Mémoires turcs

New edition, after the first published in 1743. An engraved title and 4 handsome figures, finely engraved by Henriquez, all on strong paper. Edition including the epistle to Mlle Duthé, a fine piece of persiflage which must have contributed to the vogue of this work. 2 parts, without specific title page for the second.
Contemporary full porphyry calf binding. Smooth spine decorated. Fawn morocco title-label. 2 corners slightly bumped and worn. Handsome copy.
Ex libris from the library of P. Dupont.
In the height of fashion for "turqueries", and following Marana, Montesquieu, Godard d'Aucourt gives his contribution in turn to this curious literary and artistic genre through the story of a Turk landing in Paris in company with his beloved slave and confronted with Parisian gallant customs. The first part of the novel being told in the first person, and thus from the restrictive viewpoint of a Turkish prince, it is not without humor and libertine situations, the first hundred pages recounting the passionate loves of the narrator in Turkey in the form of an oriental tale. The second part is an exchange of letters between the narrator and one of his slaves, in which the latter recounts the story of his loves.