• A German translation of de Musset’s “Gamiani ou deux nuits d’excès” illustrated with a reprint title-page and 11 (instead of 16) hand-coloured photogravures after original lithographs by Devéria and Henri Grévedon or Octave Tassaert for 1833 edition, though from the re-drawn stones. Large volume, 40.5 x 31 cm, collated 4to, in black calf with lettering and elaborate gilt border to front and blind border to back, outer and bottom margins uncut, marbled endpapers, text and plates printed on wove paper. The reprint t.p. is different from the original one; in the 1833 edition, the line deux nuits d’excès is waving while here it is straight. Letterpress title-page: ALFRED DE MUSSET | GAMIANI | ODER | ZWEI NÄCHTE DER AUSSCHWEIFUNG || Reprint title-page: Gamiani | OU | DEUX NUITS D’EXCÈS. | {vignette} | Bruxelles | 1833 || Collation: π2 1-74 82, total 32 leaves plus reprint t.p. and 11 plates. Pagination: [4] [1] 2-59 [60], total 64 pages, ils. Limitation: Edition limited to 300 numbered copies, of which this is copy № 32. Contributors: Alfred de Musset (French, 1810 – 1857) – author. Karl Spieler (German, 19th/20th century) – author of the foreword and translator. Achille Devéria (French, 1800 – 1857) – artist (attributed). Pierre Louis Henri Grévedon (French, 1776 – 1860) – artist (attributed). Octave Tassaert (French, 1800 – 1874) – artist (attributed). Catalogue raisonné: Dutel (1650-1880) № A-460, p. 149; Eros invaincu № 68, p. 171-3.
  • Description: Hardcover, 24.5 x 20 cm, collated 4to, modern half crushed Morocco over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt fillets, fleurons, and lettering to spine, top margin gilt; pp.: [4] [1-5] 6-238 [2] [4]; 1-314, total 124 leaves, 20 in-text vignettes in colour after André Collot, b/w tail-pieces; printed on BFK Rives watermarked wove paper; original wrappers absent. Limitation: Print run of 331 copies of which this is copy № 255. Title-page (blue and black): ANDREA DE NERCIAT | FÉLICIA | OU MES FREDAINES | ORNÉ DE VINGT EAUX-FORTES | COLORIÉES A LA MAIN | PAR L'ARTISTE | PARIS | 1928 || Catalogue raisonné: Dutel (1920-1970) № 1556, p. 165. Contributors: André-Robert Andréa de Nerciat (French, 1739 – 1800) – author. André Collot (French, 1897 – 1976) – artist. Another copy of the same title with illustrations after Louis Icart in this collection: LIB-3046.2022.
  • Description: ¾ contemporary red morocco over marbled boards, 33.1 x 25.8 cm, raised bands, gilt lettering to spine, in a marbled slipcase 34.2 x 25.9 cm. Printed on thick wove paper watermarked “MONTGOLFIER ANNONAY” by Canson & Montgolfier (Annonay, France). Front wrapper and title-page : A. D. M. | GAMIANI | OU | DEUX NUITS D’EXCÉS | FAC-SIMILE DU | TEXTE ORIGINAL | orné des 12 lithographies | de | DEVÉRIA & GRÉVEDON | 1833 – Paris – 1926 | aux dépens d'un amateur || Faux-t.p. (1): GAMIANI | OU | UNE NUIT D’EXCÉS | {vignette} | Bruxelles | 1833 || (fac-semilé of the original wrapper of 1833) Faux-t.p. (2): GAMIANI | OU | DEUX NUITS D’EXCÉS | {vignette} | Bruxelles | 1833 || (fac-semilé of the original wrapper of 1833) Collation: 2 blanks, 1 orig. lavender blue colour front wrapper, 1 blank, 1 h.t., 1 limitation p., 1 t.p., 3 leaves ‘Notice Bibliographique’, 32 leaves of printed text, 2 blanks, 1 brown faux t.p. (1), text in fac-semilé manuscript (7 leaves) with 8 coloured plates, 1 blank, 1 brown faux t.p. (2), 7 leaves of text with 4 plates, 2 blanks, brown back wrapper, lavender blue back wrapper, 2 blanks; total 64 leaves plus 16 plates. Pagination: [1-8] 9-75 [76] [4]; [1] 2-26; mispaginated p. 23 marked 25, f.t.p. and ffl not counted. Last four plates without letters. Limitation: a print run of 360 copies, of which 20 with ‘miniatures’ №№ 1-20, 100 with coloured plates №№ 21-120, 230 with b/w plates №№ 121-350; 10 copies not for sale, marked H. C. (hors commerce). This is copy № 201, which should be with black lithographs, but has coloured plates. According to J.-P. Dutel, the plates were printed from the original stones. For variations on Devéria & Grévedon designs for Gamiani see also:  LIB-3087.2022 (Bruxelles, 1864); LIB-3093.2022 (Bruxelles, 1866); LIB-3090.2022 (Bruxelles, 1871); LIB-2902.2021 (Greman, 1911); LIB-2903.2021 (late 1940s). Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III 1640, p. 185. Contributors : Alfred de Musset (French, 1810 – 1857) – author. André Warnod [André de Sermanmagny] (French, 1885 – 1960) – author (bibliographical note) Pierre Louis Henri Grévedon (French, 1776 – 1860) – artist. Achille Devéria (French, 1800 – 1857) – artist.
  • Single volume, 18 x 12.5 cm, bound in ¾ crimson morocco over marbled boards, gilt double-fillet borders, spine with gilded raised bands, gilt in compartments, gilt-lettered label, marbled endpapers, top margin gilt, text printed on dense wove paper, with 8 etchings by anonymous on thin laid paper (Chine) with tissue guards, 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 after 1864 edition (LIB-3087.2022) and the plate with the donkey after unknown. Title-page: GAMIANI | OU | DEUX NUITS D’EXCES | PAR | A D M | — | EN HOLLANDE | – | 1866 || Pagination: [4] (h.t., t.p.), [i] ii-xvi, [3] 4-153 [154 blank]; total 158 pages plus 8 plates (anonymous etchings), incl. frontispiece. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel I: A-470; Pia: 518/9. BNF Enfer 418. Note: This edition is conformant with Dutel, but not with Pia, who mentions [2], xvi, 148 pp. Pia writes: 'According to a bibliographic record published in 1874 by Vital Puissant, this edition was printed in Brussels by Briard on behalf of Alphonse Lécrivain, a Parisian publisher who took refuge in Belgium'. Catalogue Poulet-Malassis & ses amis description: № 74. [Alfred de MUSSET] A D M. Gamiani ou deux nuits d’excès. En Hollande, 1866. In-8 de xvi, 153 pages, demi-maroquin cerise à coins, dos à nerfs orné, lets dorés sur les mors, tête dorée, tranches naturelles, couverture conservée (reliure ancienne). Illustré de 8 gravures sur Chine dont l’une en frontispice, toutes accompagnées de serpentines. Piqûres et mouillures. Dutel A-470, pas à l’Enfer de la BnF.  
  • An uncut fan print uchiwa-e, size 22.7 x 28.7cm, by an unknown artist.
  • 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.
  • Title-page: 30 | et quelques… | attitudes. | {vignette} | LITHOGRAPHIES | ORIGINALES DE | JEAN DE L’ÉTANG || Colophon: ACHEVÉ | D’IMPRIMER | EN | M C MLII || Description: Cream French flapped wrappers enforced with cardboard, in a double slipcase, 30.2 x 24 x 4.5 cm, with a lithograph to front and back depicting the female crotch, front and back, respectively. Printed on wove paper watermarked ‘Johannot’ (produced by Arches, France). Unbound; margins untrimmed. Collation: 2 leaves on the front and 2 on the back with two within the wrappers, incl. colophon, 2 leaves: one blank and one t.p. / limitation, 12 loose gatherings of 4 leaves each (48) with glassine interleaving. Pagination: [1-8] 9-102 [2], total 104 pp (leaves in wrappers not counted). Illustrated with 25 full-page lithographs (incl. covers) and 29 smaller images. Artist’s name Jean de l’Étang is most probably a pseudonym attributed by both J.-P. Dutel and Gérard Nordmann to Jean Dulac (French, 1902 – 1968). Limitation: A print run of 200 copies, of which this is copy № 186 (Nordmann's collection had №184). Cat. raisonné: Dutel III №2511, p. 388; Nordmann II №181, p. 89; Honesterotica.
  • [François Marie Arouet de Voltaire]. La Pucelle d'Orléans, poëme, divisé en vingt chants, avec des notes. Nouvelle édition, corrigée, augmentée & collationnée sur le manuscript de l'auteur. – [Geneva: Gabriel Cramer], 1762.
    Illustrated book with 20 etchings and numerous woodcut vignettes.
    Illustrated by: Hubert-François Bourguignon, a.k.a. Gravelot (French, 1699–1773) Author: François Marie Arouet de Voltaire (French, 1694–1778) Printer: Gabriel Cramer (Swiss, 1723–1793)
    Pagination: [2 blanks, "Ex libris JCP" to recto] [2 - h.t., blank] [2 - t.p., blank], [i] ii-viii, [1] 2-358 [2 blanks]; 20 engraved plates, unsigned, one before every chant, by Gravelot (Hubert-François Bourguignon).
    Year of Publication: 1762
    Place of Publication: Geneva, Switzerland
    Size: 8vo, 19.8 x 12.6 x 3.7 cm.
    Binding: Full mottled calf, restored, flat spine, decorated in gilt, red labels with gilt lettering "Oeuvres de Voltaire; La Pucelle, tom XXII"; marbled endpapers and all margins.
    CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Cohen-de Ricci 1029.
    Mentions: MFA: ACCESSION NUMBER 25.701.
    Another copy in this collection: LIB-2580.2020.
                   
  • Half title: LA PUCELLE | D’ORLEANS.|| Title: LA PUCELLE | D’ORLEANS , | POEME , | DIVISÉ EN VINGT-UN CHANTS , AVEC | LES NOTES DE M. DE MORZA. | Nouvelle édition, corrigée, augmentée d'un Chant | entier, & de plusieurs morceaux répandus dans | le corps de l'ouvrage, avec les Variantes que | l'on a jointes à la fin de chaque Chant. | [ornament] | A LONDRES. |—| M. DCC. LXXV. || Pagination : [4] – two blank unnumbered fly leaves, [i,ii] – h.t. / double-ruled blank leaf, [2] – blank / frontispiece on verso, [iii, iv] – t.p. ruled and bordered / double-ruled blank leaf, [v]vi-viii – table, ix-xv – preface, [xvi] – double-ruled blank leaf, [1]2-447 [448] – double-ruled blank leaf, [2] – two blank unnumbered fly leaves; page 14 misnumbered 18; title within ornamental border; text within double-ruled borders; head- and tail-pieces; 22 leaves of plates (frontis. + one before each chant.) Collation: 8vo; a8 A-Z8 Aa-Ee8 Binding: 19.9 x 13.2 cm; full contemporary brown calf, blind ruled plates, spine with raised bands, gilt-ruled and tooled in compartments, red label with gilt lettering, all edges red; plate for chant 6, H4, H5 - separated from the block. De Morza is Voltaire (Cf. Quérard, v. 10, p. 306). Engravings unsigned; attributed to Desrais, Claude-Louis (French, 1746 – 1816). False imprint; possibly printed in Paris.
  • Description: Publisher’s French flapped wrappers 28.2 x 19.2 cm, lettering to front cover “SCÈNES | DE | PÉRIPATÉTICIENNES | Εις το αφρωδιαζειν αγει | MCMIII”, pp. [1-6] 7-132 [4]. 10 laid-in (unbound) colour plates after André Collot, including the title-page vignette. Text printed on laid paper, plates on wove paper. According to J.-P. Dutel (1920-1970) № 2366, p. 356, this is a pirated reprint with 11 plates of the 1927 or 1935 edition of “Douze douzains de dialogues”, illustrated with 12 hand-coloured etchings after André Collot (№ 1427, 1428, p. 137, ibid.). Limitation of 200 copies seems fake as per Pia, the copy in BNF bears number 262 (Pia № 1213, p. 635; № 359, p. 200). Title-page: SCÈNES DE | PÉRIPATÉTICIENNES (arch) | Εις το αφρωδιαζειν αγει | MCMIII || Pictorial t.p.: {vignette in colour} | Douze douzains de Dialogues | ou | Petites scènes amoureuses | * || (text in fac-simile ms). Limitation: edition is limited to 200 copies of which this is copy № 44. Contributors: Pierre Louÿs (French, 1870 – 1925) – author. André Collot (French, 1897 – 1976) – artist. See: LIB-2819.2021 in this collection.
  • Description: One volume in cream French flapped wrappers, 28.5 x 19.5 cm, lettered to front in blue, printed on wove paper, [1-8] 9-157 [158] [6 blanks] + 8 plates tipped-in; total 82 leaves, first two and last three blank (total 8 blanks), the first and last leaves in the wrappers. Clandestine pirate edition with 8 collotype reproductions of coloured etchings after André Collot. Some plates with a water stain in the upper left corner, one plate has a long closed tear along the left margin. Compare to the original etchings, these plates look dull. Front wrapper (blue): LA SEMAINE | SECRÈTE | DE SAPHO || Title-page (black): LA SEMAINE | SECRÈTE | DE SAPHO | Illustrée de huit gravures | coloriées à la main | LA CHRONIQUE DES DAMES | CONTEMPORAINES || Limitation: The run of 300 copies printed on vélin de luxe “illustrée de huit gravures avec remarques colorées à la main”. This copy is № 128. Note: According to J.-P. Dutel (1920-1970) № 2385, p. 360, it is a pirate edition, printed in c. 1930. Jean-Pierre does not indicate that the plates are collotype reproductions, however, it is obvious when assessed under a microscope with a magnification of 60. The original edition published in 1929 has a different title-page and is illustrated with hand-coloured etchings, see Dutel (1920-1970) № 2384, p. 360. Contributors: Pascal Pia [Pierre Durand] (French, 1903 – 1979) – author. André Collot (French, 1897 – 1976) – artist.
  • Hardcover, 169 x 100 mm, quarter brown sheepskin over speckled paper, flat spine, gilt double fillet bands, crimson morocco label with gilt lettering, printed on French paper watermarked “FIN 1787”; two volumes in one, collated in 12mo. Tome premier: π1 h.t., A8 (A1 t.p., A2,3 Lettre de Sophie au chevalier d'Olzan), B4 C8 D4 E8 F4 G8, H4, I4; pp.: [2] [i-iii] iv-vi, [7] 8-104, plus three plates, p. 24 printed on cream wove paper,  pp. 66, 67 on blue laid paper (or pasted on such). Tome second: A8 (incl. h.t. and t.p.) B4 C8 D4 E8 F4 G8 H4 I8 K4, L4; pp.: [1-5] 6-127 [1 blank]; all three plates printed on cream wove paper; plate marked as p.68 is after p. 64, plate marked p.64 is after p. 68, plate p. 79 is on its place. Plates attributed to Louis Binet. Text is attributed mainly to Comte de Mirabeau; however, Guillaume Apollinaire, in his L’Enfer de la Bibliothèque Nationale (1913), believes that Marquis de Sentilly wrote it. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-de Ricci 709; Dutel I A-988, p. 294. Contributors: Mirabeau, Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de (French, 1749 – 1791) Binet, Louis (French, 1744 – 1800) Seller's description: Deux parties en un volume in-12. 165 x 97 mm. Tome premier: I f. n. ch. faux-titre, 104 pp. y compris le titre avec une vignette gravée, la "Lettre de Sophie au chevalier d'Olzan" qui débute l'ouvrage est paginée en chiffres romains. Tome second: 127 pp. tout compris et 1 p. bl. 6 gravures libres non signées qui sont de Binet. Reliure de l'époque. Demi-basane brune, plats de papier coquille moucheté, dos lisse omé de deux filets dorés répétés, pièce de titre de maroquin rouge, lettres dorées, tranches jaspées. Reliure un peu frottée, coins émoussés. Quelques rousseurs. Rarissime deuxième édition de cet Émile de l'éducation sexuelle enrichie de gravures libres attribuables à Binet.
  • Description: Three volumes 20.5 x 13 cm each, collated 8vo, uniformly bound in quarter calf over marbled boards, with raised bands, gilt in compartments and black and brown gilt-lettered labels to spine; bookplate “Ex libris Jacques Laget” pasted on to front pastedown. Printed on laid paper, with tall “s”. Title-page: L'AN | DEUX MILLE | QUATRE CENT QUARANTE. | Rêve s'il en fût jamais; | SUIVI DE | L'HOMME DE FER, | SONGE. | — | Le présent est gros l’avenir. / Leibnitz. (O utinam !; Le plaisir sans égal seroit de fonder la félicité publique.) | — | NOUVELLE ÉDITION | Avec Figures. | TOME PREMIER (SECOND; TROISIEME). | {device} | — | 1786. || Vol 1: fep a8 A-Z8 2A8; total 201 leaves plus engraved frontispiece by Ghendt after Marillier; pp: ff [i-v] vi-xvi, 1-380 [4]; total 402 pages. Vol. 2: fep π2, A-Z8 2A8 fep; total 196 leaves plus engraved frontispiece by Ghendt after Marillier; pp: [6] 1-381 [5]; total 392 pages. Vol. 3: fep π2, A-T8 V5 fep; total 161 leaves plus engraved frontispiece by Ghendt after Marillier; pp: [6] 1-312 [4]; total 322 pages. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-DeRicci 701; Lewine 353 ProvenanceJacques Laget (French, 1821 – 1884). Contributors: Louis-Sébastien Mercier (French, 1740 – 1814) – author. Clément Pierre Marillier (French, 1740 – 1808) – artist Emmanuel Jean Nepomucène de Ghendt (Flemish, worked in France, 1738 – 1815) – engraver.   See also: LIB-0979.2016 and LIB-2695.2021.
  • Description: Hardcover, 19 x 13 cm, contemporary binding, ¾ carrot morocco with raised bands over patterned cloth, similarly patterned endpapers, original pink wrappers preserved, gilt lettering to spine, Japanese previous owner’s stamp フィリップ (Firippu or Philippe) to verso front endpaper. Title-page: EXAMEN | DE | FLORA | à l’effet d’obtenir | son diplôme de putain | PARIS || Collation/pagination: blank flyleaf, original front wrapper with vignette, [1] blank, original watercolour 13.5 x 11 cm bound in, [2] blank, [3] h.t. / frontispiece, [4] t.p., 5-45 [46] [2] limitation / blank, back wrapper, blank flyleaf, with 14 stencil-coloured photogravures (au pochoir), two of them full-page, incl. frontispiece, after Feodor Rojankovsky [Rojan]. Limitation: 15 copies on Japon and 300 copies on Vélin, this is copy № 7. Edition: 1st edition thus, illustrated with 14 coloured photogravures, 2 of them full-page after Feodor Rojankovsky [Rojan], enriched with an original watercolour by the same artist. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel (1920-1970): 1532, p. 160 (same copy); honesterotica.com Provenance: J.-P. Dutel Note: J.-P. Dutel dates the edition as “vers 1935”; however, based on the edition of Le théâtre érotique de la rue de la Santé / [illustré par Rojan]. — Paris: s.n., 1932 [LIB-2816.2021] in this collection, which contains some of the same illustrations, we attribute it to 1932. Contributors: Feodor Rojankovsky [Rojan, Фёдор Степанович Рожанковский] (Russian-American, 1891 – 1970) – artist. Louis Protat (French, 1819 – 1881) – author. Illustrations:

    Le théâtre érotique / Original

    Examen de Flora / Original

    Le théâtre érotique / Original

    Le théâtre érotique / Original

    Examen de Flora / Print

    Examen de Flora / Print

    Examen de Flora / Print

    Examen de Flora / Print

  • French flapped tan wrappers, 24.3 x 18.8 cm, lettered in red Les Vacances | de Suzon | Journal Secret | AUX DÉPENSDES AMIS DE CUPIDON ||; collation: 1 blank, 1 tp (lettering similar to front wrapper), 1 blank, 24 leaves of plates with fac-simile ms text, 2 blanks; total 29 leaves; the said 24 leaves are made by glueing together pairs of 48 individual leaves, printed on one side. Dutel (1920-1970) № 2578, p. 406, describes the edition as a photocopy of  “Il s'agit d'une copie de Suzon en Vacances” printed in the late 1940s, the print run is limited to 300 copies. For the original publication see LIB-3409.2025. The edition is attributed to Leon Courbouleix (French, 1887 – 1972).
  • 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.    
  • 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.  
  • Description: softcover, 25.5 x 16.5 cm, pink French flapped wrappers with black lettering, printed on laid paper watermarked “ARCHES (France)”, with 10 plates (etchings) bound in and 1 plate (coloured etching) laid in, extraneous to collation, with tissue guards; pp.: ffl, [2] h.t., [2] t.p., 1- 151 [152] [4] colophon, blank, ffl; some pages uncut; margins untrimmed. Title-page: UN ÉTÉ A LA | CAMPAGNE | CORRESPONDANCE DE DEUX | JEUNES PARISIENNES RECUEILLIE | PAR UN AUTEUR A LA MODE | ILLUSTRÉE DE DIX EAUX-FORTES | ET D’UNE AQUARELLE ORIGINALE | {blank} |  IMPRIMÉ SOUS LE MANTEAU | ET NE SE VEND NULLE PART | MCMXVIII || Limitation: a print run of 165 copies, of which this is № 129 on Arches à la forme paper. Cat. Raisonné: Dutel III № 2545, p. 397; Honesterotica. Contributors: Gustave Droz (French, 1832 – 1895) – author (presumable) Frans de Geetere (Belgian, 1895 – 1968) – artist/engraver