Ah quel conte! Conte politique et astronomique

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 as evidenced by the different states of the manuscripts between 1742 and 1752. Crébillon seeks to reconnect with the success of his first two tales by reiterating several of these writing modes, historical inscription more or less veiled by references to political current events, to scientific discoveries or to the amorous customs of the time, the analysis of feelings or a study of the meanders of consciousness, the marvelous framework. "on peut lire ce conte " astronomique " comme une suite d'expériences, comme une vaste enquête sur les déterminations qui pèsent sur les rois, sur les interférences entre vie privée et vie publique et sur les rapports d'influence réciproque de l'esprit et du corps" ["one can read this 'astronomical' tale as a series of experiences, as a vast inquiry into the determinations that weigh on kings, on the interferences between private life and public life and on the reciprocal influence between mind and body"]. Jean Sgard, Crébillon, OEuvres complètes, Classique Garnier 1999-2002. Like Le Sopha, this tale is inspired by the Thousand and One Nights and relies on a narrator, it is often considered as its sequel.