Literature

Edme BOURSAULT
Théâtre de feu Monsieur Boursault
par La Compagnie des libraires|Paris 1746|9.50 x 16.50 cm|3 volumes reliés
New edition, "more beautiful and more complete than that of 1725" (Brunet).
Half green sheep binding, nineteenth century. Smooth spines decorated with triple gilt fillets, gilt initials at foot. Some surface wear, edges and corners rubbed.
An author now forgotten, Boursault held an important place in the theatrical life of his time. He even took an active part in the quarrels with Molière and Boileau. Some of his comedies enjoyed great success, and one of his tragedies was compared by Corneille himself to those of Racine; but all his plays suffer from a lack of dramaturgy, they are juxtaposed scenes, without staging.
€180
Rustaing de SAINT JORY
Oeuvres mêlées de M. le Chevalier de S. J
Chez Z. Chatelain|à Amsterdam • [Paris] 1735|9.50 x 17 cm|2 parties reliées en un volume
First edition.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Head cap worn away. Upper joint cracked at head and tail. 3 corners bumped. Rubbing. Spine with hairline cracks.
Collection comprising very diverse pieces with several Oriental stories, three comedies, short stories. In the foreword, the author warns that he is not responsible for the edition, it being the publisher's choice. With a facile and light pen, the collection surprises by the quality of the writing.
€280
Abbé REYRE
L'Ecole des jeunes demoiselles ou Lettres d'une mère vertueuse à sa fille.
Chez Varin|Paris 1786|10 x 16 cm|deux volumes reliés
New edition.
Contemporary full speckled blonde sheep bindings. Smooth spines decorated with blonde and black morocco title and volume labels, with gilt compartments and fleurons. All edges red. Head joint cracked on the second volume. Headcaps rubbed. Surface wear. One half-title leaf probably lacking. A small wormhole affecting the first leaves of the second volume. A work of pedagogy and morality consisting in the education of young girls.
€100
François-Edme GOUGE DE CESSIERE
L'Art d'aimer, nouveau poème en six chants, par Monsieur *****
Aux dépens des Libraires Associés|à Londres [London] 1760|12 x 19.50 cm|relié
New edition, the original in six cantos having appeared in 1750, but first illustrated edition with seven unsigned figures; Cohen attributes the frontispiece to Eisen and the figures to Martinet.
Contemporary full speckled blonde sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with a red morocco title label, compartments and small gilt floral fleurons. All edges red. Head worn down, two corners slightly bumped, joints cracked and very skillfully restored at head.
The Art of Love by Gouge de Cessière is followed by an Idea of Ovid's Art of Love. Naturally inspired directly by Ovid's illustrious eponymous poem, The Art of Love by Gouge de Cessière is a sort of playful banter on seduction and...
€250
Claude-Prosper Jolyot de CRÉBILLON
Lettres de la Marquise de M *** au Comte de R ***
Chez Henri Scheurleer|à La Haye [The Hague] 1734|10 x 16.50 cm|relié
Second edition and first Dutch edition. Title pages in red and black. One repeated title vignette.
Contemporary full speckled calf binding. Spine with raised bands richly ornamented. A small lack at head. 2 corners slightly bumped. Split to upper joint at head. Good copy. Famous epistolary and libertine novel of a tragic passion that ends with the death of the lover. Here is the dawn of a total and devouring love, of which one knows not whether it is addressed to a real man or to an ideal. Crébillon chose to give us only the letters of the Marquise who dramatically applies herself to analyzing the least of her feelings, whose passion of love will lead her to death, thus fulfilling the...
€400
Pierre-Simon BALLANCHE
Antigone
De l'imprimerie de Didot l'aîné|Paris 1819|14.50 x 23 cm|relié
First illustrated edition and marked as second edition, after the original, published in 1815 by the same publisher. 6 figures by Bouillon in the antique style engraved by Baquoy. Fine printing on laid paper and elegant typographic execution by Didot.
Contemporary full green straight-grained morocco binding. Smooth spine with 4 flat raised bands, decorated with 3 Restoration stamps, multiple decorative rolls, fillets, etc. Gilt title and date. Covers stamped in blind with a central Restoration roundel; 4 large corner stamps connected by 3 fillets forming a frame. Fine copy, very fresh, some worming on tissue guards and in margins of engravings. Very fine unsigned master binding.
€500
Richard STEELE, Joseph ADDISON
Le Spectateur ou le Socrate moderne, où l'on voit un portrait naïf des Moeurs de ce Siécle
Chez Mérigot|Paris 1754-1755|9.50 x 17 cm|9 volumes reliés
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.

€450
Antoine-Marin LE MIERRE
La peinture, poëme en trois chants
Chez Le Jay|à Paris 1769 S.d.|19 x 25.50 cm|relié
First edition, illustrated with a medallion portrait of Corneille on the title page, and three figures on heavy paper after Cochin, and engraved by Prévost, Ponce and Saint-Aubin.
Contemporary brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 5 fleurons. Red morocco title-label. Roulette on leading edges. Rubbing. 3 corners slightly bumped.
Didactic and lyrical poem, in alexandrines.
€300
Mathurin RÉGNIER
Oeuvres de Régnier
S. n.|Londres [London] 1750|7.50 x 14 cm|2 volumes reliés
New edition decorated with a headpiece by Eisen engraved by Sernique, repeated at the head of the text in the second volume.
Contemporary smooth blonde calf binding. Smooth spines decorated with red morocco title labels, gilt compartments and small gilt tools, as well as gilt dentelle at foot. All edges red. One joint very slightly cracked and some rubbing. A charming copy.
€150
Jean Henri Samuel FORMEY
Conseils pour former une bibliothèque peu nombreuse mais choisie
Chez Haude et Spener|Berlin 1756|9.50 x 16.50 cm|relié
The best edition, which includes following Formey's text, the "Introduction générale à l'étude des Sciences et des Belles-Lettres en faveur des personnes qui ne savent que le français", by de La Martinière with notes by Abbé Trublet. The first edition was published in 1746.

Contemporary full marbled calf binding. Smooth spine elegantly decorated. Red morocco title label. One tear with loss to the lower joint extending into the last compartment. Worming running from p.279 to the end, in the lower margin.

Good copy, decorative and fresh.

€450
Pierre LE ROY, Jean PASSERAT
Satyre Menippée, de la vertu du catholicon d'Espagne, et de la tenue des Etats de Paris, à laquelle est ajouté un Discours sur l'interprétation du mot de Higuerio del Infierno, & qui en est l'Auteur.
Chez Les Héritiers De Mathias Kerner • [ Prosp. Durand]|à Ratisbone [Regensburg] • [Paris] 1726|10.70 x 17.70 cm|3 volumes reliés
New edition, illustrated with a frontispiece, 11 figures (numerous portraits) including 2 folding (the procession of the League and the states of the League) and one figure in-text. Title pages in red and black.
Contemporary full speckled glazed brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 4 compartmented fleurons. Red morocco title label and black morocco volume label. Head restored, likewise at foot of volumes I and III. Upper joints of volumes I and III restored. Cracks in places on the joints. Fine quality binding showing defects, notably due to restoration.
The most complete early edition, with additions by Prosper Marchand and Godefroy's tables. It inherits all...
€400
François-Augustin Paradis de MONCRIF
Oeuvres mêlées, tant en prose qu'en vers
Chez Bertrand Brunet|à Paris 1743|9.50 x 16.50 cm|relié
First edition.
Contemporary full marbled and glazed brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands, attractively decorated. Thin split at foot measuring 0.5cm. 2 corners slightly bumped. Good copy.
A mixture of critiques, plays, poetry and speeches. Contains notably "Les Réflexions sur quelque ouvrages faussement appelés ouvrages d'imagination"; "Les âmes rivales, histoire fabuleuse"; "Les abdérites" and "L'empire de l'amour", plays; "Discours de l'Académie française", and other pieces.
€350
RICHER
Théâtre du monde
Chez Defer de Maisonneuve|à Paris 1788|12.50 x 20 cm|relié
Reissue of the 1775 edition, illustrated with 20 beautiful figures by Moreau le Jeune and Marillier, engraved by De Longueil, Née...

Contemporary full speckled calf binding. Smooth spine handsomely decorated. Pink morocco title label and black morocco volume label. Lacking at headcap of volume IV. 4 corners slightly bumped.

€400
André-Joseph PANCKOUCKE
L'art de désoppiler la rate. Sive de modo C. Prudenter. En prenant chaque feuillet pour se T. le D
S. n.|à Gallipoli des Calabres [Gallipoli] 1756|9 x 16 cm|relié
First edition, rare.
Contemporary marbled blonde calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Joint cracked at foot on back board. Good copy.A collection of jokes, witticisms, riddles, gasconades, extracts from rare and humorous books, fables and short tales, ancient customs, etc, all intended to delight the most melancholic...
€550
Vincent VOITURE
Les oeuvres de Monsieur de Voiture [Ensemble] Les nouvelles oeuvres de Monsieur de Voiture
Chez Augustin Courbé|à Paris 1650|16.50 x 24 cm|relié
Fifth edition of Voiture's Œuvres, the first of which appeared in 1648; and first edition of the Nouvelles œuvres de Voiture. A frontispiece by Mellan for the first volume, a headpiece and an initial in the epistle and a fine portrait of the author by Champaigne engraved by Nanteuil.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Raised spine richly decorated. Red morocco title label. One missing headcap. Tear with loss to upper joint at foot. Rubbing. Good copy.
Voiture (1597-1648) was throughout his life a gallant and a courtier, brilliant in salons and playing games. His epistolary talent earned him long popularity in France for fashionable prose, and his poetry excels in the mannered...
€1,200
DESTOUCHES
Oeuvres de monsieur Destouches
Chez Arkstée & Merkus|à Amsterdam • & Leipzig 1772|9.50 x 16.50 cm|10 tomes reliés en 5 volumes
New edition, revised, corrected and expanded with several pieces, all similar to the Royal Printing House edition (quarto in 4 volumes published in 1757).
An engraved portrait of the author as frontispiece by Vander Schley.
Contemporary full brown sheep bindings. Spines with five raised bands decorated with compartments and small gilt floral tools. Red morocco title labels and volume labels. All edges red. The first and fourth volumes show lacks to spine with lacks to headcaps, two worn headcaps, wormholes, four corners slightly bumped. Some very minor bookworm damage in certain volumes, not affecting the text.
Edition bringing together the theatrical pieces, correspondence...
€350
Antoine HAMILTON
Oeuvres du Comte Antoine Hamilton
S. n.|à Londres [London] 1776|8 x 14.50 cm|relié
New, more complete edition of Hamilton's works.
Miscellaneous works: Letters and epistles. Volume I: The Ram, poems. Volume II: Thorn Blossom; songs. Volume III: The Four Facardins; poems.
Each tale has its own title page.
Contemporary full marbled blonde calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title and volume labels. Head slightly worn. Rubbing. 2 corners slightly bumped. A good copy.
Besides being the author of the famous Memoirs of the Count of Grammont, Hamilton wrote several tales that were much appreciated in their time and are usually included in the anthology of 18th-century tales.
€250
François MAYNARD
Les oeuvres
Chez Augustin Courbé|à Paris 1646|17 x 22.50 cm|relié
First collected edition containing some unpublished pieces. One of the rare copies containing both epistles by Bois-Robert and Scarron (most copies contain fewer preliminary leaves). A frontispiece portrait of the author drawn by Petrus and engraved by Daret; a title vignette, printer's device on title page.
Contemporary limp vellum binding. Smooth unlettered spine. Light stains to upper board. Worming to preliminary leaves, after the first two leaves, to lower margin; although confined to margin, numerous wormholes throughout preliminary leaves. Also to note, worming to table of contents and extending from final text leaves, always to lower margin. Some foxing and yellowed leaves.
€1,300
Antoine Léonard THOMAS
Oeuvres diverses de Mr Thomas
Jean-Baptiste Giroud|Avignon 1764|12.50 x 20.50 cm|relié
First edition printed in Avignon. Some engraved ornaments (headpieces, initials and tailpieces).
Contemporary full speckled brown calf binding. Spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and floral and starred motifs, red morocco title label. All edges red. Calf very lightly rubbed in places and a small wormhole on the spine, otherwise a very handsome copy, quite fresh.
The first collected edition of Thomas's works would not appear until 1826. A poet and essayist, Thomas is known for his numerous eulogies of famous figures, and his Essay on the Manners and Spirit of Women which made history. A man of letters who cultivated independence of mind, he was also a...
€350
Michael MATTAIRE
Corpus omnium veterum poetarum latinorum tam prophanorum quam ecclesiasticorum cum eorum, quotquot reperiuntur, fragmentis
Isaacum Vaillant • |Londini [London] • [Londres] [London] 1721|23 x 36 cm|2 volumes reliés
Reprint with new title pages of an edition published in 1714: Opera et fragmenta veterum poetarum latinorum. The edition includes three headpieces.
Contemporary blonde calf. Spine with six raised bands decorated with arabesques and fleurons with gilt birds, red morocco title and volume labels. Leading edges underlined with gilt dentelle. All edges red. Head headcaps worn, one headband slightly detached, small lack to tail headcap of the first volume and joints very lightly cracked.
Compilation of extracts from secular and sacred Latin poets. This edition was once highly sought after.
€600
Michel de LA BIZARDIERE
Caractères des auteurs anciens et modernes, et les jugements de leurs ouvrages
Chez Grégoire Dupuis|Paris 1704|9 x 16.50 cm|relié
First edition, rare.
Contemporary full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments, red morocco title-label, all edges speckled. Head and tail of spine worn and one corner extensively damaged. Two raised bands cracked.
A sometimes fierce satire of the literary world. In a fictional Greece, at Delphi, under the aegis of Apollo, the author orchestrates the most improbable encounters. We see parading first the ancient authors, then the moderns, Descartes, Spinoza, and few authors are spared by the author's sallies.
€250
L'Abbé Philippe-Louis GERARD
Le Comte de Valmont, ou les Egarements de la raison. Lettres recueillies et publiées par M...
Chez Jean-Albert Joly|Avignon 1793|10 x 17 cm|5 volumes reliés
New edition, revised and expanded, the original having appeared in two parts, in 1774 and in 1778.
Contemporary bindings in full speckled brown calf, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and fleurons, blonde and black morocco title and volume labels, all edges red. Several headcaps are worn, some small wormholes to note and corners are bumped, otherwise a handsome copy.
The work had enormous impact in Europe and went through more than thirty-five editions. It was praised by Chateaubriand as an example of Christian novel; it is a singular blend of anti-philosophical novel and sentimental novels in the Richardson style, using the epistolary genre then in...
€200
Jean-François MARMONTEL
Chefs-d'oeuvre dramatiques, ou recueil des meilleures pieces du théâtre françois, tragique, comique et lyrique
De l'imprimerie de Grangé|à Paris 1773|22 x 29 cm|relié
First edition, admirably and finely illustrated with 3 figures, 15 headpieces, and 10 tailpieces, all by Eisen and engraved by de Launay the younger, Helman, Masquelier, Née and Ponce. Printed on deluxe paper.
Contemporary full mottled calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands, gilt rolls at head and foot. Red morocco title label. Triple gilt fillet frame on covers. All edges gilt. Fragile headcap with lacks, same at foot. Very beautiful mottling on covers (green, red, beige). Despite small defects, handsome copy, in a luxury binding, and of great freshness.
The volume, besides the preliminary pieces, with essays on the dramatic genre by Marmontel, brings together three...
€800
Jean-Baptiste de Boyer ARGENS
Mémoires du Comte de Vaxère ou le faux rabin, par l'auteur des Lettres juives
S. n.|Amsterdam 1737|7.50 x 12.50 cm|relié
First edition, rare. A frontispiece depicting Isaac Meïo as frontispiece by the author, as well as a figure created by the same. Title page in red and black.
Contemporary full glazed calf binding. Spine with four raised bands decorated with a red morocco title-label. All edges speckled. Headcaps worn, joints cracked and corners slightly bumped. Some faint dampstains and a small tear at the bottom of page 15.
A worthy representative of the Age of Enlightenment, Boyer d'Argens is a philosophical writer, skeptic and pamphleteer; his series of critical and epistolary books, in the manner of the Persian Letters (Jewish Letters, Chinese Letters, Cabalistic Letters) made him famous. In...
€400
Nicolas BOILEAU DESPREAUX
Oeuvres diverses du sieur D *** avec le traité du sublime ou Du merveilleux dans le discours. traduir du grec de Longin
Chez Claude Barbin|à Paris 1674|15.50 x 23 cm|relié
First edition of Boileau to bear the title Oeuvres and containing 9 satires, 4 epistles, the first four cantos of the Lutrin and the treatise on the sublime. The edition also contains a new notice to the reader and a new preface. Fine printing, in italics. There would exist an edition of Boileau's pieces dating from 1670 which Boileau mentions without stating the date, but which appears untraceable; Brunet cites it in commentary, without giving a date.
Contemporary full marbled sheep binding. Jansenist spine with raised bands. Black title-label. Generally rubbed. 2 corners slightly bumped. Missing the second leaf completing the privilege (final lines indicating the date). The two...
€650
Jean François de LA HARPE
Tangu et Félime. Poeme en IV chants
Chez Pissot|Paris 1780|16 x 24 cm|relié
First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece and 4 fine figures by Marillier engraved by Ponce, De Ghendt...
Full dark blue paper boards binding, late 19th century. Gilt title and date at foot. Uncut copy, bound as issued, partly with conjugate leaves; the sheets containing the engravings are of smaller format; the bluish covers have been preserved. The bound format corresponding to a 12mo. Fine copy, in a modest binding.
La Harpe drew the substance of his poem from an Arabic tale, which was later adapted by the Provençals in the romance Fortunatus, then at the beginning of the 18th century: Les aventures d'Abdalla.
€200
Adrien-Michel-Hyacinthe BLIN DE SAINMORE
Lettre de Sapho à Phaon
De l'imprimerie de Sébastien Jorry|à Paris 1766|12.50 x 20.50 cm|relié
First edition, illustrated with a figure by Gravelot engraved by Allianet, a headpiece by Eisen and a tailpiece by Choffart, engraved by De Longueil. Fine printing, on deluxe paper.
Full brown sheep binding early 20th century signed Champs. Smooth Jansenist spine with gilt title and date. Minor rubbing to headcaps. Handsome copy. Blin de Sainmore composed this letter from Sappho after Ovid's heroic epistle on the same subject; Sappho writing to her lover before going to join him. The edition is enhanced with verses by Sappho translated by Boileau and Blin de Saimore. The composition of these editions by Blin de Saimore is very similar to those of Dorat, even using the same artists for...
€180
Adrien-Michel-Hyacinthe BLIN DE SAINMORE
Lettre de Gabrielle D'Estrée a Henri IV. Précédée d'une epitre à M. De Voltaire et de sa réponse
De l'imprimerie de Sébastien Jorry|à Paris 1766|12.50 x 20.50 cm|relié
First edition, illustrated with a figure by Eisen engraved by Roubeau, a title vignette by the same engraved by Massard, and a tailpiece, this time engraved by Allianet. Printed on deluxe paper.
Full sheep binding from early 20th century signed Champs. Smooth Jansenist spine, with gilt title and date. Gilt fillet frame on boards. Minor rubbing to headcaps. Handsome copy. Blin de Sainmore, accustomed to literary and historical borrowings, chose in this work a tragic subject, confronting love and power in the relationship between Gabrielle d'Estrées and Henri IV, striving to paint the situation of the kingdom in these troubled times. The verse letter is preceded by an author's preface...
€180
Evariste PARNY
La guerre des dieux anciens et modernes. Poeme en dix chants. [Ensemble] Les nouveaux saints. [Ensemble] Qu'est-ce que la théophilantropie ? [Ensemble] La religion naturelle est-elle absurde ? [Ensemble] Sur la philosophie
Chez Didot|à Paris 1799 - An VII|9.50 x 15.80 cm|relié
First edition, extra-illustrated with a frontispiece by Cochin engraved by Sornique.Les nouveaux saints. Chez Dabin. Paris. 1801. Third edition. André Marie Chénier.Qu'est-ce que la théophilantropie ? A la librairie claissique. Paris.1801.La religion naturelle est-elle absurde, intolérante, contraires aux idées reçues, et conduit-elle au fanatisme ? Se trouve à la libraire du Pont Michel. An 6.Sur la philosophie. An 9. S.n. S.l.
Contemporary full green morocco binding. Smooth spine decorated à la grotesque with trellis work, roulette at head and foot. Red morocco title label. Roulette border on covers. Edges gilt. Small lack at head. One corner slightly bumped. Rubbing to head and...
€1,000
Roland LE VAYER DE BOUTIGNY
Tarsis et Zélie
Chez Musier fils|à Paris 1774|13 x 21.80 cm|relié
New illustrated edition in first printing. The illustrations comprise three frontispieces by Cochin, Moreau and Eisen, engraved by Gaucher, Ponce and Née; and 20 head-pieces by Eisen, engraved by Helman, De Longueil, Masquelier and Massard. Elegant illustrated work with careful layout.
Half olive green morocco binding with corners, late 19th century unsigned in a master binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Gilt title and date at tail. Gilt fillets on boards. Top edge gilt. Very pale dampstain on the first 4 leaves of volume II, at mid-page. Very handsome copy, perfectly established and of great freshness.
Novel originally published in 1665, which received its first...
€850
Claude-Joseph DORAT
Lettre de Barnevelt, dans sa prison, a Truman, son ami, précédée d'une lettre de l'auteur
Chez Sébastien Jorry|à Paris 1764|12.50 x 19 cm|relié
Second edition, a reprint of the original published in 1763 by the same publisher. It is illustrated with a frontispiece, a vignette and a tailpiece by Eisen, engraved by De Longueil. Carefully printed; Dorat indeed ruined himself perfecting his publications, commissioning from Eisen and the engravers the very best...
Half red shagreen binding, late 19th century, signed Féchoy. Spine with raised bands decorated with fillets. Gilt title, date at foot. Light surface wear to lower right corner. Handsome copy.
The source of this verse work by Dorat is the tragedy of Barnevelt, written in 1619 by John Fletcher and Phillip Masinger, a tragic play from Elizabethan theatre. Dorat drew his...
€250
Claude-Joseph DORAT
Merlin, Bel - Esprit
Chez Monory|à Londres [London] • & se trouve à Paris 1780|14 x 21.50 cm|relié
First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece by Marillier, engraved by De launay.
Full blonde calf binding, grained and glazed. Smooth spine decorated with 5 compartmented fleurons, gilt roll at head and tail. Red morocco title label. Blue speckled edges. Water stain in upper margin over one cm and 4 cm wide (at end of work, the paper becomes fragile at this spot). Two tears at tail. Good copy overall.
This comedy is a satirical attack on all the learned men holding sway in the world of letters, writers or philosophers. In the preface a portrait of Voltaire is established, although he is never cited by name by Dorat. It is known that the author had declared himself against the...
€250
ANACRÉON, SAPHO
Anacréon, Sapho, Bion et Moschus, traduction nouvelle en Prose, suivie De la veillée des fêtes de Vénus, et d'un choix de pièces de différents auteurs. Par M. M*** C**
Chez Le Boucher|à Paphos • & se trouve à Paris 1773|14 x 22.20 cm|relié
First edition of this translation by Moutonnet de Clairfonds, and first issue of the illustration, which comprises a frontispiece, 12 headpieces and 13 tailpieces by Eisen, engraved by Massard and Duclos. Title page in red and black.
Full red morocco binding, late 19th century, signed Pickering. Jansenist spine with raised bands. Wide inner decorative border. Edges gilt. Small brown stains on upper cover. Despite the minor defects noted, a very fine copy.
Cohen rightly cites this work as "one of the most elegantly illustrated books of the 18th century"; Eisen's contribution is indeed delicate and inspired, and the headpiece engravings are superbly executed.
€800
Claude-Joseph DORAT
Mes nouveaux torts, ou nouveaux mélanges de poésies, pour servir de suite aux Fantaisies
Chez Delalain|à Amsterdam • & à Paris 1775|11.50 x 18.20 cm|relié
First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece by Marillier engraved by de Ghendt and a figure by the same engraver executed by Gaucher.
Contemporary full brown calf binding. Smooth spine decorated in grotesque style with interlacing floral motifs. Red morocco title and volume labels. Triple gilt fillet frame on boards. Edges gilt. Head worn; foot partially fragile. A lack to the upper corner at top. Corners slightly bumped.
A poetic anthology bringing together certain earlier works and adding some new ones. Notable is the important epistle that opens the work and explains the title, in which Dorat attempts to explain the origin of his disgrace in the literary world; following this...
€300
First illustrated edition of Ziméo, a pioneering anti-slavery tale of the Enlightenment
First illustrated edition of Ziméo, a pioneering anti-slavery tale of the Enlightenment
Jean-François de SAINT-LAMBERT
Les Saisons, poëme. [The Seasons. Followed by Abenaki, Sara Th..., Ziméo, Fugitive Pieces, and Oriental Fables]
S. n.|à Amsterdam 1775|14 x 23 cm|relié
Seventh edition, first issue of Moreau le Jeune's illustrations, adorned with 7 plates: a frontispiece and 4 plates for Les Saisons, engraved by Delaunay, Duclos, Lebas and Prévost, and 2 plates for the Contes, Poésies fugitives and Fables orientales, together with headpiece vignettes by Choffard, reprinted from the first edition of 1769.
Contemporary full calf binding. Richly decorated smooth spine. Red morocco lettering-piece. Boards in mottled calf (with Greek-key border) added at a later date during restoration. Worn corners. A split to the upper joint extending 5 cm. A very good copy overall.
€450
Pierre-François Godard de BEAUCHAMPS
Les amours d'Ismene, et d'Ismenias
Chez François l'Honoré|à Amsterdam 1729|10 x 17.50 cm|relié
First illustrated edition. One title vignette, one frontispiece and 3 handsome figures before the lettering. The title vignette bears the signature of Bernard Picard. Title page in red and black.
Half red morocco binding with corners, late 19th century, signed Dubois-D'Enghien. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Gilt title, date at foot. Double fillet border on boards. Gilt edges. Very handsome copy, perfectly executed, and in perfect condition.
The work is an imitation of the Greek novel The Loves of Rhodanthe and Dosicles by Eustathios Makrembolites; it tells the story of thwarted love in ancient Greece.
€600
Nicolas BOILEAU DESPREAUX
Epistres nouvelles
Chez Denys Thierry|à Paris 1698|15.50 x 21.50 cm|relié
First edition, rare. Large fleuron on title page. Text in italics. Large title headpieces, initials.
Full glazed blonde calf binding, circa 1820. Spine with raised bands decorated with 4 fleurons; blind-tooled fillets and fillet at foot. Black morocco title and volume labels. Decorative border frame on covers. Gilt edges. Foxing on first blank leaf and browning to margin of title page. Very handsome copy, fresh.
This edition contains the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth epistles in first edition. Writings from his literary maturity, the epistles are characterized by a more mature and serene style than the satires.
Bookplate of Dr. Manessier.
€800
Denis DIDEROT
Le pere de famille. De la poësie dramatique
Chez Marc-Michel Rey|à Amsterdam 1759|9 x 16.50 cm|relié
New edition, after the first published in 1758.
Full glazed blonde sheep binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 4 fleurons in compartments; roulette at foot. Red morocco title label. Upper joint cracked. Corners slightly bumped. Headcap amateurishly restored.
This play, Diderot's second published work, after Le Fils naturel in 1757 (for which he was accused of plagiarizing Goldoni) and which would not be performed until 1761, marks a remarkable turning point in the history of theater. Advocating a natural and realistic plot, based on contemporary characters, Diderot, developing his ideas in the essay that follows the play, invents bourgeois drama and definitively disrupts...
€350
Charles CLAUTEAUX
Observations sur la poetique française
Chez Van Harrevelt|à Amsterdam 1769|8.50 x 15.50 cm|relié
First edition.
Contemporary brown marbled calf binding ca 1800. Spine decorated with 5 fleurons. Red morocco title label. Gilt frame on boards. Gilt edges. One lack at head. Some scuffing to boards. Good copy.
The work is an outspoken critique of Marmontel's book: La poétique française, whose errors of judgment the author denounces step by step.
€200
Jean-François REGNARD
Œuvres complètes
chez la veuve Duchesne et fils • De l' imprimerie de Monsieur|à Paris 1790|12.50 x 20 cm|reliés
The finest and most complete edition of Regnard, when it properly contains the fifth and sixth volumes, printed in small numbers (as Cohen indicates), and which are rarely found together with the first four.
It is illustrated with a portrait of the author by Rigaud engraved by Tardieu and 11 fine figures by Moreau and Marillier, engraved by Delignon, Duponchel, etc. The remarks and prefaces are by Garnier.
Contemporary full tree calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 4 stars and fillets. Red morocco title and volume labels. Framing fillet on covers. Lacking at foot of volume 1 and at head of volume 3. Joints of volume 2 cracked. Despite some defects, quite a handsome...
€1,200
DESTOUCHES
Oeuvres de theatre
Chez Prault père|à Paris 1736|9.50 x 17 cm|relié
Publisher's composite collection, the title pages of the various pieces spanning from 1734 to 1742; the fourth volume being dated 1745. It should be noted that the first piece of the first volume comes after the general title page, without a particular title page, with no apparent lack in the collation; the same applies to volume II, the first piece being preceded only by a half-title, while all other pieces have a particular title page, this without any lack in the pagination and collation. The publisher added in each volume a leaf listing the titles of the various pieces contained in each volume. These particularities are inherent to the process employed by the publisher to form this...
€400
[Madame de LA FAYETTE] [ou Gatien COURTILZ DE SANDRAS]
Memoires de Hollande
Chez Estienne Michallet|à Paris 1678|10 x 15.50 cm|relié
The rare first edition, long attributed to Madame de La Fayette, and published the same year as La Princesse de Clèves, then to Courtilz de Sandras and even to Pierre Daniel Huet.
Late nineteenth-century full morocco binding signed Bellevallée glazed old red. Jansenist spine with raised bands. Wide gilt inner border. Date at foot. Very fine copy, perfectly established, with wide margins, and unwashed.
Unlike La Princesse de Clèves, or La Princesse de Montpensier, the Mémoires de Hollande is not a historical novella, but presents itself as a novel of manners that uses modern first names. The work describes, through the love affair between a Jewish woman and a Lusignan, life in the...
€1,800
QUINTILIEN
Institutionum oratorium libri duodecim
Apud Jacobum Estienne|Parisiis [Paris] • (Paris) 1715|9 x 17 cm|2 volumes reliés
Edition produced by Charles Rollin under the direction of Jacques Estienne, with notes and commentary by Charles Rollin.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title-label. Headcaps slightly worn. Rubbing. 6 corners bumped. Pale yellow dampstain in margin of certain leaves in volume 2, extending into the text. Rather good copies, fresh.
The Institutio Oratoria is Quintilian's fundamental work. It goes beyond the framework of a rhetoric manual and has durably influenced all questioning strategies (judicial procedure, investigations...); its influence is still perceptible today, it was decisive for the Renaissance which devoted a...
€300
Nicolas CLENARD
Institutiones ac meditationes in graecam liguam
Apud Iannem Houze|Lutetiae Parisiorum [Paris] • (Paris) 1581|16.50 x 23.50 cm|relié
New edition, after the original published in 1530. Printer's device on the title page. The same edition also appeared from Le Bé's press on the same date, and many times in the 16th century. A second title page bears the title: Meditationes graecanicae in artem grammaticam (p.273).
Full blonde calf binding from the 17th century. Spine with raised bands decorated with a pattern of fleur-de-lys in each compartment. Boards decorated with a pattern of fleur-de-lys and rich decorative gilt board-edges with the inscription in gilt letters on the upper board: Academie d'arras. Edges gilt. Tail headcap torn off. Lower joint split at tail. One corner cut. Missing marbled endpaper pasted to the...
€1,200
Antoine HAMILTON
Oeuvres du comte Antoine Hamilton
Antoine-Augustin Renouard|Paris 1812|13 x 21.50 cm|trois volumes reliés
New edition, considered the most beautiful and correct of the author's complete works. Illustrated with 8 portraits by A. de Saint-Aubin in volume I and 4 figures after Moreau le jeune in volume II.
Near-contemporary bindings in full glazed blonde calf. Spines with five fine raised bands set with gilt friezes and decorated with typographical motifs and gilt fillets, gilt friezes at head and foot. Red morocco title and volume labels. Fillet and decorative gilt board-edges on covers. Yellow edges. One joint cracked and restored at foot. One stain at foot of second cover of first volume. Occasional foxing.
Handsome copy.
Antoine Hamilton is above all the author of the Mémoires du...
€350
Madame de GENLIS
Les petits émigrés, ou correspondance de quelques enfants
S. n.|à Hambourg [Hamburg] 1798|8 x 13 cm|4 tomes reliés en 2
First edition in small format following the original published in Berlin and Paris on the same date.
Contemporary full marbled calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with urn tools and roulettes. Black morocco title and volume labels. Roulette on edges. Lacking at head of volume I; a tear with loss at tail. Rubbing. 3 corners slightly bumped.
The novel is an exchange of letters about the atrocities committed in France during the revolutionary period, by a noble family who fled France in 1792 due to persecution. Although this novel remains a bildungsroman with pedagogical and moral purpose, Madame de Genlis warns in the preface that it is not intended for children. The Countess de...
€300
[François BERNARD]
La gazette de Cythere, ou avantures galantes et recentes, arrivées dans les principales villes de l'Europe. Traduite de l'anglais
S. n.|Londres [London] 1774|11.50 x 20.50 cm|2 parties reliées en un volume
First edition, illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece and a portrait of Madame du Barry. The second part has the title: Precis Historique de la Vie de Mad. la Comtesse du Barry. Anonymous edition whose author would be Jean Frédéric Bernard according to Barbier.
Contemporary full marbled glazed calf binding. Smooth spine decorated. Fragile headcap with loss. Joints cracked at head. Upper joint split at tail. Joints splitting. Rubbing. One yellow dampstain in margin in the middle of the work, running over several pages of the second part (from p. 50).
Collection composed of 12 gallant and libertine novellas set in various places in Europe.
The work was first attributed to...
€350
Gabriel Francisco LE JAY
Josephus venditus. Tragoedia
Apud Antonium Lambin|Parisii [Paris] • (Paris) 1698|9.50 x 17 cm|relié
First edition, illustrated with a figure by Corneille engraved by Mariette and a headpiece with armorial device.
Full glazed blonde calf binding. Raised band spine decorated. Red morocco title label. Double gilt ruled frame on boards. One slight tear at head. Roulette on edges. Small stains on lower board. 2 corners slightly bumped. Endpapers renewed late 19th century. Good copy.
This Jesuit and professor of rhetoric became interested in theatre quite early and was even an actor. Apart from Christian books and some literary works, he published archaeological works. His theatre, in Latin, features figures from Christian mythology.
€250
Richard ROE
Concubitus sine lucina, ou le plaisir sans peine. Réponse à la lette intitulée Lucina sine concubitu
S. n.|à Londres [London] 1750|10 x 17 cm|relié
French first edition.
Contemporary full marbled and glazed calf binding. Raised spine decorated with 5 fleurons. Red morocco title-label. One crack to the lower joint at head.
Response to the letter addressed to the Royal Society of London by John Hill, in which he affirmed and demonstrated that a woman can conceive and give birth without carnal commerce, and that he could thus restore honor to those women who had given birth without having had commerce with their husbands; this response is satirical and full of humor, mocking Hill's system, which, it must be remembered, he had only written to take revenge on the Royal Society of London which had refused his candidacy.
€300
Philippe de Laurens Abbé de REYRAC
Hymne au soleil, suivi de plusieurs morceaux du même genre
Aux dépens de la Compagnie • [ Cazin]|à Amsterdam • [Paris] 1781|6.50 x 12.50 cm|relié
New edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait. One of the rare titles with the false Amsterdam imprint.
Publisher's binding in full marbled blonde sheep. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title-label. Triple fillet frame on boards. A tear to the spine. Small lacks to joints at foot and one to upper board. Edges gilt.
€100
John GAY
Fables
Printed for J. and R. Tonson|London 1737 - 1742|12 x 19.50 cm|2 tomes reliés en un volume
Fifth edition statement for the first volume, and second edition for the second. The first volume was first published in 1727, with a sequel added in 1738. It is illustrated with a frontispiece by Scottin (placed at the head of the second volume and dated 1738), two title vignettes, 51 headpieces by Kent and Wooton in the first volume and 16 large figures by Gravelot for volume II.
Later full calf binding. Spine ca. 1800, decorated with cold-stamped fillets and roulettes. The flamed calf boards have been added. Rubbing. One corner trimmed. One corner restored. 2 small lacks to headcaps.
€500
Antoine LE ROY
Le Momus françois, ou les aventures divertissantes du duc de Roquelaure
Chez Pierre Marteau|Cologne 1768|8.50 x 14.30 cm|2 parties reliées en un volume
New edition.
Copy with the arms of Armand Joseph Le Lièvre de la Grange stamped in blind, Marquis de Fourilles et de la Grange; azure a chevron or, accompanied in chief by two roses argent and in base an eagle displayed with lowered wings of the same.
Contemporary full blonde grained sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title-label. A tear with loss to the lower joint at head. Split to the lower joint at tail.
Gaston-Jean-Baptiste de Roquelaure, from an illustrious Gascon family, field marshal to the king, wounded at the siege of Bordeaux, saw his estate of Roquelaure elevated to a duchy. He was short and ugly and said of himself: "I have been...
€400
Albrecht von HALLER
Poesies de M. Haller
Chez La Société typographique|Berne [Bern] 1775|12 x 19.30 cm|relié
New edition, and first illustrated edition, with a frontispiece by Dunker engraved by Lacroix, a figure on the title page, 6 very fine head-pieces and several tailpieces, all by Dunker. This edition has been revised and the texts improved in translation by Vincent Bernhard de Tscharner.
Binding in half dark green shagreen ca 1850. Spine with false raised bands decorated with compartments and fillets in cold and hot stamping. Rubbing to headcaps.
Though slender, the poetic production of the celebrated Swiss physician and naturalist played a determining role in the formation of German lyricism, not to mention that his poetry collections mark Switzerland's entry into literature.
€300
Friedrich von SCHILLER
Wallenstein
In bureau der deutschen classiker|Carlsruhe [Karlsruhe] 1826|10.50 x 19 cm|relié
New edition in German, the first having appeared in 1800.
Contemporary full vellum binding. Smooth spine decorated with 5 fleurons and roulettes. Red morocco title-label. Title-label rubbed. Vellum soiled.
Wallenstein is a dramatic trilogy. The three parts are Wallenstein's Camp, The Piccolomini and The Death of Wallenstein. The trilogy features generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, commander of Ferdinand II's army. He chooses to forge a secret alliance with the Swedes, thus plotting against the Emperor. Unmasked by certain officers including Ottavio Piccolomini, the situation balances between pro and anti-Wallenstein factions. He will be assassinated for...
€400
Nicolas-Louis BOURGEOIS
Christophe Colomb ou L'Amerique Découverte
Chez Moutard|à Paris 1773|12 x 20.30 cm|2 tomes reliés en un volume
First edition, illustrated with two frontispieces by Challe, engraved by Tilliard.
Contemporary full grained calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title-label. Headcaps worn. Upper joint cracked at head and foot. Lower joint split. 2 corners bumped and one cut.
Epic poem in verse in 24 cantos telling the story of Columbus's discovery of America, viewed as a symbolic and religious saga.
€300
Johan van HEEMSKERK
BATAVISCHE ARCADIA, waar in, onder 't loof-werck van liefkooserytjes, gehandelt werdt, van den oorspronck van 't oud Batavien, vryheydt der Bataviers, vrye zee, zee-vonden, vinders van verburgen schatten, verbeurt-maecken van goederen, uyt-perssen der waarheid door pynigen, onheyl van de lanckwyligheyde der rechts-plegingen, en andere diergelycke ernstige saken meer
By Adriaan Wor|Te Amsteldam [Amsterdam] 1729|9.50 x 16.50 cm|relié
New edition, after the complete original of 1647. Illustrated with a title-frontispiece by Delin, engraved by Laan, a title vignette, a frontispiece and 5 folding plates unsigned.
Full flexible vellum binding. Smooth spine with title in black ink. Endpapers detached. Title-frontispiece trimmed short with a slight lack to the right edge. Similarly, the title page shows a slight lack to the right margin, as does the frontispiece. Plate 5 has been partially backed with old paper. Leaf 201 restored in margin and some leaves frayed in right margin, over 1 cm.
The first Dutch pastoral novel, L'arcadie hollandaise enjoyed great success in its country. The edition was accomplished by a...
€450
Samuel RICHARDSON
Pamela, ou la vertu recompensée
Aux dépens de la Compagnie|à Amsterdam 1744|9.50 x 16.20 cm|relié
New edition, illustrated with 32 figures by Punt and a title vignette repeated on all 4 volumes. Title pages in red and black. This appears to be the first edition to be fully illustrated, as previous editions presented only four frontispieces, however it should be noted that the figures bear the date 1742. The mention of third edition refers only to Dutch editions and is therefore not significant. Translation by Abbé Prévost and Aubert de la Chesnaye des Bois.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title and volume labels. Head of volume I split at head. A lack at head of volume II. A lack to the upper joint at foot of volume I. Tailpiece...
€600
Jean-Baptiste ROUSSEAU
Oeuvres
à Londres [London] • [Paris] 1781|7 x 12.50 cm|2 volumes reliés
New edition, and reprint by Cazin, after that published in 1777. A frontispiece portrait engraved by Delvaux.
Publisher's binding in full glazed and grained blonde calf. Smooth spine decorated. Brown morocco title-label and volume label. Triple fillet frame on boards. Edges gilt. Headcap of volume I worn. Rubbing. A small lack to edge on upper board of volume I.
Jean-Baptiste Rousseau was among the most celebrated poets of his time, notably for his cantatas which were set to music.
€150
Jacques de VARENNE
Memoires du chevalier de Ravanne, page de son altesse le Duc regent
S. n.|à Londres [London] 1751|8 x 14.50 cm|relié
Second edition, the original having been published in Liège in 1740.
Contemporary full marbled sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title label and black morocco volume label. Upper joint cracked. Headcaps worn with lacks to upper joints, except at foot of volume II. 4 corners bumped.
Extract from the last chapter: "J'ai cru tenir la fortune entre mes mains, je m'en félicitais ; & du même coup d'oeil je l'ai vue s'envoler d'une aile rapide, comme un moineau qui s'échappe des mains d'un enfant qui n'a pas l'avisement de le retenir. Ma vie n'est plus qu'untissus de chagrin & de peine ; assorti du regret amer du passé, & d'une desespérante incertitude de l'avenir." ["I...
€300
YANAGAWA SHIGENOBU II
Yanagawa Gafu. Sansui no bu
Shubundo|Edo [Tokyo] • [Tokyo] 1856|12 x 18 cm|cousu
Rare first edition. Illustrated with 44 plates including one double-page, totaling 110 figures enhanced in period colors by Yanagawa Jushin.
Contemporary wrappers, original binding in cold-embossed green paper with cloud motifs. Excellent condition.
The author published 5 volumes of this type, each addressing a different theme—animals, flowers; this one depicts the mountains and rivers of Japan represented in prints by the artist.
€500
Evariste PARNY
Oeuvres choisies
Roux-Dufort • Auguste Wahlen|Paris • & Bruxelles [Brussels] 1826|12.50 x 20.50 cm|2 tomes reliés
Assembly by the owner of two works with the objective of completing them; the owner thus added to the volume of Selected Works published in Paris, a tome (the second) of the complete works published in Brussels. A frontispiece and title vignette for the Selected Works.
Books bound with the arms of the Earl of Lucan (Ireland, County Dublin), George Charles Bingham, Field Marshal, with the motto: Spes mea Christus. The presence of fleurs-de-lis is doubtless explained by the fact that the first Earl of Lucan was the son of Jacques Fitz-James, naturalized French.
Contemporary full rose calf binding (English binding) signed Hering. Smooth spine decorated with grotesque foliage and a...
€700
PERSE, SELIS
Les satires de Perse
De l'imprimerie d'Auguste Delalain|à Paris 1817|10 x 16.50 cm|relié
New edition of Persius's Satires translated, commented and annotated by Nicolas Selis.
Contemporary full cardboard binding. Green paper spine with corners decorated with roulettes. Black paper boards. Red morocco title-label.
According to Brunet: "One of the best translations of Persius" (Brunet IV, 522). Nicolas-Joseph Sélis (1737-1802), man of letters and professor at the college Louis-le-Grand, replaced abbé Delille, to whom he was connected, in the chair of Latin poetry at the Collège de France in 1796. Each satire is presented then annotated. A long preface introduces the work, as well as a letter from Le Monnier, himself translator of the satires, who compares his work with...
€180
Jacques DELILLE
Oeuvres
Chez Giguet et Michaud • Librairie Stéréotype|à Paris 1803 - 1817|9.50 x 15 cm|8 volumes reliés
Collection published by the same publishers, but at different dates, of works by Jacques Delille; the complete edition having been spread over about ten years; moreover certain titles were systematically reprinted. The catalog by Michaud at the end of Les Trois règnes moreover clearly shows the complete collection sold in 17 volumes and the sale by individual works.
Contemporary full tree calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with 2 urn tools and 2 bouquet tools. Red morocco title label, and green morocco volume label. Good copy.
Details of the works: Les trois règnes 2 Vol. (Michaud 1809) 2 frontispieces; Les jardins 1 Vol. (Michaud 1813) 4 figures by Monciau; L'imagination 2 Vol...
€250
Giovanni Ambrogio MARINI
Les desesperés, histoire héroïque
Chez Pierre Prault|à Paris 1732|9.50 x 17 cm|2 tomes reliés en un volume
French first edition translated (and arranged) by Jean Serré de Rieux; illustrated with 9 figures including a frontispiece by Humblot, engraved by Baquoy. Not in Cohen (Livres à gravures du XVIIIe).
Contemporary full calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Head of spine weakened. Lacks at each joint at head and tail. Rubbing and scuffing to lower board particularly with lack at the joint of the fourth compartment. One tear p.97 in lower margin with lack. Corners slightly bumped.
Marini is a 17th century writer who belongs to the last wave of Italian chivalric romances. The novel features the prince of Babylon, knight of death, and the princess of...
€400
Charles PALISSOT DE MONTENOY
Oeuvres
Chez Clement Plonteux|à Liège 1777|12.50 x 20.50 cm|relié
Statement of new edition, considerably expanded. Several volumes were indeed added to this edition, in addition to the illustrations. Illustrated with a portrait by Monet as frontispiece to volume I and 4 figures by Meon. Volume II: 4 figures by Meon. Volume III: 10 figures by Monnet. Very fine illustration, careful and refined. Remarkably executed edition.
Contemporary glazed blonde calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Garnet morocco title label and red morocco volume labels (with roulettes). Roulette at tail and headcap. Triple fillet frame on boards. Upper joint fragile at tail of volume I; this volume also has a small tear with loss at tail. A loss of one cm at head of...
€950
Jean Le Royer PRADE
Arsace, roi des Partes
Chez Théodore Girard|à Paris 1666|8.50 x 15.60 cm|relié
First edition, rare.

Contemporary glazed full calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with grotesques. Central fleurons on boards and corner ornaments. Top headcap worn away. Bottom headcap torn off. Lower joint split over 10 cm. Endpapers renewed late 19th century. 3cm tear on p. 3. Brown stains on first leaves.

Le Royer de Prade's third play was not intended by the author to be printed, as evidenced by the publisher's preface. This tragedy in alexandrine verse was long read in salons from 1650 onwards, and several testimonies report the esteem in which it was held, notably by Corneille.
€500
Claude QUILLET
La callipédie, ou la manière d'avoir de beaux enfants
Chez Dupuis • et Bastien|à Amsterdam • et se trouve à Paris 1774|10.50 x 16.50 cm|relié
New edition, after the original published in 1749. French text alongside the original Latin.
Contemporary marbled calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Library label at foot. One wormhole at foot. Good copy.
The poem enjoyed considerable success from its first Latin publication, being quite free in expression and filled with popular beliefs and concerns about infant care, which were considered decisive for the child's future.
€300
Théodore LECLERCQ
Proverbes dramatiques
Aimé-André • Ladrange|Paris 1835|13 x 21.50 cm|8 volumes reliés
New edition illustrated with 78 copperplate engravings by Blanchard after drawings by Tony and Alfred Johannot and the best artists of the period.
Half olive calf bindings, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt Romantic tools and showing minor rubbing of no consequence, marbled paper boards, a small tear at head of front board of first volume, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, contemporary Romantic bindings.
Foxing.
A handsomely executed set.
€300
Germain-François Poullain de SAINT-FOIX
Oeuvres complettes
Chez La veuve Duchesne|à Paris 1778|9.50 x 17.50 cm|6 volumes reliés
First collected edition. One portrait frontispiece and 2 engravings by Marillier in the second volume (one of these engravings is often missing). Half-titles and titles in red and black.
Full blonde sheep binding, slightly later. Smooth spine decorated with compartments and rolls. Red morocco title label, and black morocco volume label with rolls. Some corners slightly bumped. A thin tear at head of volume I. Handsome copy.
The posthumous edition, two years after the author's death, is distributed as follows: Volumes I and II: Theatre and the Turkish Letters; Volumes III, IV, and V: Historical Essays on Paris; Volume VI: History of the Order of the Holy Spirit (of which Saint-Foix...
€600
François de ROSSET
Les delices de la poesie françoise, ou, dernier recueil des plus beaux vers de ce temps
Chez Toussaint du Bray|à Paris 1620|11 x 16.50 cm|relié
New edition after the first published in 1614. Rare. Printed in italics.
Contemporary full vellum binding. Smooth unlettered spine. One tear with loss of 1cm² to spine. Lower right corner (1cm) burned on first 30 leaves sometimes affecting a blackened letter. Pale dampstaining to p. 240 lower right corner affecting part of the text. Front board held only by a few loose stitches.
Important collection of contemporary poetry for the French language bringing together Duperron, Malherbe, Racan, Meziriac, Monfuron, Touvant, Motin, La Picardière, Maynard, Hodey, Le Breton, Brun, D'urfé... The work gathers numerous poems by author. According to the notice to the reader, this collection is...
€700
Étienne François de LANTIER
Contes en prose et en vers, suivis de pièces fugitives, du poème d'Erminie, et de métastase à Naples
Chez Arthus Bertrand|à Paris 1809|12 x 19.50 cm|relié
Second edition, expanded with some tales. The first edition appeared in 3 volumes in 18mo. Illustrated with three figures engraved by Tardieu.
Contemporary full tree calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with tools and roulettes. Red morocco title label, and black morocco volume label. Rubbing. A small lack to the tail headcap of volume 1. One corner opened.
The first volume gathers the tales in prose and the second the tales in verse as well as a theatrical piece.
A collection of light and gallant tales by François de Lantier. Verses he composed for Madame du Barry earned him a pension from Choiseul and a position in Dresden. He is the author of the voyages of Antenor. Of his...
€250
Marie Catherine, Baronne d' AULNOY
Histoire et aventures d'Hypolite, comte de Duglas
Chez Valleyre, Cailleau|à Paris 1764|8 x 14.50 cm|4 parties reliées en 1 volume
New edition, after the original published in 1690. Illustrated with 4 figures serving as frontispieces to the four books, finely engraved in etching but unsigned. Titles within frames of small engraved tools.
Contemporary half speckled sheep binding, smooth spine decorated with 5 fleurons, green paper title-label with gilt title, two gilt tools slightly faded, boards covered with remarkable contemporary domino paper decorated with a decidedly modern dotted pattern, some rubbing to leather.
Madame d'Aulnoy's first literary adventure, this novel belongs to the tradition of historical nouvelles whose emblematic model is the Princesse de Clèves. This collection also contains the...
€250
Jean-François POMMEREUL, Prosper Jolyot de CRÉBILLON
Contes théologiques, suivis des Litanies des catholiques du dix-huitième siècle, et de Poésies érotico-philosophiques, ou Recueil presque édifiant
De l'imprimerie de la Sorbonne|à Paris 1783|13 x 21 cm|relié
First edition, quite rare.
Full light calf binding from early 20th century, handsome pastiche of a contemporary binding. Decorated raised spine. Triple fillet frame on boards. Red morocco title-label. Decorative gilt board-edges and roll on leading edges. 18th-century endpapers preserved. The lower margin of the title page, missing (the owner's name was removed), has been filled with modern paper. A hole in the lower right margin on pp. 301 and 302. An amusing old annotation (probably from the 18th century) in ink in the lower margin of the publisher's warning: "foutu sot".
Collection of satirical and erotic poetry attributed to a certain Busca (some pieces are by him), who...
€700
Christian Fürchtegott GELLERT
Extrait des oeuvres de Mr. Gellert, contenant ses apologues, ses fables et ses histoires
Aux depens de la maison des orphelins|à Zurichow [Zurich] • (Leipzig) 1768|9.50 x 16.50 cm|relié
First edition of this translation by Toussaint. Illustrated with a frontispiece depicting a concert performed by animals.
Near-contemporary Bozérian-style binding. Smooth spine richly decorated with radiating iron tools, stars... Red morocco title-label. Greek-style frame on the boards. Edges gilt. Headcaps worn down. Upper joint cracked. Corners slightly bumped.
Gellert was a national glory, celebrated and acclaimed for the purity of his writings and morals, but fell into disuse when he was disparaged by the new school in place, the fiery youth of Sturm und Drang. Posterity has especially retained his fables and tales, translated into French for the first time in this edition...
€170
Raymond POISSON
Les dames galantes, ou la confidence reciproque
Chez Jean Pauli|à Amsterdam 1737|7.50 x 13 cm|2 parties reliées en un volume
Second edition after the original published in 1685, rare. Title page in red and black. Printer's device.
Contemporary full vellum binding. Smooth spine with title stamped in blind in black. Handsome copy.
A novel written during the author's retirement which strikes one with its modernity when compared to the prose of Madame de Lafayette and her contemporaries. Its structure (the so-called "nested" genre) and tone resolutely engage with the eighteenth century, where even the historical setting is merely a pretext for narration. The title "Dames galantes" is certainly an editorial choice, as Brantôme's eponymous work was well known at the time.
Raymond Poisson is much better...
€350
Nicolo PARTHENIO GIANETTASIO
Piscatoria et nautica
Typis regiis|Neapoli [Naples] 1686|10.50 x 15 cm|relié
New edition (noted as second, after the original of 1685 of which it is a faithful reprint), illustrated with a title-frontispiece, a frontispiece and nine figures (including numerous naval scenes) drawn by F. Solimene and engraved by F. de Louvemont. The engravings are fine and beautiful. Like the copy in the Library of Congress (visible online page by page), the work has a title frontispiece, without a title page duplicating the title thereafter. The copy is complete.
Contemporary full vellum binding. Spine with raised bands, unlettered. Title in black ink. Body of the work detached from the spine, noticeable on the lower board side when opening the book. The copy is however in very...
€650
Pierre DUMAY, Paul PETIT
Virgille virai an borguignon. Choix des plus beaux livres de l'Enéide, suivis d'épisodes tirés des autres livres, avec Sommaires et Notes, publiés par C.-N. Amanton, et un discours préliminaire, par G.P.
Imprimerie de Frantin|Dijon 1831|10 x 16.50 cm|relié
New edition, printed in 244 copies. The original appeared in three books, from 1718 to 1720.
Half green sheep Restoration binding with corners. Spine with raised bands decorated with monastic stamps and roulettes. Rubbing to headcaps, corners and joints.
Burlesque translation of Virgil in Burgundian dialect. The notes and long preface of this edition are precious. A book that will long be of interest to bibliophiles.
NB: This work is available at the bookshop on request within 48 hours.
€500
TÉRENCE
PUBLII TERENTII AFRI COMOEDIAE SEX Novissime recognitae cum selecta varietate lectionum et perpetua annotatione, accedit index latinitatis cum interpretatione STUDIIS SOCIETATIS BIPONTINAE. Edition accurata
Ex Typographia Societatis|Biponti [Deux-Ponts] 1779|11.50 x 19.70 cm|relié
Zwei-Brücken (Bipontine) edition of the works of Terence. Two title vignettes in medallion by Verhelst.
Contemporary half speckled sheep binding with small corners. Tan title label. Fillets and roulettes.
Contains, in Latin with annotations: Andria, Eunuchus, Hecyra, Heauton Timorumenos, Phormio, Adelphoe. The edition reprints the famous commentaries of Muretus, Melanchthon...

NB: This work is available at the bookshop on request within 48 hours.
€250
Antoine GUENÉE, VOLTAIRE
Lettres de quelques Juifs portugais et allemands, à M. de Voltaire ; avec des réflexions critiques, &c. Et un petit commentaire extrait d'un plus grand
Chez Moutard|à Paris 1776|9 x 16.50 cm|3 volumes reliés
Edition with some parts in first edition, first published in 1769 in one 8vo volume. Two volumes were added for this edition.
Contemporary full blonde sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Red morocco title-label. Small lacks at head. Tailcap of volume III worn. 7 corners slightly bumped. Rubbing.
The work is an attack and critical commentary on Voltaire's Treatise on Tolerance. The work was well received both by its detractors (Voltaire, D'Alembert) and the public. The author demonstrates not only nourished and erudite argumentation, but without pedantry and always with impartiality, which Voltaire himself applauded. The Letters are not a defense of the church, but of...
€450
Claude-Joseph DORAT
La muse libertine ou oeuvres posthumes
S. n.|s. l. 1783|11.50 x 19 cm|relié
First edition.
Full blonde calf binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt fleurons and compartments, red morocco title-label, blind-ruled border on covers, headcaps slightly rubbed, contemporary binding.
Handsome copy free from foxing.
€300
Charles DU FRESNY SIEUR DE LA RIVIERE
Amusemens serieux et comiques
Chez Estienne Rogier|à Amsterdam 1705|8 x 15 cm|relié
Second edition, rare, after the first edition published in 1698 by Barbin.

Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Head worn. Rubbing. Foxing.

The work belongs to no defined genre; in a very free manner, a Siamese tells anecdotes which he mixes with maxims on various subjects: The palace, the court, the public, the Bois de Boulogne, the opera... These satirical considerations of Parisian society, pell-mell, do not possess a continuous narrative; the work would pave the way for Montesquieu's Persian Letters. It is one of its principal sources.
€550
Johann BUCHLER
Thesaurus phrasium poeticarum. Adiecta est institutio poëtica ex R. P. Iacobi Pontani
Apud Ioannem Iansonium|Amstelodami [Amsterdam] • (Amsterdam) 1636|7 x 12 cm|relié
New edition, illustrated with a frontispiece.
Contemporary full vellum binding with flaps. Smooth spine. Handwritten title.
Composed of three distinct parts: the Thesaurus itself (itself divided into sub-parts), the Solius Virgilii (Virgiliana synonima) and Institutio poetica by Iacobi Pontani which is a treatise on poetry. The Thesaurus is essentially a lexical and semantic, metaphorical field of all terms used in Latin poetry, extracted from Latin poets; it was mainly intended for students.

NB: This work is available at the bookstore on request within 48 hours.
€400
Alexander POPE
Oeuvres diverses, traduites de l'anglois. Nouvelle édition, revue et augmentée d'un grand nombre de Pièces qui n'avoient point encore été traduites. Avec de très belles figures en taille-douce
Chez Arkstée & Merkus|à Amsterdam • & Leipzig 1767|9.50 x 16.50 cm|8 volumes reliés
New edition, illustrated with a frontispiece by Delamonce, an engraved portrait by Kornlein, and 23 figures by Frankendaal. This edition contains two more volumes than the 1754 edition.
Full marbled brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Red morocco title and volume labels. Headcaps partly worn on volumes III, VI and VIII. Minor defects. 4 corners slightly bumped. Fairly good decorative set.Volumes 6 to 8 contain Pope's correspondence, notably that with Swift and Gay. Pope was both a great classical poet (the greatest of the first half of the 18th century), a philosopher noted for his Essay on Man, as well as a novelist: Memoirs of Martin Scrivelius. The works notably...
€550
Antoine Houdar de LA MOTTE
Odes. Avec un discours su la poesie en général, & sur l'ode en particulier
Chez Grégoire Dupuis|à Paris 1711|11 x 17 cm|2 volumes reliés
Third enlarged edition. The first edition of 1707 and the second of 1709 from the same publisher had only one volume.

Contemporary full glazed brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with rich compartments. Red morocco title label. Headcap of volume I worn. Small lack to upper headcap of volume II. Good copy.

The author held a choice place in the literary life of his time, and his Odes had considerable success. His most famous opera libretto was L'Europe Galante, but he brought numerous innovations to the stage; a regular at the salon of the Marquise de Lambert, he was at the origin of the second Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, taking the side of...
€250
Prosper Jolyot de CRÉBILLON
Oeuvres
Didot jeune|Paris 1797|13 x 21 cm|2 volumes reliés
Edition illustrated with 10 figures drawn and engraved by Peyron.
Full speckled blonde sheep bindings, smooth spines ornately decorated with gilt compartments, one tiny wormhole to the head of the spine of the second volume, red Russian morocco title and volume labels with slight rubbing, gilt roulettes on the headcaps, frames of gilt dentelles and tools, light scratches to the boards, gilt friezes and tools on the leading edges, two corners slightly bumped, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, contemporary bindings.
Handsome copy, free from foxing, attractively housed in decorative contemporary bindings.
€200
ANONYME
Le fourbe puni, ou le duel des rivales. [Ensemble] Lettres infernales et Les tisons
S. n. • Aux enfers|s. l. 1740|9.50 x 16.70 cm|relié
First edition, rare. The second work is also in first edition, decorated with a frontispiece representing the devil handing a letter to a gentleman.
Contemporary full blonde calf binding. Ornate raised band spine. Red morocco title-label. One tear p. 127. Headcaps slightly worn.
Outstanding anonymous short novel, typical in its construction and writing of the first half of the 18th century, which narrates the encounter between a gentleman and a female duellist, the tallest woman he had ever seen; she will eventually tell her love story and provide an explanation for this curious duel. The second work, satirical, denounces, mocks and criticizes numerous subjects with bite in a tone...
€500
ANONYME
L'echo des bardes
Chez Le Fuel|à Paris 18..|7.50 x 12.50 cm|relié
First edition, decorated with 6 figures drawn by Berlin and engraved by Devilliers. 80 pages of engraved music.
Contemporary full red straight-grained morocco binding. Smooth spine decorated with two butterflies and two fleurons. Frame border on boards. One tiny lack at foot. Rubbing. Scattered foxing. Handsome copy.
Song collection, whose songs are mainly drawn from operettas (Boieldieu, Piccini, Lemoine...). Although most of the texts are amorous laments, one notes an intruder: God save the king...

NB: This work is available at the bookstore on request within 48 hours.
€280
Louis-Élisabeth de La Vergne TRESSAN
Oeuvres Choisies Du Comte De Tressan, avec figures
[ Maradan • Desray • Giguet]|A Paris, rue et hôtel Serpente 1791|12 x 19.80 cm|relié
First collected edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait (engraved by de Launay after Bérel) and 20 figures by Marillier engraved by Delvaux, de Ghendt, Croutelle, Patas, Langlois jeune, de Monchy, de Launay. Volumes 11 and 12 comprise the author's posthumous works and bear volume numbers 1 and 2 on the title page. A third volume of these posthumous works would appear in 1800.
Contemporary full speckled calf. Smooth spine decorated with urn tools and stars; roulettes. Framing frieze on boards. Morocco title and volume labels in black. Headcaps of volumes 1, 4, 5, 8, 11 and 12 worn or partially worn. Foot caps of volumes 1, 2, 4, 6, likewise. Title and volume labels of volume 4...
€800
François-Joseph de LA GRANGE-CHANCEL
Théâtre
Chez François L'Honoré et fils|à Amsterdam 1746|7.50 x 13.50 cm|2 volumes reliés
First collected edition. It is illustrated with a frontispiece, repeated in both volumes, a title vignette by Picart also repeated, and 10 unsigned figures, quite charming, showing the actors on stage.
Later full brown sheep binding (circa 1800). Spine with raised bands and fillets. Tan morocco title label. Headcaps worn.
Contemporaries saw in La Grange-Chancel the successor to Racine. He boasted of having the highest capacity for writing verse. His connections brought him to Louis XIV who asked Racine to read it, and the latter sponsored the author's first play. Many of his plays met with fine success, and the author represents, if not a great dramatist, the taste of an era for a...
€300
Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis SAINT-ÉVREMOND
Nouvelles oeuvres meslées
Chez la veuve de Claude Barbin|à Paris 1700|10 x 17 cm|relié
First edition of this collection, which contains maxims by La Rochefoucauld in interesting variants. Illustrated with a medallion portrait by Edelinck.
Contemporary full glazed fawn calf binding. Richly decorated raised spine. Red morocco title label. Despite some wormholes, fine contemporary binding. Corner dampstain to a few leaves. Some pages yellowed.
Charles Marguetel de Saint-Denis, seigneur de Saint-Évremond (1614-1703), was a moralist and libertine critic, his rigor and critical independence foreshadowed the Enlightenment philosophers, and he was perhaps the first author to make criticism a profession. He cared little for his writings which circulated mainly in manuscript...
€450