Lettres d'Adelaide de Dammartin Comtesse de Sancerre, A Monsieur le Comte de Nancé son ami

First edition.
Contemporary marbled brown full calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Head worn. 3 small wormholes along the upper joint. Rubbing marks. Lacks to lower joint at head and tail. Overall rather fresh. Blue stamp on half-title page: "Fousire" Library?
Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni (1713-1792) was, after being a mediocre actress by necessity, a novelist highly appreciated in her time, to such an extent that her peers refused to acknowledge that the author was a woman. Her first novel was an immediate success and the following ones were even better received, praised for the refinement of style and the interest of details, placing Madame Riccoboni among the best novelists of the 18th century. Her work is above all a reflection of the feminine condition of her time; she simultaneously paved the way for Romanticism by asserting the primacy of the heart over reason and social conventions. This epistolary novel tells the story of a group of women made independent by widowhood, and finally liberated.