Zayde, histoire espagnole. Par M. de Segrais. Avec un traité de l'origine des romans par M. Huet

New edition after the first, very rare, published in 1670. Huet's Treatise on the Origin of Novels, in the form of a letter to Segrais, appears at the end of the first part of Zaïde.

Armorial copy of Charlotte Emilie Le Fèvre de Caumartin de La cour de Balleroy, daughter of Louis-François Le Fèvre de Caumartin, lord of Boissy, and wife of the Marquis de la Cour de Balleroy. Feminine arms are rare and sought after, as few women formed libraries with their coat of arms. The Marquise de Balleroy, who died in 1749, settled in Normandy, and maintained an intense correspondence with the highest nobility from which she descended.

Full speckled brown calf bindings. Raised band spines with decorative tooling. Morocco title labels in tan, volume labels in speckled brown calf. Headcap of volume II split. A brown stain in corner of first 10 leaves of volume I, gradually fading, this stain recurring later, spreading then disappearing. A browner area at edge of right corner of volume I, on upper board. Despite some flaws, a handsome copy.

It is now considered that Zaïde was a collaborative work by Segrais and Madame de La Fayette, whose Princess of Clèves would appear in 1678. Segrais was her secretary, and it is thought that he provided the materials and historical research while Madame de La Fayette handled the entire writing. The action takes place in Spain in the 9th century. Consalve, son of one of the greatest counts of Castile, takes in Zaïde, daughter of a Muslim prince, following a shipwreck. Very quickly, he falls in love with her, but the two young people do not speak the same language...