///Illustrated books
  • Softcover, cream French flapped wrappers, 242 x 192 mm, glassine dust jacket, lower and outer margins untrimmed, red lettering to front wrapper CONTES LIBERTINS | DU | DIX-HUITIÈME SIÈCLE; in a double slipcase; 10 full-page colour intaglio prints, incl. frontispiece, and 10 half-page coloured prints after Antoine Calbet; pp.: [1-8] 9-223 [224] [6], total 115 leaves plus ten plates with tissue guards extraneous to collation. Copy enhanced with a full suite of 32 uncoloured intaglio prints, and 12 refused plates: Title-page (red and black): CONTES LIBERTINS | DU DIX-HUITIÈME SIÈCLE | PRÉSENTÉS PAR EDMOND PILON | TRENTE-DEUX ILLUSTRATIONS EN COULEURS | DE | A. CALBET | {fleuron} | PARIS  | LE VASSEUR & Cie, ÉDITEURS | 33, Rue de Fleurus || Limitation: 587 copies, of which 32 on Japon Impérial (№№ 1-32), 65 on Hollande Van Gilder (№№ 33-97), 490 on Velin a la forme de Rives (№№ 98-587). 25 copies were printed on top of this print run for collaborators, numbered in Roman letters. This copy is № 77 on watermarked Van Gilder Zonnen paper. Colophon: LE TEXTE DE CET OUVRAGE A | ÉTÉ IMPRIMÉ SUR LES PRESSES | DE CL. JACOUB ET Cie. |  LES ILLUSTRATIONS, GRAVÉES PAR L. MACCARD, ONT ÉTÉ | TIRÉES EN TAILLE-DOUCE | PAR A. PORCABEUF ET Cie. | ACHEVÉ D'IMPRIMER, A | PARIS, LE 12 OCTOBRE 1936. Table of contents: Histoire de madame Allain – Notice sur le comte de Caylus. Histoire de Cidal Acmet – Notice sur l'abbé Prevost Aline, reine de Golconde – Notice sur le chevalier de Boufflers Cosi-Sancta – notice sur Voltaire. Cécile, Marine et Bellino – Notice sur Casanova de Seingalt Histoire de Babet – Notice sur l'abbé Du Laurens Histoire de Fanny Hill – Notice sur John Cleland. Louise et Thérèse – Notice sur Rétif de La Bretonne Contributors: Pilon, Edmond (French, 1874 – 1945) – compiler Le Vasseur & Cie – publisher Calbet, Antoine (French, 1860 – 1942) – artist Cl. Jacoub et Cie – printer/text Maccard, Louis (French) – engraver Porcabeuf, Alfred (French, 1867 – 1952) – printer/plates Authors: Caylus, Anne Claude de [comte de Caylus] (French, 1692 – 1765) Prévost d'Exiles, Antoine François [Abbé Prévost] (French, 1697 – 1763) Boufflers, Stanislas Jean, chevalier de (French, 1738 – 1815) Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de (French, 1694 – 1778) Casanova, Giacomo Girolamo (Italian, 1725 – 1798) Laurent, Henri-Joseph [Abbé Du Laurens] (French, 1719 – 1793) Cleland, John (British, c. 1709 – 1789) Restif [Retif] de la Bretonne, Nicolas Edmé (French, 1734 – 1806)
  • Softcover volume 200 x 145 mm, in a slipcase, unbound, in French wrappers, sanguine lettering on cream paper, block printed on wove paper with watermark “Marais”, collated 8vo, pp.: [1-6] 7-114 [6], 60 leaves, first and last leaves blank; illustrated with 20 etchings, incl. vignette on front wrapper, two head- and two tailpieces, printed in sanguine; etching on t.p., similar to the one on the front wrapper, printed in black. Limited edition of 250 copies, this is copy № 24. Front wrapper and title-page: in a double frame A de M. | GAMIANI | {vignette} || Colophon: CE LIVRE | IMPRIMÉ AUX DÉPENS | D'UN GROUP D'AMATEURS | SUR PAPIER CHIFFON | A ÉTÉ TIRE | A DEUX CENT CINQUANTE EXEMPLAIRES | LA VENTE AU PUBLIC | EN EST RIGOUREUSEMENT INTERDITE | EXEMPLAIRE N°24 || [This book is printed at the expense of a group of amateurs on rag paper in two hundred and fifty copies; sale to the public is strictly prohibited]. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 1649. Alfred de Musset (French, 1810 – 1857) – author.
  • Paperback, 240 x 160 mm, pp. [1-5] 6-156 [4], with black and white illustrations, pictorial front cover: PENETRATIONS SAUVAGES | {vignette} | Une pornographie extraordinaire | relatée par Cerkan de Sardan | et illustrée par Schaltès ||
  • Le Rire : journal humoristique hebdomadaire, 1899, 51 issues №№ 218-269 (lacking № 233 April 22nd), quarter bound by a contemporary owner in dark green faux morocco over marbled boards, marbled endpapers, gilt lettering to spine, 307 x 250 mm.

    № 233 April 22nd

    Publisher: Félix Juven (French, 1862 – 1947) Printer: Bertin et Cie Artists: Jules Abel Faivre (French, 1867 – 1945) Lucien Marie François Métivet (French, 1863 – 1932) Charles Lucien Léandre (French, 862 – 1934) Jean-Louis Forain (French, 1852 – 1931) Jules Maurice Radiguet (French, 1866 – 1941) Louis-Christian Does [Döes, Doës] (French, 1859 – 1944) René Georges Hermann-Paul (French, 1864 – 1940) Caran d’Ache [Emmanuel Poiré] (French, 1858 – 1909) Charles Huard (French, 1874 – 1965) Benjamin Rabier (French, 1864 – 1939) Georges Meunier (French, 1869 – 1942) Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (Swiss-French, 1848 – 1934) Guydo [Joseph Robert Guillaume Le Barrois d'Orgeval] (French, 1868 – 1930) Henri [Henry] Gerbault (French, 1863 – 1930) Adolphe Willette (French, 1857 – 1926) Auguste Roubille (French, 1872 – 1955) Leonetto Cappiello (French, 1875 – 1942) Fernand Fau (French, 1858 – 1915) Georges Delaw [Deleau] (French, 1871 – 1938) Georges Tiret-Bognet (French, 1855 – 1935) Édouard Couturier (French, 1869 – 1903) Jean Villemot (French, 1880 – 1958) Guy Kadell (French, 18?? – 19??) Henri Louis Avelot (French, 1873 – 1935) Jan [Jean] Duch
  • Hardcover volume, 297 x 256 x 40 mm, glossy pictorial boards, pp. [1-8] 9-428 [4], profusely illustrated, text in French. F.I.N.A.L.E. stands for Foundation Internationale d’Arts et Litératures Érotiques (Foundation of Erotic Arts and Literatures, established on December 12, 1996 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Title-page: éros, | indéfiniment | Collections F.I.N.A.L.E. | { HumuS, publisher’s device} ||
  • Hardcover volume, 290 x 225 mm, bound in scarlet velveteen with gilt lettering to front and spine, gilt vignette and lettering to back; pp.: [1-8] 9-204 [4], profusely illustrated; text in French and English. ISBN : 2-940127-37-9. Title-page (yellow on red paper): EROS SECRET | OBJETS EROTIQUES A TRANSFORMATION | EROTIC TRANSFORMATION OBJECTS | Photographies et chorégraphie : Véronique Willemin | Photographer and choreography || “The ensemble of 150 objects presented belongs to one single collector. The manner in which the author met him at the airport of Larnaca, then on a yacht in the Mediterranean sea, resembles more a novel by Gérard de Villiers than the preface of a curator but has its own touch of spice” [Art of the day Weekly].
  • French illustrated pornographic magazine (ouvrage illustrè de photographies pornographiques), in pictorial wrappers, 235 x 160 mm, 16 leaves incl. wrappers, unpaginated.
  • Softcover, French flapped pictorial wrappers, 240 x 160 mm, translated title: Rape at the boarding school, pp. [1-6] 7-164 [4], 40 black and white illustrations by Garcini. Title-page: D’après un texte de | CERKAN DE SARDAN | VIOL | AU PENSIONNAT | illustrations de | GARCINI ||
  • Five issues in publisher's pictorial wrappers, 205 x 155 mm, profusely illustrated French erotic magazines. Published by Éditions Astarté : 58, rue Amelot, 75011 Paris. Rédacteur en chef : Gilles Berquet ; Comité de rédaction : Mïrka Lugosi, Jocelyne and Alexandre Dupouy. Maniac: revue d’amour critique, № 5, octobre 1996, 48p. — Paris: Astarté, 1996 ; ISSN 1261-484X. Maniac: revue d’amour critique, № 6, juin 1997, 48p. — Paris: Astarté, 1996 ; ISSN 1261-484X. Maniac: revue d’amour critique, № 7, octobre 1998, 48p. — Paris: Astarté, 1996 ; ISSN 1261-484X. Maniac: revue d’amour critique, № 8, décembre 2000, 70p (unpag.). — Paris: Astarté, 1996 ; ISSN 1261-484X. Maniac: revue d’amour critique, № 9, janvier 2004, 48p. — Paris: Astarté, 1996 ; ISSN 1261-484X.
  • Softcover, 270 x 210 mm, trimestrial comics magazine AH!NANA published by Les Humanoïdes Associés in Paris from October 1976 to September 1978, running issues 1 to 9. This is issue № 6, printed in 1977, 68 pp., incl. covers in colour by Liz Bijl. Authors/Artists include: Nicole Claveloux, Chantal Montellier, Marie-Noëlle Pichard, Shary Flenniken, Trina Robbins, Cécilia Capuana, and Marianne Leconte.
  • A softcover volume 18.7 x 12.1 cm, in publisher’s cream wrappers, red lettering in red and green frames to front cover, in glassine dustwrapper, uncut, untrimmed, collated in 8vo: 1-98 104, pp. [1-8] 9-151 [152 blank], plus 6 illustrations reproduced in drypoint after Mario Tauzin's lithographs from the album 'Interdit aux adultes' (see SVE-0547.2024). Front cover : BONNE | A | TOUT | FAIRE Title-page : BONNE | A | TOUT | FAIRE Stated limited edition of 900, strictly for subscribers. According to J.-P. Dutel III 1108 (p.66): published by Éric Losfeld in the late 1950s. Bonne à tout faire is a French idiom = maid-of-all-work Éric Losfeld (Belgian-French, 1922 – 1979) — publisher Mario Tauzin (French, 1909 – 1979) — artist
  • Hardcover, light grey cloth with brown lettering and two-colour vignette in the central panel, lettering to spine, 15 woodcut headpieces to each book and 5 full-page two-colour woodcuts by Leonid Feinberg (1896-1980). Size: 25.5 x 18.5 cm; collation: 8vo. Frontispiece (grey and black): P. OVIDII NASONIS | METAMORPHOSEON | LIBRI | {XV in frame} | ACADEMIA || Title-page (grey and black): П. ОВИДИЙ HAЗOH | МЕТАМОРФОЗЫ | ПЕРЕВОД | С. В. ШЕРВИНСКОГО | СТАТЬЯ О ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ ОВИДИЯ | А. И. БЕЛЕЦКОГО | РЕДАКЦИЯ И КОММЕНТАРИИ | Ф. А. ПЕТРОВСКОГО | {vignette / 1937} | ACADEMIA || Imprint: Переплет, иллюстрации, заставки | и титульные страницы по рисункам | Л. Е. Фейнберга || Published: II-1937; print-run: 5,300 copies. Pp.: [i-vi] vii-xxix [xxx] [2] 3-358 [8], total 396 pp: i/ii publisher’s device/blank, iii/iv blank/frontis., v/vi t.p./imprint, vii-xxx text preface, 1/2 h.t./blank, 3-330 text,331/2 h.t./blank, 333/59 commentary, 360 summary, 361/2 table of contents/blank, 363/4 errata/blank, 365/6 colophon/blank. Collation: ffl, i8 ii7 1-228 237, ffl, total 198 leaves plus 5 full-page two-colour woodcuts extraneous to collation. Publius Ovidius Naso [Ovid] (Roman, 43 BC – AD 17/18) – Author. Белецкий, Александр Иванович (Ukrainian, 1884 – 1961) – Author (foreword) Петровский, Фёдор Александрович (Russian,1890 – 1978) – Author (editor) Шервинский, Сергей Васильевич (Russian, 1892 – 1991) – Translator Фейнберг, Леонид Евгеньевич (Jewish-Russian, 1896 – 1980) – Artist References: [LIB-2679.2021] Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books / Translated by the Most Eminent Hands. — London: Jacob Tonson, 1717. [LIB-2586.2020] Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Latin and English (2 vols.) — Amsterdam: Wetstein & Smith, 1732.  
  • Softcover volume, 19.5 x 14.3 cm, olive French flapped wrappers, glassine dust cover, printed on laid paper (Hollande), outer and bottom margins untrimmed, some pages uncut; pagination: [2] blank, [i-iv] h.t./limit., t.p./blank, v-viii, 1-196 [197] [5], total 212 pages plus frontispiece; head- and tailpieces and in-text stencil-coloured etchings after Chéripoulos. Title-page (olive and black): LE ROMAN | DE | VIOLETTE | {vignette} | A LA ROYNE DE CYTHÈRE | SODOME | 1920 || Limitation: Cet ouvrage, achevé d'imprimer le cinq Janvier Mil Neuf Cent Vingt à trois cents exemplaires dont vingt-cinq exemplaires sur Japon Impérial contenant chacun un dessin original de Chéripoulos, numérotés de un à vingt-cinq; deux cent soixante-quinze exemplaires sur papier de Hollande, numérotés de vingt-six à trois cents; en plus cinq exemplaires de collaborateurs marqués de A à E. Le présent exemplaire porte le numéro 72. Edition: Printed on the 5th of January 1920 in 305 copies (№№ 1-25 on Japon Impérial, №№ 26-300 on Hollande, A–E for collaborators). Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 2339, p. 350. Contributors: Henriette de Mannoury d'Ectot [Henriette Nicolas Le Blanc] (French 1815 – 1899) Charles Auguste Edelmann [Chéripoulos] (French, 1879 – 1950).  
  • Softcover, 228 x 180 mm, tan French flapped wrappers with red lettering to front[1-4, owner’s glassine dustcover, top edge trimmed, printed on thick wove paper without a watermark; pp.: ffl [1-4 h.t., t.p.] 5-154 [2 blanks] colophon to back ffl recto, plus 12 plates with hand-coloured lithographs, extraneous to collation. Pencil and pigment drawing to h.t. signed “J. D’A” with gift manual inscription “A Monsieur et Madame Chalamel [sic] ce tardif mais sincère souvenir de sympathie”, signed “J et Y D’A.” Etching bookplate to front ffl recto: “EX LIBRIS PIERRE CHALLAMEL | JE FONCE DANS LE BROUILLARD”, signed “J A M” (Jean-Adrien Mercier). The signature J. D’A stands for Jean d’Angers, while Y D’A stands for Jean-Adrien’s wife Yvonne (1902—1999), nicknamed Zizi; they married in 1927. According to J.-P. Dutel, the stated illustrator of this edition, Jean d’Angers is indeed Jean-Adrien Mercier. The text belongs to Gustav Droz and, possibly, Auguste Poulet-Malassis. Limitation: the book was printed for subscribers in 30 copies on Japon Impériale paper (№№ 1-30) and 250 copies on vélin du Marais paper (№№ 31-280). This copy bears № 123 and was presented as a gift by the artist and his wife to Pierre Challamel. Title-page (red and black): POUR SERVIR | A L'HISTOIRE | DE NOS MŒURS | UN ÉTÉ | A LA CAMPAGNE | CORRESPONDANCE DE DEUX JEUNES PARISIENNES | RECUEILLIE PAR UN AUTEUR A LA MODE | MDCCCLXVIII || Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 2546; honesterotica. Provenance: Pierre Challamel (French, 20th century) Contributors: Gustave Droz (French, 1832 – 1895) – author (presumable). Auguste Poulet-Malassis (French, 1825 – 1878) – author (presumable). Jean-Adrien Mercier (French, 1899 – 1995) – artist. Micro photo of the lithography:
    Micro photo of the original drawing:
  • Softcover, 257 x 168 mm, publisher’s cream French flapped wrappers with red lettering to front in a beige double slipcase, printed on wove paper watermarked “Marais” in italic script; edges untrimmed; pp.: [8] [2] [1] 2-130 [131] [3]; collated 4to as 184, 72 leaves incl. those in the wrappers, plus 9 photomechanical stencil-coloured plates extraneous to collation and 9 b/w headpieces (in-text etchings) after anonymous artist. According to the seller and J.-P. Dutel: “In-8 of 130 pages... Illustrated with 10 full-page in colour and some headbands. Limited edition of 500 copies on vélin du Marais". Title-page (red and black): GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE | LES | ONZE MILLE VERGES | OU | LES AMOURS D'UN HOSPODAR | BRUXELLES | 1942 || Limitation: Il a été tiré de cet ouvrage réservé uniquement aux souscripteurs particuliers 500 exemplaires tous sur vélin du marais. Exemplaire n° 147. Edition: The clandestine edition on vélin de Marais paper limited to 500 copies for subscribers only; this copy is № 147. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 2109. In my copy, similarly to the one of STEVE M., it is only 9 colour plates, while Dutel sites 10. Author: Guillaume Apollinaire (French, 1880 – 1918). Micro photo of a colour plate: Micro photo of an etching:
  • Softcover, 258 x 166 mm, publisher’s olive French flapped wrappers in owner’s glassine dustcover, edges untrimmed, some pages uncut, printed on thick wove paper with watermark “Hollande van Gelder Zonen”, in a slipcase. Pp.: [1-10] 11-129 [5], pages in wrappers included in the count, total 67 leaves; two-tone woodcuts by Jean-Gabriel Daragnès within the pagination. Title-page (red and black, in a double-fillet frame): PAUL VERLAINE | femmes | ÉDITION ORNÉE | DE TRENTE ET UNE | GRAVURES S/ BOIS | {vignette} | (under the bottom frame) PARIS | 1917 | {red triangle} || Limitation: Il a été tiré de cet ouvrage : 11 15 Exemplaires sur vieux papier de Japon numérotés de I à XV; 15 20 Exemplaires sur papier de Chine numérotés de XVI à XXXV; auxquels on a joint une suite des fumés sur même papier. 250 Exemplaires sur papier vélin de Hollande Van Gelder Zonen numérotés de 1 à 250. Après le tirage les bois ont été détruits. № 1. Numbers “15” and “20” corrected manually by Daragnès (per Dutel). This is copy № 1 of vélin de Hollande print run. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel II: № 295; Nordmann II № 544. Seller’s description: Un volume broché in-8° sous couverture illustrée et rempliée. Etui cartonné. Illustré de 31 gravures sur bois en camaïeu, attribuées à DARAGNES, la plupart très libres, dont 18 à pleine page. Tiré à [226 ou 285] ex. numérotés. 1 des [200 ou 250] sur Hollande Van Gelder Zonen. Le nôtre porte le n°1. (Dutel : 295. Pia : 501. Carteret : IV, 392 : Belle édition rare, très estimée ». Monod : 11086). Dorgelès commenta ainsi ces illustrations : « Dans ces nus voluptueux et tragiques, qui semblent à la fois s’aimer et se haïr, on retrouve la même frénésie amère qui tourmente les poèmes interdits de Verlaine » (in Catalogue de livres... Daragnès, Drouot 1924, n°55). Très rares rousseurs. TRES BON EXEMPLAIRE, toujours recherché. Contributors: Paul Verlaine (French, 1844 – 1896) – author. Jean-Gabriel Daragnès (French, 1886 – 1950) – artist/publisher.  
  • Softcover, 325 x 253 mm, publisher’s French flapped wrappers in glassine dust cover, 15 leaves folio folded in half, making 30 in-2o leaves 321 x 250 mm, with two leaves within the wrappers, [1] t.p., [2] Vertès’ blue ink inscription “À Alexaner Sternberg frère Nicolas qui est un garçon charmant et un bon artiste. Vertès.” and drawing, [3] frontispiece, [4-26] text with six full-page, one head- and one tailpiece in dry point technique, with guard tissues, [27] list of plates, [28] colophon, [29] blank; some page numbers manually scripted in pencil to the bottom right corners by a previous owner. Paper watermarked “BFK Rives”. Title-page (in orange and black): ÉLOGE | DE | MARCEL VERTÈS | PAR | GEORGES HUISMAN | ORNÉ | DE GRAVURES ORIGINALES | {publisher’s device} | MANUEL BRUKER ÉDITEUR || Colophon: CET OUVRAGE A ÉTÉ ACHEVÉ D'IMPRIMER SUR LES PRESSES DE L'IMPRIMERIE DARAGNÈS LE 30 OCTOBRE 1951 A 200 EXEMPLAIRES NUMÉROTÉS DONT 20 SUR VÉLIN 'ARCHES DE 1 A 20 AUXQUELS IL A ÉTÉ JOINT UNE SUITE DES GRAVURES SUR JAPON NACRÉ ET 180 SUR VÉLIN BLANC DE RIVES DE 21 A 200. ON A TIRÉ EN OUTRE 20 SUITES SUR MALACCA DES PLANCHES REFUSÉES. EXEMPLAIRE N° 93. Limitation: 200 copies printed on October 30, 1951, at Daragnès press: 20 (№№ 1-20) on Arches vellum paper with a suite of plates on Japon Nacré and 180 (№№ 21-200) Vélin Blanc by Rives. This is copy № 93. Tipped in: (1) photo of Vertès (and one more) in front of his murals, with the blue ballpoint pen inscription “À Alex Sternberg, frère de Nicola, excellent ami, excellent artiste et voyez, quel photographe!!! Vertès”; (2) postcard with a signed invitation to Vertès' exhibition by Librairie M.-P. Tremois: “Carte Postale | Paris, le 2 mars [19]28 | Monsieur, | Du 6 au 24 mars, | de 2 heures à 6h30, aura | lieu à la Librairie M.-P. Trémois | 43 avenue Rapp, 7e, une | exposition de dessins et | aquarelles de Vertès, ayant | servi à l’illustration de livres. | Nous espérons que vous | voudrez bien nous honorer | de votre visite. M.-P. Trémois.” The drypoint technique is confirmed by the presence of a white line in the middle of the black  printed line on the micro photo: Catalogue raisonné: Vokaer № 52. Contributors: Georges Huisman (French, 1889 – 1957) – author. Marcel Vertès [Marcell Vértes] (Jewish-Hungarian-French, 1895 – 1961) – character/artist. Manuel Bruker (French, 1891 – 1979) – publisher. Jean-Gabriel Daragnès (French, 1886 – 1950) – printer. Nicolas Sternberg (Hungarian-French, 1902 –1960) Librairie M.-P. Trémois (1925 – 1953)
  • 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.