First editions and first illustrated editions of literature classics from 15th to 18th century in contemporary bindings

New edition prepared by Lenglet Du Fresnoy, with his notes and a glossary. A handsome title vignette. The last early edition.

19th-century binding in red half morocco with corners, signed Bauzonnet. Spine with five raised bands richly decorated in the grotesque style. Double gilt fillet on the boards. Top edge gilt on deckled edges. Spine somewhat faded. Some marginal worming, otherwise a handsome copy.

Ex-libris of the L. Pasquier library pasted on the first endpaper.

The rare first edition of this collection in which all the works have been chosen by Charles Sorel. Lacking the frontispiece. A second part will appear in 1662.
Contemporary limp full vellum binding. Smooth spine with later black ink title. Lacking endpapers. Book partially detached from the binding and held only by a few stitches.
Charles Sorel composed this collection of gallant pieces in prose whose authors have not been identified; one can distinguish more than 18 pieces on love, banter and gallantry, testimonies to a literary genre now disappeared, precious literature, of a certain frivolity, and which owed much to the literary salons of the time. One will note the following pieces: L'origine & le progrés des rubans; leur défaite par les princesses jarretieres & leur rétablissement en suite; Dialogue des yeux & de la bouche; La carte du royaume d'Amour; Discours de l'ennemy d'amour, & des femmes. Avec la réponse par Erophile; Relation grotesque, burlesque, comique, & maccaronique, des amours & transformations de Vertumne pour la belle Pomone nymphe neustrienne, avec leur genealogie. Et la mort pitoyable de ce pauvre pendu d'Iphis, miserable amant de la cruelle Anaxarete. Le tout fidelement extrait des Metamorphoses reformées... (we know that this last work is by Sorel himself, who never ceased to criticize Ovid in several of his works).

First edition.
Full blonde calf binding from the late 19th century signed Bauzonnet. Smooth spine decorated with two mirrored fleurons, fillets on the headcaps. Blind-stamped title. Triple fillet frame on the boards. Rich interior border. Very handsome copy.
Father Arthuys, a Jesuit, dramatized one of the most famous and touching stories from the Bible: Joseph was sold by his brothers as a slave in Egypt and became, by saving the pharaoh, master of Egypt as tax farmer. Benjamin is one of Jacob's sons, Joseph's brother by the same mother, Rachel. Before all his brothers, Joseph reveals himself. The tragedy was titled Christian although it is set before Christianity, in order to present this famous story as belonging to Christian drama.

Statement of second edition, the first edition having appeared in 1705. Each volume contains a trimester, and a title page for each month. The set thus comprises the months from January 1705 to June of the same year. General title page in red and black.
Armorial copy with the arms of the Riquet de Caraman family.
Contemporary full glazed blonde calf binding. Richly decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label and volume labels.
The Nouvelles de la république des lettres was a monthly publication published from March 1684 to June 1718 (with a notable interruption from 1711 to 1715). This gazette was inaugurated by Pierre Bayle (11 volumes until February 1687), then continued by Le Clerc, Larroque, Barrin, Bernard. This review provided reviews of published books, in sciences, history, literature or other fields.

We thank Mr. Jérôme-Paul Carré for identifying the armorial device on the binding.

Eighth edition statement, illustrated with eight unsigned frontispieces. Les journées amusantes were originally published from 1722 to 1731. Title pages in red and black.

Contemporary full blonde sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Lacks to upper joints at head of volumes I and IV. Lack to headcap of volume III. Tail headcap of volume IV split. Some corners slightly bumped. Despite the noted defects, the set is in good condition overall.

A prolific author, Madame de Gomez achieved great favor in Europe with Les journées amusantes, which were undoubtedly one of the bestsellers of the period. These journées are similar in structure to Boccaccio's Decameron and to Marguerite de Navarre's Heptameron. Composed of 18 days within which six narrators tell stories. What characterizes the writing of the Journées amusantes is the encyclopedic and erudite richness, characteristic of the work, which ultimately worked against it over time; it aimed, with a certain deliberate archaism, to pay homage to 17th-century French gallant literature.

New edition (third?) and first in 6 volumes. The first edition dates from 1746. Les Songes philosophiques are in first edition.
Contemporary full speckled brown calf bindings. Smooth spines decorated. Red morocco title and volume labels. Triple gilt fillet and star cornerpieces on boards. All edges red. Three head caps and three tail caps worn. A few corners very slightly bumped.
The Lettres chinoises, inaugurated by the same author as the Lettres juives have this typical Enlightenment design of comparing the customs and habits of several civilizations; the work takes up the scheme, always humorous, of the first work of this type: L'espion de la cour de Marana, then Montesquieu's Lettres persanes. A Chinese narrator writes to his compatriots from different places in Europe (Moscow, Stockholm, Paris...). The work is always supposed to make us question the strangeness of our own thoughts and customs. D'Argens also describes several journeys to the Orient, with interesting information on the customs and institutions of Oriental countries. Like the Lettres cabalistiques or Jewish letters by the same author, the Lettres chinoises were published in periodicals.
The philosophical dreams, numbering twenty, accounts of dreams, are authentic utopias; the first tells of a land inhabited and governed by monkeys, Singimanie; the second takes a monkey and the narrator to the Changijournes, a people who continually change their clothes and fashion... In the fifteenth dream, the narrator receives a visit from Racine, and the dialogue expounds the subject matter of belles-lettres in the author's time.

New edition.

Half sheep bindings in bottle green, smooth spines decorated with quadruple fillets and gilt typographical motifs, two upper headcaps slightly worn, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, some corners very slightly bumped, contemporary bindings signed by Flore.

Some minor foxing of no consequence. Handsome set.

New edition adorned with seven frontispieces by Scotin the elder. The journal first appeared in volume form in 1712.

Contemporary full speckled brown sheep binding. Spine with five raised bands, red morocco title and volume labels, gilt compartments and floral fleurons. All edges red. Head caps of volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 and foot caps of volumes 2, 3, 4 and 9 abraded (some damaged). Corners slightly bumped. Four joints cracked. Pale marginal dampstains to the second volume.