-
NEWArtist: Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, c. 1725–1770) – 鈴木 春信 Signed: Unsigned Date: c. 1770 Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e 錦絵); ink and colour on paper; horizontal chūban (中判横絵), 194 × 264 mm A couple engages in intercourse on an open veranda during winter. The man lifts the woman's robe to expose her lower body while leaning in from behind. Both wear layered kimono in muted tones. Snow-covered rooftops, boats, and distant mountains extend into the background. Long icicles hang from the veranda’s roof, framing the scene. A gnarled, snow-laden tree rises in the foreground, emphasizing the seasonal setting. -
NEWArtist: Attributed to Katsukawa Shunshō [勝川春章] (Japanese, 1726–1792) or, rarely, to Chōbunsai Eishi [鳥文斎 栄之] (Japanese, 1756–1829) Publisher: Unknown Date: 1788 (Tenmei 8) Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e 錦絵); ink and color on paper; Horizontal ōban, 226 x 316 mm Title: Couple next to a Brazier, from the series Fun with Flowers (Hana no ikkyō warai, 華の一興笑) Reference: MBA Boston, accession number RES.09.320.3 A man and a woman are engaged in intercourse in a room next to a round brazier with chopsticks. The woman lies beneath her lover, her head thrown back, her expression dreamy; a comb and hairpin rest under her head beside the pillow. Her outer robe is pushed aside, exposing her breasts and crotch. The man, dressed in a grey kimono, holds one of her legs aloft as he penetrates her. Their bodies are entangled amid soft bedding and garments in subdued colours. -
NEWArtist: Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿, c. 1753–1806)
Title of Series: Negai no itoguchi (ねがいの糸口, Threads Leading to Desire, or The Prelude to Desire) Date: 1799 (Kansei 11) Publisher: Unknown Media: Horizontal ōban (大判横絵), full-colour woodblock prints (nishiki-e. 錦絵) Four sheets from a thirteen-print album by Utamaro, the second of his three great shunga sets. These works show a mature and voluptuous style following his earlier Utamakura (Poem of the Pillow, 1788), and preceding Ehon Komachi-biki (1802). Each scene is accompanied by erotic dialogue in flowing calligraphy. Sheet 3: 253 × 379 mm A woman straddles her partner with one leg raised as he leans forward to embrace her. Her lifted kimono reveals her lower body; her lover wears a purple-striped outer robe and black obi. The yellow and green bedding lies aside. A black candlestick dissects the space. Sheet 8: 249 × 365 mm"Here a widow secretly meets her married lover. The importance of the eyes in Utamaro's art is clearly shown: the woman twists round to catch the man's gaze as he uses his fingers to stimulate her. She lifts her hand to her mouth in surprise at his bold move and raises her eyebrows in anticipation. He tries to engage in some humorous banter about her 'pussy', but she tells him to stop joking and to 'get started quickly'. She wonders aloud what he sees in her when he already has a chic wife', although she herself is dressed in a fashionable striped robe".
Sheet 10: 255 × 384 mm A woman leans forward, trying to reach her partner’s toes with her lips. Her hips are raised as her partner enters her from below. He is depicted with a relaxed expression, one of his legs stretched forward, his robe draped loosely over his shoulders. Their outer robes lie to the right.This scene depicts a married couple engaged in intimacy. The husband appears overly eager, hastily attempting to arouse his wife, while she responds with calm composure, saying something like, “Take it easy—you’ll get there.” As he lifts her leg and leans in, she turns her face toward him, her expression serene. The artist highlights the contrast between the man's flushed skin and the soft, flowing garments, rendering even the subtlest movements of the woman’s body with striking sensitivity.
Sheet 12: 252 × 382 mm The woman half-sits with her legs half-bent. The lovers' bodies are already joined as they kiss each other on the lips. The man stands on his knees, entering her from the front. Their garments flow together in vibrant patterns. To the side, a shamisen rests on the floor. Reference: [LIB-2971.2022] Chris Uhlenbeck, Margarita Winkel. Japanese erotic fantasies: sexual imagery of the Edo period. — Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, ©2005. [LIB-1473.2014] Shunga: Sex and pleasure in Japanese art / Edited by Timothy Clark et al. — London: British Museum Press; Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2013. [LIB-1476.2013] Rosina Buckland. Shunga: Erotic art in Japan. — London: The British Museum Press, 2010. [LIB-3441.2025] Nanokusa Yoshiki. Shunga: 48 Painters of Edo (Bessatsu Taiyō). — Tokyo: Heibonsha, 2023 (in Japanese).アレサ そこじゃやわえな とこやかいへやる かんぞーしんるよ アレサやりしょる Aresa
soko ja yawae na
tokoyakai e yaru
kanzō shinru yo
Aresa yari-shoruHey!
That spot’s too soft—
Move it over gently.
You’re pressing the tissue too hard.
Hey, you’re doing it again...
-
NEWArtist: Suzuki Harunobu [鈴木春信] (Japanese, c. 1725–1770) Signed: Harunobu ga 春信画 (on the folding screen) Publisher: Possibly Ezakiya Kichibei (江崎屋吉兵衛, c. 1773–1852); seal on the man’s sleeve; Marks 08-001 | 058 Date: c. 1769–70 (Meiwa 6–7) Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e, 錦絵); ink and colour on paper; Horizontal chūban (中判横絵), 209 × 280 mm Catalogue raisonné: [LIB-1552.2018] David Waterhouse, The Harunobu Decade: A Catalogue of Woodcuts by Suzuki Harunobu and His Followers in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2 vols. — Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2013. Image no. 461 in vol. 2; text on p. 268 in vol. 1. Reference: MFA Accession Number: 21.4643: Courtesan Blowing Smoke in Man's Face Title: Courtesan and Client on a Triple Mattress (mitsu futon) [三つ蒲団の上の遊女と客]. A courtesan and her client recline in an intimate pose on a triple-layered mattress (mitsu futon, 三つ蒲団) within a screened interior. The woman mischievously blows smoke into the man’s eye while he reaches under her kimono. She wears an elaborately layered robe and green sash and holds a long smoking pipe (kiseru, 煙管), suggesting playful erotic teasing. The room is furnished with a tray holding smoking implements, a lacquer box, and folded tissue paper. Behind the couple lies a disordered tangle of bedding, while the folding screen in the background features a painted bamboo motif, suggesting a private, secluded setting. This print is one of several known states of the composition. According to David Waterhouse, this is likely the third state, following earlier versions with a more elaborate treatment of the figures' sleeves and possibly an original, more explicit shunga edition. The composition may have been inspired by a similar pose in Ishikawa Toyonobu’s Iro tsugan (色通), an erotic picture album.
-
NEWArtist: Isoda Koryūsai [礒田湖龍斎] (Japanese, 1735–1790) Series: Ketsudai Kumimono I (欠題組物 I, “Untitled Set I”) Date: c. 1775–1776 (An’ei 5) Format: Yoko-ōban (横大判), deluxe horizontal print, likely issued as a loose sheet or folded album page; 240 × 373 mm (backed) Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and colour on paper Publisher: Unknown A young couple embraces on a wooden veranda, surrounded by blossoming chrysanthemums. The male figure is depicted as a wakashu (若衆), identifiable by his partially shaved head and forward lock (maegami, 前髪), indicating adolescent status. He is dressed in a yellow-and-green checked haori, and presses closely against the woman, whose body twists toward him with her kimono slipping open. Their union is framed by the elegant autumn flora, rendered in soft orange, white, and ochre tones, with chrysanthemums signifying both seasonal beauty and erotic symbolism. A folding screen decorated with stylized waves anchors the interior, while the open terrace and garden suggest intimacy on the edge of exposure. This sheet is from Ketsudai Kumimono I, one of Isoda Koryūsai’s few large-format erotic sets, comprising twelve known scenes corresponding to the twelve months. The refined palette and quiet sensuality mark this as a transitional work in Koryūsai’s style, moving beyond Harunobu’s lyricism toward a more grounded erotic realism. Dialogue:— She: 「アレサ 人かくるはな あつちでさ」 Aresa, hito ga kuru wa na. Acchi de sa. “Hey—someone’s coming, let’s go over there.”
— He:「ぢきにしまう そりゃ／＼ いくぞ」 Jiki ni shimau. Sorya, sorya, iku zo. “It’ll be over soon—alright, alright, I’m going in!”
…But by the time she had realized what was happening, it was too late for him to stop. Reference: Hayakawa Monta, Shirakura Yoshihiko. Shunga: Japanese Erotic Art. — Tokyo: PIE Books, 2009, pl. 58. [LIB-3440.2025] -
NEWArtist: Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿, c. 1753–1806)
Title: Ehon Koi no Onamaki (絵本恋の御巻)
Date: 1799 (Kansei 11)
Media: Woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and colour on paper; Medium-format book (chūhon 中本); two book pages joined (186 × 260 mm); backed
Signed: Not signed on image; annotated in brush on the backing by a previous owner as 歌川歌麿筆 (Utagawa Utamaro hitsu)
Reference: Cited in Hayashi Yoshikazu, Kitagawa Utamaro, in Edo Makura-e Shi Shūsei (江戸枕絵師集成), vol. 喜多川歌麿 正, Tankōbon hardcover, Tokyo: 1990 / reissued 1994.
Three double-page compositions from a rare erotic picture book (shunga ehon), attributed to Utamaro. Erotic content involving intimacy in indoor settings, with cursive inscriptions. Elegant settings and accessories, typical of Utamaro’s refined shunga style.
-
NEWArtist: Isoda Koryūsai (礒田湖龍斎, active c. 1764–1789) Signed: Unsigned Publisher: Not identified Date: c. 1770s Media: Nishiki-e (multi-colored woodblock print), chūban, 193 × 263 mm Outdoor scene with figures inside and beside a palanquin. A couple is engaged in sexual intercourse within a woven-lattice palanquin (乗物, norimono), the woman seated on the man's lap. Her red robe, adorned with white dragonflies, and her obi are pulled up, exposing her lower body; the man, a palanquin bearer wearing a striped purple kimono, also keeps his lower body exposed. The woman leans against a purple traveller’s bag. Outside the palanquin, another palanquin bearer in a striped robe and head covering rushes forward, holding a round paper lantern; his genitals are visible beneath his short garment. His walking stick lies on the ground—items such as a straw hat and a bundle of clothing rest atop the palanquin. Multiple lines of dialogue and verse are inscribed in cursive calligraphy. -
NEWArtist: Isoda Koryūsai (礒田湖龍斎, active c. 1764–1789) Signed: 湖龍画 (Koryū ga), on the folding screen Publisher: Not identified Date: c. 1770–1771 Media: Nishiki-e (multi-colored woodblock print), chūban, 191 × 256 mm Title: Not titled on print"A threesome between a woman and two men: a woman lies on top of a young boy and is covered by the large, naked body of an adult man, who at the same time holds the boy's penis. Sexual encounters between more than two people occur frequently in shunga, and Hokusai even designed erotic works in which complete orgies are depicted. A folding screen, placed at the end of the futon and decorated with peonies and butterflies, hides the intimacies from other people who might be in the same room. The screen on the right has the signature Koryū ga on the left panel and there is a tabakobon (煙草盆) on the left of the image". The background wall is decorated with a pattern of fishing nets and flying geese, rendered in gauffrage (blind embossing, 空摺り, karazuri), adding subtle texture to the composition. The inscription to the left of the figures remains undeciphered.
Reference: [LIB-1491.2018] Inge Klompmakers. Japanese erotic prints shunga by Harunobu and Koryūsai. — Leiden and Boston: Hotei publishing, 2008; Plate C.5, p. 88. -
NEWArtist: Katsukawa Shunkō I [勝川春好] (Japanese, 1743 – 1812)
Signed: 春好画 (Shunkō ga)
Publisher: Unidentified
Date: 1780 (An'ei 9)
Media: woodblock print on paper, hosoban (細判); 315 × 140 mm
Actor: Ichikawa Monnosuke II (Japanese, 1743 – 1794); other names: Ichikawa Benzō I, Takinaka Hidematsu II, Takinaka Tsuruzō, Shinsha (新車)
Role: Shibaraku [暫]
Provenance: Bérès Collection; Louis Émile Javal (French, 1839 – 1907)
Half-length, frontal portrait, facing slightly left. The actor is shown in the role of Shibaraku (暫), with the characteristic bold red-and-white kumadori makeup and an intense expression. He wears the iconic oversized red costume with white trim, bearing the Ichikawa family crest of three nested squares (三枡, mimasu), symbolizing rice measures. His wig features large wings and flared sidelocks in the aragoto style. The inscription 新車 (Shinsha) appears in the upper left, a rare haimyō used by Monnosuke II.
MET JP1479: Ichikawa Monnosuke II in a Shibaraku Performance by Katsukawa Shunkō, 1780.
-
NEWArtist: Katsukawa Shun'ei [勝川 春英] (Japanese, 1762 – 1819) Signature: Shun'ei ga [春英画] Dimensions: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e, 230 x 268 mm. Censor seal: absent (probably because before 1810). Publisher: Iseya Sōemon – 板元,上, Marks 21-216|156g: Hanmoto, Ue. A blue seal in the middle of the print. -
Two pieces in one hardcover volume, 200 x 129 boards, 196 x 121 block, bound in full marble calf outlined with triple gilt fillet, gilt filleted edges, dentelle inside, flat spine tooled in gilt with fleurons in compartments, burgundy morocco label lettered in gilt “POT | POURRI”, marbled endpapers, bookplate “MK” to front pastedown, all edges gilt, one flyleaf in the front and one in the rear, 18 engraved plates, incl. two frontispieces by François-Rolland Elluin after Antoine Borel, letterpress tailpieces and frames, printed on laid paper with illegible watermark. Collation: Part 1 (Tentation): h.t.π, t.p.1, + 9 leaves of framed text printed on one side of the leaf – pp. 2-9 on verso, p. 10 on recto, followed by 4 leaves of musical notation printed on both sides (numbered 1-8), i.e. 15 leaves, plus engraved frontispiece and 8 plates, unsigned. Text attributed to Michel-Jean Sedaine. Part 2 (Pot-pourri): h.t.π, t.p.1, + 9 leaves of framed text printed on one side of the leaf – p. 2 on recto, pp. 3-10 on verso, 1 leaf “FIN” followed by 6 leaves of musical notation printed on both sides (pp. 1-12, number 11 upside down), i.e. 18 leaves, plus engraved frontispiece (t.p.) and 8 plates, unsigned. Text attributed to Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet (1735-1769) Seller’s note: In-8, veau porphyre, encadrement de triple filet dorée sur les plats, dos lisse orné, pièce de titre en maroquin bordeaux, coupes filetées, tranches dorées (Reliure de l’époque). Faux-titre, titre-frontispice, 10 ff., 8 gravures, 8 pp. de musique gravée ; Faux-titre, titre- frontispice, 10 ff., [1 f.], 8 gravures, 12 pp. de musique gravée. Même édition que la précédente, imprimée sur vergé. Menus frottements à la reliure, taches éparses. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen de Ricci p. 948; Dutel A № A-1049. Contributors : Michel-Jean Sedaine (French, 1719 – 1797) Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet [le jeune] (French, 1735 – 1769) François-Rolland Elluin (French, 1745 – 1810) Antoine Borel (French, 1743 – 1810) -
Hardcover, 130 x 87 mm boards, 124 x 79 mm block, full mottled sheepskin, gilt-tooled flat spine, gilt fleurons in compartments, crimson morocco label lettered in gilt, board edges tooled gilt; marbled endpapers, bookseller ticket and bookplate “ GERARD NORDMANN EX-LIBRIS”; text and plates printed on laid paper. Collated 18mo: A-M6 (i.e. 72 leaves); pp.:[1-3] 4-143 [144], plus 8 engraved plates, incl. frontispiece, plus one flyleaf in the front and one in the rear. Title-page: BIBLIOTHÈQUE | DES | PAILLARDS, | CHOIX DE POÉSIES | EROTIQUES. | — | A PARIS, | Chez Madame BELLE MOTTE; | rue des Déchargeurs. | AU TEMPLE DE LA VOLUPTÉ. || Title-page: ELÉONORE, | OU | L'HEUREUSE PERSONNE. | Deuxième Édition. | — | A PARIS, | Chez les Marchands de nouveautés. |— | AN VIII. || Faux-t.p.: LA | COMTESSE | D'OLONNE, | COMEDIE | DE M. DE BUSSI RABUTIN. || Table des matières. Épitre dédicatoire La Foutro-Manie Ode à Priape Quatrain du comte de Guiche à M. d'Olonne La Comtesse d'Olonne, comédie Mon testament Le Chapitre général des Cordeliers Le débauché converti La gageure, conte Étymologie de l'Aze-te-foute, conte. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel I № A-146, p. 63; Nordmann II № 90. Provenance: Gérard Nordmann (Swiss, 1930 – 1992). -
Hardcover, 132 x 86 mm boards, 127 x 78 mm block, full brown mottled calf bordered with triple gilt fillet, flat spine tooled in gilt, gilt fleurons in compartments, black title label with gilt lettering, board edge tooled gilt, gilt dentelle inside, marbled endpapers, “MK” and “EX-LIBRIS • YVES • REFOULÉ” bookplates to front pastedown (the latter by Picart after Georges Leone), block of watermarked laid paper (Van Gilder?), all edges gilt; text with tall ‘s’. Title-page: L'ARETIN | FRANÇOIS, | PAR UN MEMBRE | DE L'ACADÉMIE DES DAMES. | (in rules) J'appelle un Chat, un Chat. / BOILEAU. | {fleuron} | A LONDRES. | — | 1787. || Faux-t.p.: LES ÉPICES | DE VÉNUS | OU |PIECES DIVERSES | DU MÊME ACADEMICIEN. | (in rules) Les plus intolérans sont les plus vicieux. / ANONYME. | {fleuron} | A LONDRES. | — | 1787. || Collation 18mo: Two ffl at front and two at rear, [a1] h.t./blank, [a2] blank/frontis. stanza, frontispiece plate with guard, [a3] t.p./blank, [a4] advert., [a5] intro/blank; after that the structure is following: recto blank/octave stanza on verso, tissue guard, plate on recto, repeated 17 times, χ1 décima stanza ‘Résumé’ (subtotal 23 leaves unsigned, unpaginated); π2 (h.t., t.p.), A-D6 E3 (subtotal 29 leaves), paginated [4] 1-53 [54], plus one plate with guard oppos. p. 8. The total number is 23+29=52 leaves plus 19 plates with tissue guard each and 4 flyleaves. Plates were executed in etching and burin on copper plates by François-Rolland Elluin (French, 1745 – 1810) after Antoine Borel (French, 1743 – 1810). Catalogue raisonné: Fekete № 141; Dutel № A-99; Nordmann II №№ 396, 397; Eros invaincu № 3, p. 26; Cohen de Ricci pp. 89/90. Text attributed to: Nogaret, François-Félix (French, 1740 – 1831) -
Hardcover volume 129 x 84 mm boards, 123 x 76 mm block, full contemporary lavalier-glazed calf, signed DUCASTIN at spine tail, panels framed with a gold fillet and a blind frieze, flat spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, roulettes at the head and tail, garnet red calf title label with gilt lettering, gilt dotted lines on the edges, interior dentelle, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, “GERARD NORDMANN EX-LIBRIS” bookplate to front pastedown. Collation 18mo: A-O6 P5 (i.e. 89 leaves); pp.: [i-v] vi-viii [9] 10-178, plus 5 plates with tissue guards, incl. frontispiece, and one flyleaf at the front and one at the rear. Plates: It is believed the edition had only 3 plates, including the frontispiece, and two plates were added, one signed “C. p. Marillier, inv. — E. De Ghendt sculp.” Title-page: ELÉONORE, | OU | L'HEUREUSE PERSONNE. | Deuxième Édition. | — | A PARIS, | Chez les Marchands de nouveautés. |— | AN VIII. || Catalogue raisonné: Dutel № A-314, p. 109 ; Nordmann II №188, p. 93. Provenance: Gustave Lehec (French, 1841 – 1922); Gérard Nordmann (Swiss, 1930 – 1992). Contributors: Clément Pierre Marillier (French, 1740–1808) – artist Emmanuel Jean Nepomucène de Ghendt (Flemish, worked in France, 1738–1815) – engraver Alexis Pierre Ducastin [Ducastaing] (French, 1785 – 1860) – binder Nordmann's description: In-18 écu (124 x 78 mm). 178 pp. A frontispiece and 2 free figures. 2 added figures, one signed after Marillier and engraved by de Ghendt. Contemporary binding signed by Ducastin. Glazed lavallière calf, double frame of the covers with a gold fillet and a blind frieze, spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, roulettes at the head and tail, garnet calf title piece, gilt title, dotted lines on the edges, interior lace, marbled guards, gilt edges (some minor foxing). The second edition (very likely a fictitious mention) is of great rarity. It is decorated with a frontispiece and has engraved figures, to which two additional plates have been added. The story is the reverse of that of Tiresias: a woman is endowed by a sylph with the power to be alternately a man and a woman and to taste the pleasures of each of the two sexes. "This results in numerous and very piquant adventures; easy and graceful style" (Galitzin). MAGNIFICENT COPY, RARE IN ITS FULL STRICTLY CONTEMPORARY BINDING and signed on the back by one of the great bookbinders of the time, Pierre Alexis Ducastin (1785-1860), member of a dynasty of printers and bookbinders dating back to Henri IV. Lehec cites this copy in his Galitzin catalogue (no. 546): "...charming copy; lavalier calf stamped very rare, admirable conservation". Pia Enfer, 412; B.N. Enfer, 634. -
Two volumes, 133 x 88 mm each, uniformly bound in full tree calf, bordered in gilt garland, board edges and flat spine tooled in gilt, gilt fleurons in compartments, two crimson morocco labels to spine lettered in gilt; marbled endpapers, bookplate “MK” to front pastedown, one binder’s flyleaf in the front and one in the rear. Title-page: MÉMOIRES | DE | SATURNIN, | ÉCRITS PAR LUI-MÊME, | Nouvelle édition, corrigée & augmentée, | avec Figures. | (in rules) PREMIERE PARTIE / SECONDE PATIE [sic]. | {fleuron} | A LONDRES. | — | M. DCCLXXXVII. || Collation 18mo: Vol. 1: π2 A-T6 V4 (i.e. 118 leaves); pp.: [4] 1-235 [236 blank], plus 13 plates, incl. frontispiece, extraneous to collation. Vol. 2: π2 A-M6 N4 (i.e. 76 leaves); pp.: [4] [1] 2-151 [152], plus 11 plates, extraneous to collation. Twenty-four plates were executed in etching and burin on copper plate by François-Rolland Elluin (French, 1745 – 1810) after Antoine Borel (French, 1743 – 1810). Catalogue raisonné: Cohen 431; Dutel I № A-523, p. 166/7 ; Nordmann I № 156 (large 185 x 125 mm) Author: Gervaise de La Touche, Jean-Charles (French, 1715 – 1782) Microphotographs:
-
Three volumes, 124 x 80 mm each, uniformly bound in full marble calf, panels ruled in triple gilt fillet, board edges ruled in gilt, flat spine tooled in gilt with fleurons in compartments, burgundy calf labels lettered in gilt; marbled endpapers, text printed with tall ‘s’ on laid paper with letter “E” under fleur-de-lis watermark. Title-page: LE | MOYEN | DE | PARVENIR. | NOUVELLE ÉDITION, | Augmentée d'une Table sommaire | des Chapitres. | (in rules) Caritas inter jocosve regnat Moria. | TOME PREMIER / SECOND. | {fleuron} | A LONDRES. | — | M. DCC. LXXXI. || Collation 32mo, 1 flyleaf at the front and 1 at the rear in each vol. Vol. 1: πA6 b-e6 f2, A-Q6 R3 (i.e. 131 leaves); pp.: [i, ii] iii-lxiv, [1] 2-197 [198]. Vol. 2: π1 A-Y6, Z2 (i.e. 135 leaves); pp.: [2] [1] 2-267 [268]. Vol. 3: π1 A-Y6, Z2 2A1 (136); pp.: [2] [1] 2-270. Author: Béroalde de Verville, François (French, 1556 – 1626)
-
Two volumes, 132 x 85 mm, uniformly bound in mottled calf, panel bordered with gilt garland, flat spine richly tooled in gilt, gilt lettered black label, blue endpapers, “MK” bookplate to front pastedown, gilt-ruled edges and dentelle inside, all edges gilt, an etching on india paper laid in; text and plates printed on laid paper, with tall ‘s’. Vol. 1: Collation 18mo: A-C-E-G12 B-D-F-H6 I10(I10 blank) (i.e. 82 leaves); pp. [1-5] 6-161 [3], plus 9 plates with tissue guards, extr. to collation; and a flyleaf at the front and at the rear. Title-page: THÉRESE | PHILOSOPHE, | OU | MÉMOIRES | Pour servir à l'Histoire de D. DIRRAG, & | de Mademoiselle ERADICE. | Nouvelle édition, augmentée d'un plus | grand nombre de figures que toutes les | précédentes. | (in rules) TOME PREMIER. | {fleuron} | A LONDRES. | — | M.DCC.LXXXV. || Vol. 2: Collation 18mo: ffl, π2 A-C-E6 B-D12 (D11,12 blank) ffl (i.e. 44 leaves); pp.: [4] [1] 2-80 [4], plus 11 plates with tissue guards, extr. to collation; and a flyleaf at the front and at the rear. Title-page: THÉRESE | PHILOSOPHE, | AVEC | L'HISTOIRE | DE | MME BOIS-LAURIER. | Nouvelle édition, augmentée d'un plus | grand nombre de figures que toutes les | précédentes. | (in rules) TOME SECOND. | A LONDRES. | M.DCC.LXXXV. || Twenty plates were executed in stipple engraving by an unknown engraver after François-Rolland Elluin (French, 1745 – 1810) after Antoine Borel (French, 1743 – 1810). Elluin’s plates are executed in etching and burin, besides: pl. 2 mirror image, pl. 5 and 6 mixed up, pl. 9 here is pl. 19 in the original, pl. 12 here is pl. 9 in the original, pl. 11 is 10, pl. 10 is 11, pl. 13 is p. 12, pl. 16 is pl. 13, pl. 14 does not have clocks, p. 14 corrected by hand to 15 and it is 15 indeed, pl. 17 is pl. 16, pl. 18 is pl. 17, pl. 19 is pl. 18, woman has no hat. The edition is legitimate; however, the plates are pirated copies. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel № 1092, p. 235/6. Contributors: Boyer d'Argens, Jean-Baptiste (French, 1703 – 1771)] Borel, Antoine (French, 1743 – 1810) « Eradice » – Cadière, Marie-Catherine (French, 1709 – ?) « D. Dirrag » – Girard, Jean-Baptiste (French, 1680 – 1733) Laid in sheet — illustration to Thérèse philosopher by Félicien Rops.
Microphotographs of certain plates in this edition:
-
Two volumes in one, 131 x 89 mm, bound in full burgundy morocco, panels ruled with triple gilt fillet, gilt filleted edges, interior gilt dentelle, flat spine with double gilt fillet bands, gilt fleurons in compartments, gilt title label and date at the foot to spine (modern pastiche binding); all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, two bookplates to front pastedown: “MK” and “Ex-libris Yves Refoulé”, the latter drawn by Georges Leone and engraved by Picard. Laid paper with a hardly legible watermark resembles Van Gelder’s beehive. Letterpress head- and tailpieces. Collation 6to: (24mo) t. 1: π3 A-L6 M5; t. 2: χ3 N-Z6 2A6, 2B5, 2 blanks, 100 plates (pl. 32 and 33 is one) within collation, but extraneous to pagination, thus uncounted — pp.: t. 1: [4] 1-48, t. 2: [4] 49-100, total 155 leaves or 310 pages, incl. plates and everything but two binder’s flyleaves at the front and two at the rear. Vigesimo-quarto, 24mo (13 x 9 cm) – typical Cazin’s book format. Title-page: LE | CABINET | DE | LAMPSAQUE, | OU | Choix d'Épigrammes érotiques des plus célebres | Poëtes François. | (in rules) TOME PREMIER/SECOND). | {fleuron putto 1/2} | A PAPHOS. | — | 1784. || One hundred figures are executed by burin on a copper plate and attributed to Claude Louis Desrais (French, 1746 – 1816) or some Leclerc, who is unlikely to be Sébastien Leclerc (1637 – 1714), living 100 years earlier. The author of the text is unknown. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen p.197 – provides for 16mo; Dutel № A-171 – provides for 12mo, pagination as 1-50 and 51-100, and mentions the 1st edition in 1744, but does not provide a description of the latter. “Lampsacus was also notable for its worship of Priapus, who was said to have been born there”.
