Lettres angloises, ou histoire de Miss Clarisse Harlove [Ensemble] Supplement aux Lettres angloises

First edition of the French translation by Abbé Prévost together with the rare supplement published in 1762 which contains Diderot's Éloge de Richardson in first edition. The illustration comprises 21 fine figures, the first 13 by Eisen and the last 8 by Pasquier. Each volume contains two parts with separate title pages, except for the supplement volume which contains, in addition to Diderot's essay, the parts of the work that had been cut by Prévost. The first complete English edition dates from 1748.
Contemporary full marbled brown calf bindings. Smooth spines elegantly decorated. Red morocco title labels and tan morocco volume labels (only volume VII of the supplement published in 1761, in uniform binding, has a black morocco volume label). Triple gilt fillet frame on boards. A tear (worming) to head of volume I. A stripped lower edge to volume 1. A small lack to head of volume II. Tailcap of volume V partly missing with upper joint cracked at foot and slight lack of leather. Lower joint of volume VI split at head, same for volume VII. Most corners bumped. Despite defects, a handsome copy in a quality binding.
Clarisse Harlove is the second great novel published by the author after the immense success of Pamela; it is again a sentimental novel whose virtuous heroine finds herself constrained by her family to marry a noble, ugly and obese man, against her will.
She will flee with one Lovelace, the very type of elegant, villainous and deceitful libertine, who desires to constrain her body and soul, leading her into social and moral decline, but this will be without counting on Clarisse's virtuous qualities. If the novel, from a modern perspective, suffers from sentimentalism and length, it nonetheless remains true that the construction of the plot, the dramatic twists and the psychology will durably mark European literature. Diderot will proclaim this in his Éloge de Richardson, and numerous authors will claim it or undergo its influence: Rousseau, Jane Austen, Choderlos de Laclos... The work will enjoy immense success, and even if due to its length, the novel is little read today, it remains one of the most emblematic books of 18th century literature. It should be noted that Diderot's essay, in addition to the praise given to Richardson, is a true plea for a new, realistic literature, his thesis joining that which he wrote for the theater.