vienna in 1818 by Heubner und Volke. Large quarto, XII and 432 pages, with an engraved portrait of the author as frontispiece, a plate of music bound between pages 272 and 273, and an index. The work is dedicated to Silvestre de Sacy.

Contemporary half polished tan calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, chain tools and floral ornaments, saffron-coloured boards, marbled edges. Joints split at foot and more slightly at head. A handsome copy with generous margins.

Hammer's...

First edition of this periodical, the inaugural volume of which appeared in 1776. Publication continued until 1789 and ultimately comprised 112 volumes; sets are consequently very difficult to assemble, particularly in uniform bindings.

Copy bearing unidentified arms.

Contemporary full brown sheep. Smooth gilt-decorated spine. Red morocco lettering-piece and volume label. Upper cover stamped with armorial devices. Headcaps defective in five places. Various abrasions. A few early cracks at the head of the joints.

First edition of this important account of Buffon, providing insights into his private life, his character, and his relationships with those around him; it also contains numerous references to his scientific work (cf. Quérard I, 119: "Lyon, Grabit, 1788"; Dureau, "Notice sur Joseph Aude," p. 15).

Half vellum binding, smooth spine with a red morocco title label in vertical layout, marbled paper boards, slightly rubbed corners, sprinkled edges.

Stains in the margins of the title page and final leaf.

The memoirs proper end on page 55.

The following pages contain the poems announced in the title.

The rarity of this volume was already noted by Dureau in...

Edition limited to 60 copies of this rare and celebrated pamphlet tracing the history of the bean and Epiphany.

"Cette dissertation était devenue si rare qu'on en connaissait que deux exemplaires; elle a été réimprimée en 1808, à Besançon". Brunet I, 1387.

Our copy is preserved in its original stitching, in contemporary plain marbled blue paper wrappers.

Foxing to the title page, small angular paper losses to the wrappers.

A rare and handsome copy, with wide margins, as issued.

The ‘Kehl edition’, the most renowned edition of Voltaire's works, illustrated and published on deluxe paper. It was printed on five different types of paper, and only the deluxe editions, such as ours on laid paper, feature engravings. These are naturally the most sought-after and rarest copies.

Binding in full painted sheep decorated with a “honeycomb” motif, smooth spine tooled with gilt fleurons, fillets and compartments, light beige calf lettering and volume pieces, gilt chain-roll border on covers, marbled endpapers, gilt roll on edges, all edges marbled, contemporary binding. Two volumes (nos. 50 and 70) with slight variations in gilt tools on the spines and...

First edition.

Full red morocco binding, round spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons, slight rubbing on the caps, double frame of blind-stamped gilt fillets on the covers, with fleurons at the corners of the inner frame, edges slightly blunt, marbled paper endpapers and back covers, gilt edges and heads, very elegant 19th-century binding ‘a la Du Seuil’ signed Quinet on the first endpaper. 

Rare first edition of Chamblain de Marivaux's first theatrical success, The Surprise of Love, published four years before The Second Surprise of Love. This play, performed in the spring of 1722 before being published the...

First edition of the French translation by Nicolas-Gabriel Vaquette d'Hermilly (1705 or 1710–1778), later revised by La Harpe (Quérard II, 30; Cioranescu, XVIII, 33 926).

Despite its very late date, this was only the second attempt at a French translation of Os Lusiadas (1572), following that of 1735 by Duperron de Castéra, which had failed to convince contemporary readers.

This edition includes 10 copper-engraved plates out of text, and is further enriched with notes and a biography of the author.

Bound in early 19th-century green bottle Russian morocco over pink paper boards, corners reinforced, flat spines with gilt double fillets and black ruling; some...

First edition, of great rarity (cf. Sabin 4182).

Bradel-style binding in full orange paper-covered boards, with a brown shagreen spine label; modern binding.

A very good copy.

A vindication of France’s conduct during the uprising of the British colonies in America.

New edition, adorned with a portrait of the author by Daullé, three headpieces by de Sève engraved by Juste Chevillet, twelve plates engraved by Jacques Aliamet, Jean-Jacques Flipart, Noël Le Mire, Louis-Simon Lempereur, Dominique Sornique, and Jacques-Nicolas Tardieu, and thirteen vignettes and sixty tail-pieces, all by de Sève engraved by Jean-Charles Baquoy, Jean-Jacques Flipart, and Louis Legrand.

A superb copy of the first luxury edition of Racine, among the most sought-after, bound in the most sumptuous red morocco.

Contemporary full red morocco, spine with five raised bands and gilt compartments, triple gilt fillet border, corner fleurons, yellow...

New collected edition of the works of this German-born Neo-Latin poet, one of a few copies printed on deluxe Dutch paper (see Brunet III, 1180–1181. Cf. G. Oberlé, "Poètes néo-latins", pp. 134–137; Van Tieghem, p. 91 ff.).

The first volume includes a portrait of the author.

Full ivory vellum bindings, spines with five raised bands richly decorated with gilt floral and ornamental rolls, red morocco title labels, gilt dentelle frame to covers, gilt plaques with the legend "Minerva Dordracena" at the center of each board, sprinkled edges, red silk ties (mostly missing), contemporary bindings.

A fine edition according to Brunet, who notes: “There are copies on...

Deluxe edition of the Works of Salomon Gessner, published in Paris between 1786 and 1793 in three large quarto volumes, finely printed on wove paper and preserved in handsome uniform contemporary green morocco bindings.

Smooth spines decorated with four gilt cornucopia tools and ornamental rolls, gilt roll borders to the boards, board edges and turn-ins, pink paper pastedowns, all edges gilt. Some rubbing, darker areas to the boards of the second volume, spines uniformly faded, occasional foxing.

The illustration comprises three engraved titles, a...

First edition, first issue, exhibiting all the bibliographical points recorded by Cohen-de Ricci (nos. 769–772): an engraved frontispiece, three dedication plates, four title ornaments, thirty vignettes and a final tailpiece, together with one hundred and forty full-page illustrations, including the frontispiece, numbered 2 to 140 and distributed 48, 33, 37 and 22 across the four volumes. The illustrations are after designs by Boucher, Eisen, Gravelot, Le Prince, Monnet and Moreau, and engraved by, among others, Baquoy, Basan, Binet, Duclos and de Ghendt. The frontispiece, three of the four title ornaments and the majority of the vignettes are the work of...

Elzevirian "à la sphère" edition based on the first one printed in 1623, with the same features, including a red-and-black title page for the first volume and a black title page for the second. Brunet suggests it may have been printed in Brussels (IV, 1050).

Numerous headbands, culs-de-lampe, and initials.

Full dark green morocco binding, spine with five raised bands, with gilt fleurons and framed in blind, gilt date at foot. Covers with a Du Seuil-style double panel of blind-ruled borders, gilt fleurons at the corners of the inner panel, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, inner gilt dentelle, gilt edges, edges and spine-ends ruled in gilt.  Binding signed "Petit succede...

New edition and the last early collected edition of Ronsard's works, comprising volumes IV, V, VI, and VII. Engraved portraits of Charles IX and Henri III (the same used twice), and two vignette headpieces with a medallion portrait of Ronsard. Royal arms on all four title pages. Tables at the end of each volume.
Contemporary limp full vellum binding. Smooth spine. Volume numbers and date in black ink manuscript. The volume number on the first title page was pencilled in. Endpapers detached from the boards. A good copy.

Collected edition, partly first edition, of the plays of Pierre Corneille, printed in Rouen by Laurens Maurry and sold in Paris by Augustin Courbé and Guillaume de Luyne. Illustrated with three allegorical engraved frontispieces and 23 full-page copper-engravings, largely designed by François Chauveau and engraved by artists including Jérôme David, Mathéus and Louis Spirinx.

All three frontispieces are dated 1660. The title-pages and privileges of the first and third volumes are likewise dated 1660, while those of the second volume bear the date 1664. The second volume therefore belongs to the 1664 reissue...

Rare critical edition of this medieval chivalric romance. Includes a preface on the origins of chivalry and early tournaments, along with a foreword to aid the understanding of the narrative. This edition also features two tales: Histoire de messire Floridan et de la belle Ellinde, et Addicion extraites des cronicques de Flandres, qui est très belle chose.
Contemporary full polished red morocco. Smooth spine with decorative gilt tooling, red morocco label for title and volume number. Triple gilt fillet border on covers. Gilt edges. Gilt inner dentelles. A few small spots of foxing. Title-page of the first volume reinforced at lower margin, an old restoration. Tail of volume I...

First edition, illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece by Cazes engraved by Tardieu, a title vignette by Humblot repeated, and four repeated headpieces by the same artist, as well as a folding map of ancient Greece and a plate of medals. Title pages printed in red and black.
Contemporary full mottled and polished calf. Spine richly gilt in compartments. Red morocco title label, volume label in gilt-decorated brown calf. Losses to the headcaps of volumes I and III. Splits to the upper joints of volume I. In volume I, from pages 190 to 370, two small wormholes affect the upper margin; from page 371 onwards, these gradually develop into short tunnels, extending 1.5 cm along the upper...

First edition of this rare historical novel by Jean de Pelisseri, published in Paris by Charles de Sercy in 1684, illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece and 34 half-page engravings by Sébastien Le Clerc, one for each chapter.

Contemporary full red morocco with gilt dentelle. Spine with raised bands, the compartments decorated with a repeated small floral tool known as the “fleur d’oignon”; morocco lettering- and numbering-pieces; broad gilt dentelle borders composed of small tools to the...

Seven octavo volumes bringing together, in uniform contemporary bindings, the greater part of La Fontaine’s Works in the critical edition prepared by Charles-Athanase Walckenaer and published in Paris by Lefèvre in the early 1820s, with one important distinction: in place of the volume of Contes et nouvelles en vers originally intended for the set, an independent edition, abundantly illustrated after Eisen and published in Paris by the Libraires associés in 1791-1796, has been substituted.

Second edition.

Bound in full roan, spine with five raised bands framed in gilt and decorated in gilt, edges framed in gilt partially faded in places, all edges speckled.
Lower corners bumped, worming visible on the first seven leaves.

A rare edition of this work, which include Dialogue de l'amour et de l'amitié, Critique de l'Opéra, La Peinture, Le Miroir ou la métamorphose d'Orante, La Chambre de justice de l'amour, une Critique de l'opéra Alceste.
Also featured is Charles Perrault's description of the now-lost Labyrinth of Versailles, a creation by the great Le Nôtre.

This remarkable labyrinth boasted thirty-nine fountains, each illustrating one...

Very elegant edition of Perrault's fairy tales, printed with the stereotype process invented by Louis-Etienne Herhan.

Illustrated with 5 full-text engravings (2 vignettes each) and a vignette on the engraved title, after the frontispiece by Antoine Clouzier for the first edition of Perrault's tales (Paris, Barbin, 1697).
Full roan binding, smooth spine framed in gilt and gilt motifs, black title label stamped in gilt, boards framed in gilt, inner dentelle, endpapers and pastedowns in caillouté paper, all edges gilt. Joints slightly split at head of spine, a small brown stain to title page and frontispiece, some spotting. 
Very rare edition, including Bluebeard, Little Red...

Charming edition illustrated with a frontispiece, a framed title and 9 half-page illustrations, reproducing vignettes by Fokke after De Sève - with the final illustration for L'Adroite Princesse, newly added. 

Complete with the Épître dédicatoire by P. Darmancour [Charles Perrault] to 'La Grande Mademoiselle', Anne-Marie d'Orléans, cousin of Louis XIV.

Half-sheep binding, smooth spine ruled in gilt, and a diagonally stamped gilt title. Beige paper boards, speckled edges. Small paper defect in the margin of page 75, scattered foxing, a small brown stain affecting the illustration of Cinderella. A name written in ink in the lower margin of page 21.
 
This...

First complete edition.

It is illustrated with two frontispieces, twenty-four full-page engravings, and a folding map of Telemachus's travels. The portrait of Fénelon serving as frontispiece to the first volume is signed Baillieul and Duflos; the second frontispiece, together with the plates, is signed Bonnart fils and Giffart, while the map is drawn by Rousset and engraved by Berey. A few head-pieces, bandeaux, and ornamental initials. 

Bindings in full red morocco signed Chambolle-Duru, richly decorated covers, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt, gilt panels and fleurons between the bands, author, title, volume number, place and date lettered in gilt on...

New edition of this ancient pastoral romance, illustrated with a frontispiece and eight full-page engravings. With several headpieces, decorated initials and tailpieces.

Dark yellow morocco, spine with five raised bands, author, title and date lettered in gilt, gilt fillets to board edges and headcaps, gilt inner dentelle, all edges gilt; tan morocco case by Riviere & Son, spine with five raised bands, author, title and date lettered in gilt, blind-tooled fillets. Raised bands lightly rubbed, with a few scuffs to the slipcase, otherwise a handsome copy.

Mortimer L. Schiff's guilt red morocco bookplate on the front pastedown.

First edition of this celebrated illustrated issue featuring artwork by Le Barbier, with the plates engraved under his supervision. Engraved frontispiece portrait of the author by Le Mire and 15 finely engraved full-page plates after drawings by Le Barbier. 
Contemporary full glazed red Russia leather binding, attributable to Bozérian l'aîné. Smooth spine tooled with four small concentric ornaments and gilt rules. Gilt fillet border to covers. Wine-coloured tabis silk endpapers. Gilt inner dentelles. All edges gilt. Light rubbing to the binding. Small loss of paper at the upper right corner of the title page in Volume I. Occasional foxing, particularly in the margins of several...

New edition, revised, corrected and enlarged.

Bound in full red morocco, spine with five raised bands ruled in double black fillets, boards framed with double black fillets, wide gilt dentelle border to the red morocco doublures, following endpapers of combed paper, bookplate pasted to an endpaper, gilt fillets to the board edges, all edges gilt, superb signed Duru binding dated 1848.

With an introductory history of satire in France by Viollet Le Duc.

A very handsome copy in an elegant red morocco doublure binding by Duru.

New edition, revised, corrected, enlarged, and illustrated with engravings.

Contemporary half brown morocco over marbled boards, corners preserved, spine with five raised bands showing a few minor rubs, gilt date at foot, gilt fillet border to the boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges gilt, an elegant binding signed by Pierson.

A few occasional and unobtrusive spots of foxing.

A handsome copy, attractively bound.

A fine large-paper copy on vellum of the 1796 edition, which contains several previously unpublished texts by the author, a frontispiece portrait, 13 illustrations and 2 maps, engraved by Pierre-Alexandre Tardieu, Claude-Nicolas Malapeau, P. F. Tardieu, A. Girardet, Jean Louis Charles Pauquet, François Denis Née, Emmanuel-Jean-Népomucène de Ghendt, Charles Emmanuel Patas, Noël Le Mire and Vincent-Marie Langlois (in order of appearance).

Contemporary half long-grain red morocco bindings, smooth spines divided by...

First edition of an important work by Charles Sorel, historiographer of France and novelist, in which he surveys with severity and wit the literary production of his time, which he considered overly given to fiction.

 Complete with its eagle headpieces.

Contemporary full mottled brown calf, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and gilt title, gilt roll on the board edges, red mottled...

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...

First edition of this work published by the Société du Bout-du-Banc, the celebrated literary salon presided over by Mademoiselle Jeanne-Françoise Quinault and the Comte de Caylus. This intimate circle, originally comprising eight members, would gather on Mondays at dinner to exchange ideas and to write; at the close of each meal, every distinguished guest was required to set down a few lines (whether in the coarse poissard style or in a more refined vein) on paper. It was in this context that Les Fêtes roulantes, ou les regrets des petites rues came into being, in the wake of the celebrations...

First edition of a play regarded as historically significant, performed for the first time nineteen days before the execution of Louis XVI, which set all of Paris and then France ablaze to the point of interrupting the King's trial, by a constitutional monarchist playwright.

Nineteenth-century Bradel binding in half brown percaline, smooth spine decorated with a gilt fleuron, red morocco lettering-piece, pebble-pattern marbled paper boards, edges lightly red-speckled.

First edition, at one time attributed to Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle, on the loves of a shepherd of illustrious lineage: Mirtil, son of Venus and Adonis. Complete copy with its engraved title page by Louis Legrand and its six plates drawn by Hubert François Gravelot and engraved by Louis Legrand.

Half marbled calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with dotted gilt fillets, five compartments richly gilt with fillets and fleurons, pebble-pattern marbled paper boards, red edges, pastedowns and...

First edition of a work by an Illuminist author, also a barrister at the Parlement, known for his licentious and libertine writings, including L'Histoire de Dom Bougre, portier des Chartreux. This work was also at one time attributed to Pierre Lambert de Saumery, who published under the pseudonym "de Mirone."

Midnight blue half morocco with corners, spine with five gilt raised bands decorated with compartments richly gilt with arabesques, fillets and small stars, marbled paper boards framed with gilt...

One of the first collected editions of these seven comic novellas, initially printed separately, by the Sieur de Préfontaine, regarded as a first-rate author by Charles Louandre: "without seeking to diminish in any way the merit of Boileau, without disputing his title as legislator of taste, one may say that Charles Sorel, Furetière, Préfontaine, [...] contributed alongside him and before him to cleansing the French Parnassus."

The first edition of one of the short stories contained in this volume...

First edition of the French translation by Élisabeth de Bon, gathering in 2 volumes the 4 parts of this anonymous English novel originally printed in 1809, which according to André Marc in his Dictionnaire des romans anciens et modernes of 1819, is the work of Anna Maria Porter, younger sister of the novelist Jane Porter. The Porter sisters, contemporaries of Jane Austen and famous before the Brontës, were close to the Scottish poet Walter Scott.

Contemporary full brown tree sheep...

New edition of the translation by Alain-René Le Sage, revised by Pons-Auguste Alletz, some forty years after its initial publication. Two frontispieces decorate each volume. As we learn from the Avertissement, this classic, which flowed from the pen of the author nicknamed the "Divine Spaniard" by his compatriots, was then, in the 1770s, unknown to a large part of the French youth.

Contemporary binding in full brown tree calf, smooth gilt spine with four compartments separated by traditional and dotted...

First edition limited to only 250 copies, which were not offered for sale but given to the author's close circle. This former minister under Louis XV composed these essays in 1736, and his son, the Marquis de Paulmy, had them published nearly fifty years later.

Contemporary half brown calf, grained paper boards, spine with five raised bands decorated with five compartments featuring double gilt fillets, red morocco lettering piece, red speckled edges.

An intriguing first edition, complete with its engraved frontispiece of the author by Giovanni Volpato after Domenico Corvi, and its introductory poem by the Abbé Luigi Godard. A copy unrecorded in non-European libraries according to WorldCat.

Contemporary binding of fawn mottled calf, smooth spine divided into five gilt compartments by gilt rolls, brown morocco lettering-piece, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, double gilt fillet on the board edges, blue speckled edges, and shell-pattern marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

The lower cap lacking, some surface...

First quarto edition, complete with all volumes and plates, commonly referred to as the “Third Edition” of the Encyclopédie, and also known as the “Encyclopédie de Pellet” or “Encyclopédie de Lyon” or “Encyclopédie du Lac” by Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet.

Full marbled and polished brown sheepskin contemporary bindings, spines with five raised bands and four gilt compartments decorated with pomegranate gilt tools, two gilt decorative rolls at foot, title and volume lettering-pieces in red and green morocco, boards twice framed in blind, board edges gilt, all red edges, marbled pastedowns and...

First edition of this biblical poem later set to music by Mondonville (cf. Barbier II, 970; Cioranescu 63676).

Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville (1711–1772), violinist, conductor and composer, wrote several operas, oratorios and pastorals, as well as works for harpsichord and sacred music.

He directed the Concert spirituel between 1755 and 1762.

Claude-Henri de Fusée de Voisenon (170–1775), a friend of Voltaire, a familiar figure in the salons and much in favour with Madame de Pompadour, was elected to the Académie française in 1762.

He left a body of dramatic works, novels and tales.

A date inscribed at the head of the title-page, which shows small spots...

First edition of this collection of anecdotes and allegories drawn from Turkish, Arabic and Persian manuscripts held at the Royal Library (cf. Quérard, II, 50. Brunet, 19466. Cioranescu, 15566. Graesse, p. 46. Goedeke, 651.)

Contemporary half calf with corners, the flat spine gilt with decorative garlands, the spine rubbed and crazed, cherry-coloured calf lettering-piece, green paper-covered boards, yellow edges, small nicks to the extremities.

Denis-Dominique Cardonne (1721-1783) lived in Constantinople for twenty years, from 1730 to 1750, where he learned Turkish, Arabic and Persian.

On his return to France he was appointed the King’s secretary-interpreter for...

Rare first edition of this poem, printed on bluish paper and composed by Tissot in honour of the birth of the King of Rome, the Emperor’s son.

Not in Quérard.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, under a modern marbled paper cover. Not in Quérard. A fine copy.

Rare first edition of d'Alègre’s French translation (cf. Brunet V, 25. Barbier II, 596.)

Contemporary full marbled calf, spine in five raised bands richly gilt in compartments with floral tools, red shagreen lettering-piece, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to board edges now almost rubbed away, red-speckled edges, contemporary binding.

Restorations to spine and joints, marginal dampstain at the foot of about ten leaves, annotations and a pen drawing on a flyleaf.

This is the second translation of this masterpiece by the Persian poet and philosopher Saadi, one of the great Sufi masters of the thirteenth century.

The first, by André Du Ryer, dates from 1634.

It...

New edition of the French translation, this one by Abbé Pluquet (see Cordier, Sinica 1395-1396).

Contemporary half tan calf bindings over corners, smooth spines decorated with double gilt fillets, black calf title-pieces, some rubbing to spines and headcaps, marbled paper boards with some surface wear, a few corners slightly bumped, speckled edges, period bindings.

This French translation of Father François Noël’s Latin work includes the Observations on the moral and political philosophy of the Chinese legislators, The Great Learning, or the Science of Adults, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Book of Sentences, Meng Tsee or The Book of Mencius, Hiao-king, or The Book of Filial...

Rare first edition of this occasional piece (a second edition was issued with the Paris imprint), cf. Monglond IV, 232.

Contemporary Bradel-style binding in blue paper over boards, smooth spine ruled in gilt with double fillets, marbled paper-covered boards, a few scuffs to the spine and boards. 

From November 1795, François de Neufchâteau (1750-1828) served as Commissioner of the Executive Directory to the Central Administration of the Vosges, where he devoted himself to the development of agriculture in the department, a pursuit that always remained his foremost interest.

Copy from the library of the lawyer Charles Fournerat (1780-1867) of Ancy-le-Franc, bearing his...

Second edition, revised and enlarged, illustrated with 7 superb copper-engraved plates by Laurent after drawings by David Massil and Antoine Favray, including 4 folding plates (6 plates in the first volume, 1 in the second).

See Contominas 315. Blackmer 655 (the 1783 edition erroneously records 9 plates). Absent from Atabey.

Contemporary full mottled calf, smooth spines richly gilt with floral and typographic ornaments, red morocco lettering-pieces, green morocco volume labels, the latter partially rubbed, gilt rolls to the spine ends partly worn, blue endpapers and pastedowns, red edges.

Some restorations to the spines and joints, occasional foxing.

This second...

First edition of this exceedingly rare literary fantasy (cf. Cioranescu, XVIII, 19 432.)

Our copy is preserved in its original temporary marbled paper wrappers, red edges.

A few small tears to the spine, lacking the half-title.

A literary meteoric figure, François-Antoine Chevrier (1721-1762) was chiefly renowned for dipping his pen in vitriol and thereby exposing the flaws and vices of the theatrical world of his time.

First edition of the first work on anonymous and pseudonymous authors published in France (cf. Barbier, I, 320; Besterman, Bibliography of Bibliographies, 398.)

Contemporary full marbled calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with richly gilt compartments, red morocco lettering-piece, gilt rolls to the spine ends, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to the edges, yellow speckled edges, engraved armorial bookplate pasted to the pastedown.

The work was intended to serve as a preliminary study for a Recueil français des auteurs déguisés, a project abandoned following the author's death before later being resumed by...

First duodecimo edition, or first edition in 12mo format, illustrated with five fine plates by Eisen, including two in the first volume and one frontispiece in each of the remaining three. Title pages printed in red and black. As expected, the first volume has no half-title, unlike the other three volumes.

Contemporary full mottled calf binding. Smooth spines richly decorated. Tan morocco title and volume labels. Blue sprinkled edges. Small loss at the head of volume III, short wormtrack at the head of volume I, rubbing marks. Loss to the lower margin corner of the final leaf of volume I. A handsome copy.

Celebrated edition entirely engraved both images and text, richly illustrated with 6 engraved titles, a frontispiece and an engraved half-title for volume I, together with 243 figures, 473 vignettes and tail-pieces engraved by Fessard.

The illustration of the first three volumes is the work of Monnet, and in the last three by Fessard after Bardin, Bidauld, Caresme, Desrais, Houel, Kobell, Le Clerc, Leprince, Loutherbourg, and Meyer. The text is entirely engraved by Montulay and Drouet within decorative borders.

New edition illustrated with 52 unsigned plates, including 6 frontispieces. Volume V is a continuation of the history of Don Quixote, by the translator Filleau de Saint Martin. Volume VI written by the author Robert Challes. Title pages erroneously indicate 58 figures.
Brown full contemporary roan, stamped in gilt in between raised bands. Title page in red morocco. Small piece of leather lacking to upper part of Volume I, small loss to head of spine. In volume II, upper spine-end torn off and lower spine-end partly missing, some damage to lower cover. Volume III, damaged upper spine-end. Volume IV, lower spine-end missing. Volume V, upper spine-end missing. Volume VI, upper spine-end...

New edition following the original of 1573. A handsome edition well printed in italics. It contains the Christian poetry, absent from the 1600 edition. Copy enhanced with a portrait of the author from around 1820.
Full glazed blonde calf Restoration binding signed at foot F. Bozérian jeune. Spine with raised bands decorated with 5 fleurons, fillets and roulettes on the bands. Date at foot in blind. Boards ruled in blind with frame roulette composed of interlaced circles. Interior Greek key border. Edges gilt. A small fragment missing from head. Some traces of rubbing. Paper very fresh, the engraving has caused slight uniform foxing on the title page. A handsome copy.
The volume...

First complete collected edition, published in Paris in 1781 in twelve volumes. For the first time, it brings together in a single set Marivaux’s plays, novels, periodical writings, and a number of prose works previously scattered across separate publications. Portrait of Marivaux as frontispiece, painted by Pougin de Saint-Aubin, within an ornamental frame designed by Clément-Pierre Marillier and engraved by François-Robert Ingouf, known as Ingouf le Jeune.

Uniform contemporary full mottled tan calf. Spines with raised bands, gilt compartments and rolls at foot; tan...

New edition. The journal first appeared in volume form in 1712. Title pages in red and black. Statement of fifth edition.
Heraldic wheat sheaf device of Maynon de Farcheville in gilt compartments on spine, and bookplate of the same on pastedowns, with three wheat sheaves. Vincent Michel Maynon, president of the fourth chamber of inquiries at the Parliament of Paris, lord of Farcheville.
Contemporary full brown sheep, speckled and glazed. Spine with five raised bands, red morocco title labels, brown morocco volume labels, gilt compartments and floral ornaments. All edges speckled red. Headcap of volume I partly lacking, that of volume III at head partly worn. Lacks to head of volumes...

"Vous avez été leurs maîtres, et vous en avez mal agi ; ils sont devenus les vôtres, et ils vous pardonnent ; faites vos réflexions là-dessus." ["You have been their masters, and you have acted badly; they have become yours, and they forgive you; reflect upon this."] (Trivelin, final scene)

Second collective first edition, with continuous pagination, containing for the first time Phèdre, the Discours prononcé à l'Académie françoise à la réception de Messieurs de Corneille et de Bergeret and the Idylle sur la paix.(Brunet, IV, 1077). Work illustrated with 12 figures including 2 frontispieces, most signed by François Chauveau; the frontispiece of the first volume engraved by Le Brun. 
Edition shared between Barbin, Denys Thierry and Pierre Trabouillet.
Full midnight blue morocco binding from the late 19th century signed at the foot of the pastedown Thibaron-Joly (Former worker of Trautz, Thibaron partnered with the gilder Joly in 1874). Spine with raised bands decorated...

The rather rare first collected edition of these various works.

Contemporary binding in full marbled and glazed sheep. Decorated smooth spine. Havana morocco title and volume labels. Lacks to joints at head of volume I. Lack to upper joint at head of volume II and lacks at foot. Upper joint split at foot of volume II. Rubbing to joints, headcaps, edges and corners.
This edition contains Don Quixote moderne, L'Homère travestie ou L'Iliade en vers burlesques, L'éducation d'un prince, La voiture embourbée, Le miroir, Refléxions sur l'esprit humain, etc...

Third edition of Giovanni Andrea Gesualdo’s commentary on Petrarch’s Canzoniere and Trionfi, following the editions of 1533 and 1541 issued by the Nicolini da Sabbio, printed in Venice in 1553 by Gabriele Giolito de’ Ferrari and his brothers.

The Canzoniere, printed in italic type and divided into two parts, is set within an expansive page layout dominated by Gesualdo’s commentary. The Trionfi form a separate second part, with their own title page and distinct dedication. Each part bears Giolito’s phoenix device with the motto Semper eadem and the initials G.G.F...