//Hardcover
  • Publisher's flapped folder of black velvet paper with dark green embossed vignette, 494 x 325 mm, with a pink limitation label inside the front cover and a printed spade with 'FIN" inside the back cover; a set of 13 lithographs signed Santippa, 936; 480 x 310 mm each, twelve in black and one (title) coloured with sanguine. Limited edition of 250 copies, 1-100 printed on Hollande and 150 on Japon; this is copy № 127.

    Titles: Rêverie, Gaspillage, Exagération, Simplicité, Gourmandise, Abondance, Violence, Fantaisie, Faiblesse, Curiosité, Obligeance, Surprise.

    Contributors:

    Gaston Hoffmann [Santippa] (French, 1883 – 1977)

  • Description: Pictorial album 29.7 x 24 cm, bound in ¾ red morocco over marbled boards with gilt lettering “LA BIBLIOTHÈQUE DES ROMANS” and raised bands to spine; marbled endpapers, two flyleaves, tan original wrapper lettered “La Bibliothèque des Romans. (gothic, arch) | {colour vignette} | UNE VEILLÉE DE JEUNE FILLE. | 1840. || Six hand-coloured lithographs, each in a double-rule border with the series title above it and image title below. Sequential numbers are hand-inscribed within the border in the upper-right corner. Frame 23.5 x 18.3 cm, image 21.5 x 16.5 cm. Three flyleaves at the end. A bookplate to front pastedown: “GERARD NORDMANN EX-LIBRIS”. Content:
    1. Front wrapper (title-page)
    2. SŒUR ANNE (Sister Anne)
    3. LA GRISETTE (The grisette)
    4. LÉONIDE OU LA VIEILLE DE SURÊNE (Léonide or the old lady of Surêne)
    5. LA PUCELLE DE BELLEVILLE (The maid of Belleville)
    6. MON VOISIN RAYMOND (My neighbor Raymond)
    7. LE COCU (The cuckold)
    Catalogue raisonné: Nordmann/Christie’s (I) № 127, p. 86 (Lithographic title and 6 erotic plates, in the Romantic style of Achille Devéria. Original pictorial front wrapper preserved) Provenance: Gérard Nordmann (French, 1930 – 1992). Achille Jacques-Jean-Marie Devéria (French, 1800 – 1857).
  • Single volume, 19.2 x 14.2 cm, bound in ¾ dark blue morocco over peacock marbled boards, gilt double-fillet border, spine with gilded raised bands, gilt fleurons and lettering, marbled endpapers, top margin gilt, outer margin uncut; text printed on watermarked laid paper; frontispiece by Félicien Rops, plates by Félix Lukkow after original lithographs by Devéria and Henri Grévedon or Octave Tassaert for the 1833 edition (1926 re-print LIB-3135.2023); the plate with the ape may be considered 'after edition of 1864' (LIB-3087.2022). Collation: π2 (h.t., t.p.) [a]8 1-712 96, total 64 leaves plus etched frontispiece in sanguine after page 8 and 12 engraved plates on India paper; illustrations include six burin engravings printed in two versions each, black and red, all six by Félix Lukkow after Devéria and Grévedon. Pagination: [4] [i] ii-viii, [1] 2-116, total 128 pages, ils. Title-page: GAMIANI | OU | DEUX NUITS D’EXCES | PAR | ALCIDE, Baron de M******. | {publisher's device} | — | BRUXELLES | MDCCCXXXIII—1871. || Limitation: Print run of 150 copies of which one unique on peau de vélin, 130 on laid paper (papier vergé), 5 on papier album jaune, 4 on papier de Chine, 10 on papier fort de Hollande. This is copy № 3, on Van Gelder laid paper, watermarked (possibly this is what they call ‘papier fort de Hollande’). Catalogue raisonné: Dutel I: A-472; Pia 520. Ref.: BNF Enfer 66. Contributors: Alfred de Musset (French, 1810 – 1857) – author. Félicien Rops (Belgian, 1833 – 1898) – artist. Félix Lukkow (French, fl. c. 1870 – 1875) – engraver. Vital Puissant (Belgian, 1835 – 1878) – publisher. Catalogue Poulet-Malassis & ses amis description: № 58. [Alfred de MUSSET - Félix LUKKOV] Alcide, baron de M******. Gamiani ou Deux nuits d’excès. Bruxelles, M DCCC XXXIII - 1871 [Vital Puissant]. In-8 de 2 .n.ch, viii, 116 pages, demi-chagrin bleu à coins, dos à nerfs orné, lets dorés et à froid sur les mors, tête dorée, tranches naturelles, non rogné (reliure de l’époque). Illustré de 7 gravures sur Chine, dont une en frontispice, en double état (sauf le frontispice) par Félix Lukkov, d’après les gravures de Félicien Rops. Tirage à 150 ex. L’un des 10 ex. tirés in-8, sur grand papier fort de Hollande (n° 3). Bibliographie : Pia 561, Per 16-14, Enfer 66, Dutel A-472.
  • NEW
    Two volumes, 135 x 85 mm each, uniformly bound in full brown morocco with triple fillet border, flat spine with gilt fleurons and double fillet bands, gilt lettered label, interior dentelle, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt; four volumes in two, collated in 12mo. Vol. 1: pp.: [1-5] 6-100, coll.: 1-86 92;(i.e. 50 leaves); [1-5] 6-130; coll.: 1-106 115 (i.e. 65 leaves); plus two blanks in the front and at the rear, and nine plates, incl. frontispiece. Vol. 2: pp.: [1-5] 6-111 [112 blank], coll.: 14 2-96 104 (i.e. 56 leaves); [4 ht, tp] [1] 2-99 [100 blank], coll.: π2 1-86 92 (i.e. 52 leaves); plus two blanks in the front and at rear, and four plates. Title-page: FÉLICIA, | OU | MES FREDAINES. | {in rules} La faute en est aux Dieux qui me firent si folle.|  TOME PREMIER/ SECOND/ TROISIÉME/ QUATRIÈME. | —•— | A LONDRES | M. DCC. LXXVI. || Catalogue raisonné: Dutel, A-399, p. 132. Contributors: André-Robert Andréa de Nerciat (French, 1739 – 1800) – author.
  • Vol. 1: Collation: 8vo; π4 1-98 104 111, (total 81 leaves), plus 22 plates, incl. frontispiece, each in two states, before and after lettering, (total 44 leaves of plates). Pagination: [i-v] vi-viii [1] 2-154, ils. Vol. 2:  Collation: 8vo; π2 1-118 123, (total 93 leaves), plus 18 plates, each in two states, before and after lettering, (total 36 leaves of plates). Pagination: [4] [1] 2-182, ils. Binding: two volumes, 23.3 x 15.5 cm each, uniformly bound in red crushed morocco, raised bands and gilt lettering to spine, elaborate gilt dentelle inside, marbled endpapers; text printed on slightly blueish laid paper, two edges roughly trimmed, top edge gilt. Plates in two states, before lettering in black and with lettering in sepia, drawn and engraved/etched by Nicolas Ransonnette. Bookplates "Ex Libris Laurentii Aurrie" and another, lettered "D J T F", to front pastedown in both volumes. Catalogue raisonné: Lewine: 248; Cohen-deRicci: 502-3. Both Lewine and Cohen & de Ricci attribute “Aventures” to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (Spanish, 1503 – 1575, whose authorship seems quite unlikely. Contributors: Nicolas Ransonnette (French, 1745 – 1810) – artist/engraver. Pierre-Nicolas Firmin Didot (French, 1769 – 1836) – publisher/printer. Jean Antoine de Charnes (French, 1641 – 1728) – translator. George De Backer (French, fl. 1691 – 1726) – translator/editor.
  • Two volumes 23.2 x 15.6 cm, uniformly bound in full polished calf by Riviere and Son (signed on fep verso), boards with triple gilt fillet border, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, gilt-lettered labels; dark blue endpapers, armorial bookplate of William Jennings with the motto “Honor Virtutis Premium” to front pastedown. Vol. 1: THE | ENGLISH SPY: | An Original Work | CHARACTERISTIC, SATIRICAL, AND | HUMOROUS. | COMPRISING | SCENES AND SKETCHES IN EVERY RANK OF SOCIETY, | BEING | PORTRAITS | OF THE | Illustrious, Eminent, Eccentric, and Notorious. | DRAWN FROM THE LIFE | BY BERNARD BLACKMANTLE. | THE ILLUSTRATIONS | DESIGNED BY | ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. | {vignette w/inscription: ‘By Frolic, Mirth, and Fancy gay, | Old Father Time is borne away.’ | — |  LONDON : | PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, JONES, AND CO. | PATERNOSTER-ROW. | – | 1825. || Collation: [a]8 b4 B-H8 I4 K2 L-Z8 2A-2E8 2F3; total 221 leaves Pagination: [i-iii] iv-xxiii [xxiv] [1-3] 4-417 [418]; total 442 pages. Illustrations: 35 coloured plates, 1 uncoloured plate, and 29 woodcuts in text, incl vignette on title, all but four by Robert Cruikshank, 1 by G. M.B rightly (p. 335), 1 by T. Wageman (p. 413), and 2 by T. Rowlandson (pp. 411 and 416) Vol. 2: THE | ENGLISH SPY: | An Original Work | CHARACTERISTIC, SATIRICAL, AND | HUMOROUS. | COMPRISING | SCENES AND SKETCHES IN EVERY RANK OF SOCIETY, | BEING | PORTRAITS | OF THE | Illustrious, Eminent, Eccentric, and Notorious. | DRAWN FROM THE LIFE | BY BERNARD BLACKMANTLE. | THE ILLUSTRATIONS | DESIGNED BY | ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. | — | VOL. II. | — | {vignette w/inscription: ‘By Frolic, Mirth, and Fancy gay, | Old Father Time is borne away.’ | — |  LONDON : | PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, GILBERT, AND PIPER, | PATERNOSTER-ROW. | – | 1826. || Collation: [A]-Z8 2A-2C8; total 208 leaves. [i-iii] iv-xv [xvi] [1-3] 4-399 [400]; total 416 pages. Illustrations: 36 coloured plates and 25 woodcuts in text. Catalogue raisonné: Martin-Hardie pp. 191-2; Tooley pp. 266-9; Abbey 325, pp.272-4 (see reflections regarding the ‘first issue’). Contributors: Charles Molloy Westmacott (British, c. 1788 – 1868) – author. Isaac Robert Cruikshank (British, 1789 – 1856) – artist, engraver. G. M. Brightly (British, fl. 1809 – 1827) – artist, engraver. Thomas Charles Wageman (British, 1787-1868) – artist, engraver Thomas Rowlandson (British, 1757 – 1827) – artist. Thomas Davison (British, 1794 – 1826) – printer. Sherwood, Jones, and Co. (London) – publisher. Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper (London) – publisher. William Jennings – provenance
  • [Choderlos de Laclos.] Les Liaisons dangereuses, lettres recueillies dans une société, et publiées pour l’instruction de quelques autres; par M. C*** de L*** / Ornées de 6 gravures d'après Devéria. — Londres: s.n., 1820. Description: two volumes, collated 12mo, 17.1 x 10.6 cm each, modern binding – recently bound in quarter brown calf with gilt lettering, fillets and black fleurons to spine over green marbled boards; bookplate to front pastedown in each volume: “Ex-Libris | F.-M. Caye”. Printed on laid paper, each volume is illustrated with a frontispiece and two plates engraved by various engravers after Achille Devéria under the direction of Ambroise Tardieu. Title-page: LES LIAISONS | DANGEREUSES, | LETTRES RECUEILLIES | DANS UNE SOCIÉTÉ, | ET PUBLIÉES POUR L’INSTRUCTION DE QUELQUES AUTRES. | PAR M. C*** DE L***. | {3 lines of citation from J.-J. Rousseau} | TOME PREMIER (TOME SECOND) | — | A LONDRES. | ~ | M.D.CCC.XX. || Collation: Vol. 1: π8 1-1412 156, total 182 leaves plus 3 engraved plates: frontispiece and opposite to pp. 37 and 338. Pagination: [1-5] 6-16, [1] 2-348, total 364 pages. Vol. 2: π2 16 2-1512 162, total 178 leaves plus 3 engraved plates: frontispiece and opposite to pp. 25 and 316. Pagination: [4] [1] 2-352, total 356 pages. Provenance: Caye, F.-M. Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (French, 1741 – 1803) – author. Achille Jacques-Jean-Marie Devéria (French, 1800 – 1857) – artist. Engravers: Ambroise Tardieu (French, 1788 – 1841) Jean Baptiste Touzé (French, fl. 1810 – 1830) Jean Jacques Frilley (French, 1797 – after 1850) Achille Lefèvre (French, 1798 – 1864) Jean Louis Toussaint Caron (French, 1790 – 1832)
  • Title page: Text engraved within a vignette with two naked female torses in garlands: Plãs et profilz | des principales villes de | la prouince de L'ISLE DE | FRANCE, auec la carte gene~ | rale & les particulieres de chaf~ | cun gouuernement d'icelles. Below handwritten pencil inscription by a previous owner: "par ... Tassin ... 1634". Size: 17.6 x 23.7 cm, Binding: Italian style, green half-vellum, burgundy morocco title label with vertical gilt lettering to spine, peacock marbled boards. Pagination: Two blank flyleaves in the front and two in the back; 18 numbered engraved plates, including:
    1. Title page
    2. Table of Contents
    3. Normandie
    4. Environs de Paris
    5. Folding map of Paris – a simplified copy of Mathieu Merian's 1615 perspective plan, with minor updates, notably on the current housing estate of Ile Saint-Louis.
    6. Paris
    7. Gouvernment de Soissons
    8. Soissons
    9. Gouvernment de Beauvais
    10. Beauvais
    11. Gouvernment de Compiègne
    12. Compiègne
    13. Gouvernment de Noyon
    14. Noyon
    15. Gouvernment de Coussi
    16. Coussi
    17. Gouvernment de Senlis
    18. Senlis
    Bookplate of Ansar to front pastedown – Selim Hippolyte Ansart (1829-1897), commissar of police in the Second Empire and shortly after. Regarding our copy's dating: The same unusual spelling on the title is at Getty's Library (Library's copy lacks no. 5 of the Isle de France section, i.e. plan of Paris).
  •   Title page: RECUEIL | DE CONTES | ET | DE POEMES, | PAR M. D**. | CI-DEVANT MOUSQUETAIRE. | TROSIÉME ÉDITION | AUGUMENTÉE | DE L'HERMITAGE DE BEAUVAIS. | [device] | A LA HAYE, | Et se trouve à Paris, | Chez Delalain, Libraire, rue de la Comédie | Française. | — | M. D. CC. LXX. IRZA | ET MARSIS , | POËME, includes: L'isle merveilleuse, Poëme, Chant 1re et Chant 2nd, Invocation a La Fontaine, and Alphonse, Conte – Cohen and De Ricci (#317) describe 2nd edition by the same publisher, 1769, 77 p., with similar illustrations after Charles Eisen: (1) engraved title by Louis Claude Legrand (2) L’Isle 1er: Frontispiece by Joseph de Longueil, (3) headpiece and (4) tailpiece by Emmanuel de Ghendt, and (5) L’Isle 2nd: Frontispiece by Jean Massard, (6) headpiece by Emmanuel de Ghendt + (7) tailpiece unsigned. Les Cerises et la Méprise, Contes en vers – Cohen and De Ricci (#311) also describe the 2nd edition of 1769, with the same (8) frontispiece by De Longueil after Eisen. Sélim et Sélima, Poeme imité de l'allemand; L'hermitage de beauvais, Conte –Cohen and De Ricci (#322) describe edition of 1769 by Sébastien Jorry, with the same (9) frontispiece by Emmanuel de Ghendt after Eisen. Size: 18.6 x 12.3 cm, small 8vo. Binding: polished, multi-coloured stained calf with gilt triple fillet border to boards; gilt floral arabesque and gilt lettering to flat spine: "Oeuvres de Dorat | Contes"; all edges gilt; blue-and-white marbled endpapers. Pagination: ffl, [2] IRZA ET MARSIS engraved half-title / blank, [1-2] - RECUEIL title page / blank, 3-8 (avis sur cette édition); [1 - L'Isle...] 2-184, bfl; Illustrations (copperplate engravings): 5 plates, 2 headpieces and 2 tailpieces. Collation: Octavo; a8 (title and avis sur cette édition); A-L8, M4. Author of the text: Claude Joseph Dorat, (French, 1734 – 1780) Artist: Charles-Dominique-JosephEisen (French, 1720 – 1778) Engravers: Emmanuel Jean Nepomucène de Ghendt (French, 1738 – 1815) Louis Claude Legrand (French, 1723 – 1807) Joseph de Longueil (French, 1730 – 1792) Jean Massard (French, 1740 – 1822)  
  • Title page: {vignette} | The | MANIAC | ILLUSTRATED BY G. CHRISTOPHER HUDSON | NEW YORK   BOOKS FOR THE FEW   MCMXLI || Pagination: [1-6] 7-245 [246], full-page plates and in-text vignettes after Mahlon Blaine drawings. Edition: Limited edition of 1050 copies, this one unnumbered. Text – a reprint of the 1909 edition by Rebman (London); 1st edition, thus. Binding: 24 x 16 cm, black moire cloth, green label with black lettering “THE | MANIAC” to spine. Ink stamp “Charles M. Collins, Jr” to front pastedown. Contributors: E. Thelmar (British, fl. c. 1909) – author; a British journalist, who had been committed to an asylum in 1905; nothing else is known. G. Christopher Hudson [Mahlon Blaine] (American, 1894 – 1969) – artist. Books for the Few (NY) – publisher. Ref: TAYLOR, NICK. “Mahlon Blaine, John Steinbeck, and ‘The Maniac’ (1941).” The Steinbeck Review 9, no. 1 (2012): 73–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41582924.
  • Hardcover, 20.2 x 15.5 cm, owner’s half blue morocco binding over marbled boards with gilt lettering to spine, marbled endpapers, extracts from La Revue Blanche, numbers 91 and 92 of March 15 and April 1 of 1897 (année VII, tome XII), publisher’s pink wrappers preserved, pp. [2] [1-5] 6-160. Ref.: Bridget Alsdorf. Vallotton, Fénéon, and the Legacy of the Commune in Fin-de-siècle France.  Portraits: François [Quico] Merlin Colonel Merlin (French, 1814 – 1900) Adolphe Thiers (French, 1797 – 1877) Commandant Gaveau Fortuné Henry (French, 1821 – 1882) Otto von Bismarck (German, 1815 – 1898) Henri, comte de Chambord (French, 1820 – 1883) Louis Rossel (French, 1844 – 1871) François Huet Tranquille (French, 1842 – after 1879) Joseph Vinoy (French, 1803 – 1880) Raoul Rigault (French, 1846 – 1871) Eugène Varlin (French, 1839 – 1871) Théophile Ferré (French, 1845 – 1871) Georges Darboy (French, 1813 – 1871) Auguste Vermorel (French, 1841 – 1871) Jaroslaw Dombrowski [Jarosław Dąbrowski] (Polish-French, 1836 – 1871) Contributors: Félix Fénéon (French, 1861 – 1944) Félix Vallotton (French, 1865 – 1925) La Revue Blanche (Paris) Imprimerie Alcan-Lévy
  • Hardcover volume, 20.7 x 13.5 cm, modern half morocco over marbled boards, gilt lettering and ornament to spine, pp.: [i-vii] viii-xvi [17] 18-255 [256], collated 8vo: 1-168, 128 leaves. Title-page: HIÉROLOGIES | OU | DISCOURS | HISTORIQUES ET DOGMATIQUES | Sur les Superfétations | APPORTÉES A LA RÉVÉLATION DU CHRIST, | PRONONCÉS AU TEMPLE DES CHRÉTIENS PRIMITIFS, | DEPUIS LE 15 AOUT JUSQU’AU 1er DÉCEMBRE 1833, ET DEPUIS LE 2 FÉVRIER | JUSQU’AU 25 MAI 1834, | SUIVIS DU DISCOURS | SUR LES TROIS VERSIONS DE LA BIBLE, | PRONONCÉ LE 20 JUILLET 1834 ; | Par M. le C. Marie de Venise, | VICAIRE PRIMATIAL DE L’EGLISE DE France. | {1 line citation} | — | Paris. | AU BUREAU CENTRAL D’IMPRIMERIE ET DE LIBRAIRE, | Rue Saint-Marc, No 21; | ET AU TEMPLE DES CHRÉTIENS PRIMITIFS, | RUE ET COUR DAMIETTE, PRÈS LA PLACE DU KAIRE. | — | 1834 || Contributors : Félix Ragon (French, 1795 – 1872) – author. Seller's description: [RAGON (Félix) : Hiérologies ou Discours historiques et dogmatiques sur les Superfétations apportées à la révélation du Christ suivis du Discours sur les trois versions de la Bible. Paris, au Bureau central et au Temple des Chrétiens Primitifs, 1834 ; in 8°, demi-basane brune à coins. Reliure pastiche moderne. Edition originale extrêmement rare, dont le tirage est estimé à 50 ex.
  • Title page: TO BEG | I AM ASHAMED | By | SHEILA COUSINS | KITABISTAN | ALLAHABAD || Pagination:[1-4] 5-285 [286] [2], total 288 pages. Collation: 8vo; [1]8 2-188; total 144 leaves. Binding: Publisher’s red cloth, black lettering to front cover and spine, price-clipped brown and grey dust jacket, lettered front: TO BEG | I AM ASHAMED | SHEILA | COUSINS |The authentic | autobiography | of a | LONDON | PROSTITUTE | KITABISTAN ||; annotation by Diana Frederics to the back. Size: 19 x 13 cm. Edition: 1st Indian edition. Contributors: Graham Greene (British, 1904 – 1991) – author. Ronald Matthews (British, 1903 – 1967) – author. Frances V. Rummell [pseudonym Diana Fredericks] (American, 1907 – 1969) – annotation author. Kitabistan (Allahabad, India) – publisher. J. K. Sharma at the Allahabad Law Journal Press – printer.
  • Title page: Sheila Cousins | TO BEG | I AM ASHAMED | THE VANGUARD PRESS • NEW YORK | 1938 || Pagination:[4] [1] 2-283 [284], total 288 pages. Collation: 8vo; [A]8 B-S8; total 144 leaves. Binding: Publisher’s blue buckram, black lettering to front cover and spine, price-clipped blue dust jacket, lettered front: To beg | I am ashamed |—| THE AUTHENTIC | AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A | LONDON | PROSTITUTE |—| by | Sheila Cousins ||; fore-edge untrimmed. Size: 19.5 x 13.5 cm. Edition: 1st American edition Contributors: Graham Greene (British, 1904 – 1991) – author. Ronald Matthews (British, 1903 – 1967) – author. The Vanguard Press, NY (1926 – 1988) – publisher.
  • Two volumes in-16o, 16.3 x 10.3 cm, uniformly bound in marbled calf with gilt triple-fillet border, flat spine with gilt lozenges in compartments, two crimson labels with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, with engraved title, 2 title vignettes, 11 copper plate engravings, incl. title/frontispiece in vol. 1, and 10 headpieces (two of them similar), printed on laid paper. Vol. 1: Livres 1 – 5. Engraved title-page: Cartouche with the title "Les | Amours de | THEAGENES | & | CHARICLÉE", with a Cupid holding a torch on top and a defeated winged dragon at the bottom; Cupid's quivers with bows and arrows beside. Collation: 8vo; a5 (t.p., preface), A-N8 O4 (O4 blank), total 113 leaves plus 6 unsigned engraved plates, incl. engraved title as frontispiece, unsigned; 5 different headpieces, unsigned. Pagination: [i, ii] iii-x, [1] 2-213 [3] (blank), total 226 pages, ils. Vol. 2: Livres 6 – 10. Collation: 8vo; π1 (t.p.), A-M8, total 97 leaves plus 6 unsigned plates, incl. the Conclusion, no frontispiece; 5 headpieces, the headpiece for Livre 7 similar to Livre 4. Pagination: [2] [1] 2-190 [2] (blank), total 194 pages, ils. Letterpress title-page (red and black) in each volume: AMOURS | DE | THEAGÉNES | ET | CHARICLÉE• | HISTOIRE ETHIOPIQUE. | PREMIERE (SECONDE) PARTIE. | {vignette} | A LONDRES, | — | M. DCC. XLIII. || According to Cohen-DeRicci, this is the first anonymous edition with 9 different headpieces; the second edition in the same 1743 was published by Antoine Urban Coustelier (French, 1714 – 1763) in Paris with less provocative headpiece vignettes. The original text belongs to Héliodore d'Emèse, i.e. Heliodorus [Ἡλιόδωρος] (Greek, 3rd – 4th century AD). The earliest translation into French was performed by Jacques Amyot (French, 1513 – 1593) and published by J. Longis in Paris in 1547. The new translation is credited by Lewine to Jean de Montlyard (French/Swiss, 17th century), first published in Paris in 1620. However, most scholars attribute it to Louis François de Fontenu (French, 1667 – 1759), Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (French, 1657 – 1757) or Germain François Poullain de Saint-Foix (French, 1698 – 1776), first published in 1727 by Herman Uytwerf (Dutch, 1698 – 1754) in Amsterdam. Catalogue raisonné : J. Lewine, 236; Cohen-DeRicci, 478. Information about the story can be found here: Aethiopica.  
  • Vol. 1: THE | POEMS | OF | OSSIAN. | TRANSLATED | By JAMES MACPHERSON, Esq; | IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN ; AND T. CADELL, | IN THE STRAND. | MDCCLXXXIV.|| Vol. 2:THE | POEMS | OF | OSSIAN. | TRANSLATED | By JAMES MACPHERSON, Esq; |  VOL. II. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN ; AND T. CADELL, | IN THE STRAND. | MDCCLXXXV.|| Vol.1: [i-v] vi-xiii, [2] 3-404 pp; vol.2: [6], [2] 3-435 pp. Two volumes, 22.5 x 14.7 cm; hardcover; full calf with the spines later professionally rebound; original boards with sympathetic repairs to the margins and corners.5 raised bands, red label with gilt lettering to Sp. Bindings remain firm, page blocks firm, boards stained, pages a little rippled, with occasional marks throughout. spotting and marks to endpapers. James Macpherson (British, 1736–1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poems. Publishing Year: 1784 Publisher: W. Strahan and T. Cadell
  • Vol. 1: THE | POEMS | OF | OSSIAN. | TRANSLATED | By JAMES MACPHERSON, Esq; | IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN ; AND T. CADELL, | IN THE STRAND. | M DCC XC.|| Pagination: 2 blank leaves, [2] - t.p. / blank, [v] vi-xiv, [2] - contents / cont., [1, 2] 3-404, one blank leaf. Collation: 8vo; π1 A-Z8 Aa-Cc8 Dd2 Vol. 2: THE | POEMS | OF | OSSIAN. | TRANSLATED | By JAMES MACPHERSON, Esq; |  VOL. II. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN ; AND T. CADELL, | IN THE STRAND. |M DCC XC.|| Pagination: 2 blank leaves, [2] - t.p. / blank, [2] - contents / blank, [1, 2] 3-436, [2] advert. / advert., two blank leaves. Collation: 8vo; π4 B-Z8 Aa-Ee8 Ff2 A1. Two volumes, 21.5 x 14 cm; hardcover; full tree calf gilt-tooled with stylized meander ruled boards inside and outside, flat spite tooled in gilt with meander and pineapples in compartments, two crimson lettered labels. margins speckled blue; peacock marbled endpapers, owner's karks to front pastedown: Owen J. Williams sticker and H. A. Lonis armorial bookplate with an earl's crown, hand-written inscription H. A. and H. C.  Williams Wynn and ink stamp of Arthur J. Frank. James Macpherson (British, 1736–1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poems. Publishing Year: 1790 Publisher: W. Strahan and T. Cadell
  • Two volumes, 168 x 106 mm each, uniformly bound in faux mottled calf ruled in gilt, marbled endpapers. Vol. 1: 3 blank leaves of wove paper, 3 blank leaves of laid paper, half-title/blank, blank/frontispiece, ‘engraved’ t.p./blank, both printed on laid paper watermarked “ARCHES A LA | MAIN”; ‘letterpress’ t.p.,/blank, pp.: [1] 2-115 [116 blank], 3 blank leaves of laid paper, 3 blank leaves of wove paper; collated 12mo: π2 A-I6 K4; total 60 leaves plus 16 ‘engraved’ plates, incl. t.p. and frontis. Vol. 2: 3 blank leaves of wove paper, 3 blank leaves of laid paper, half-title/blank, blank/frontispiece, ‘engraved’ t.p./blank, no watermark, ‘letterpress’ t.p.,/blank, pp.: 1-77 [78 blank], 2 blank leaves of laid paper, 3 blank leaves of wove paper; collated 12mo: π2 A-F6 G3; total 41 leaves plus 24 ‘engraved’ plates, incl. t.p. and frontis. Dutel (I): A-1089, p. 325: in-8 (probably by size only, no formula suggested), pagination 115 and 77 as here, 2 frontispieces, 2 engraved titles dated 1873, “et 36 belles gravures de Binet”. Cohen-DeRicci: p. 734 bottom: in-12, no pagination, no formula. "Thérèse" was offered by a French seller user-75d14f4 on the online auction platform CATAWIKI in December 2021. The seller's description of this two-volume set was: "Re-edition, the date of which I was unable to determine. (London, no name, 1782) 2 duodecimo volumes of 115 and 77 pp., very lovely marbled sheepskin pastiche bindings, gilded triple fillets, adorned spines, black title labels. This classic of 18th-century clandestine erotica was written in 1748 by an author who has remained anonymous, attributed at the time to Montigny, which led to his internment in the Bastille. It is now attributed to the Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens. Edition illustrated with 37 very unrestrained figures, engraved in intaglio after Borel, unsigned." I should have paid more attention to the first phase, about the re-edition, but I didn't. After a few bidding rounds, I won the book when the hammer price was 2,200 Euros. On the 28th of December, 2021, I paid for this little beauty $2,760. The book arrived a few days later.  The paper's quality and texture, the watermark, the absence of the platemark, and the lack of embossing on the back (text and plates) made me suspect it was a fake. The pages were absolutely flat to the touch!  I established clear evidence of a high-resolution 'xerox' copy using Celestron Micro Capture Pro micro-photography.  I wrote to the seller and the auction platform, explaining my doubts regarding its authenticity. To prove my point, I include a few micro photos of the "Thérèse" and some books printed at the end of the 18th century. I explained why I considered it a fake and requested a return/refund. After two months of email exchanges, the seller and the platform refused to pay me back. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the purchase. I still have the book. To celebrate my carelessness, I included it in my library to warn fellow book collectors about buying from an unknown dealer via certain online auction platforms. Ref.: Bamber Gascoigne. How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink. — Thames and Hudson, 1995.

    Thérèse philosophe, 1783.

    Late 18th century books

    Books used for comparison: [LIB-2743.2021] Restif de la Bretonne. Les parisiennes, ou XL caractères généraux pris dans les mœurs actuelles, propres à servir à l’instruction des personnes-du-sexe / 4 vol. — Neufchâtel, et Paris: Guillot, 1787. [LIB-3027.2022] [Héliodore d’Emèse]. Amours de Théagènes et Chariclée: Histoire Éthiopique / 2 vol. — Londres [i.e. Paris]: [s.n.], 1743. [LIB-3252.2023] [Nicolas Chorier.] Le Meursius françois, ou entretiens galans d’Aloysia, orné de figures. — Cythere [i.e. Paris: Cazin], 1782. Below is a Xerox copy for comparison.