
BOOKS IN FRENCH
A-B Bibles C D-Fram France-Fz G-H
I-Le Lf-Lz M N-R S T-Z
(A
REMARKABLE COLLECTION). Voltaire, His Time, His Contemporaries.
An Enlightenment research, teaching, and exhibition resource of some 3200
volumes.
$800,000.00
Click M. Arouet's picture for a description
of
THE LEE COLLECTION


Marmontel's
Political-Philosophical
Novel with
Gravelot's
Illustrations

(A
TREASURE of the FRENCH ENLIGHTMENT). Marmontel, Jean
François. Bélisaire. Paris: Chez Merlin, 1767. 8vo (19.9
cm, 7.8"). [4], x, 340, [6] pp.; 4 plts.
$900.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition, early state, featuring the frontispiece and three copper-engraved plates
designed by Gravelot. Quickly translated into numerous languages following its initial publication,
Marmontel's controversial philosophical novel was written in great part in the hope that its retelling
of the story of Gen. Flavius Beisarius of the Byzantine Empire would convince Louis XV to become,
himself, the longed-for Philosopher-King. Chapter 15, however, in which Marmontel advocates
freedom of opinion and religious tolerance, inspired extensive commentary by Voltaire and others and
brought on condemnation by both the Sorbonne and the Archbishop of Paris — though it may
ultimately have helped the Huguenot cause.
Merlin also printed a duodecimo edition in 1767; in the present edition, “Fragmens de philosophie
morale” is found on pp. 273–340, followed by the Addition and Approbation.
Provenance:
Front pastedown with gilt-stamped armorial bookplate of notable 19th-century
book collector Edward Hailstone, gilt-stamped “I.T.” bookplate
with motto “Inter folia fructus,” and bookplate of Sir Montague
Shearman.
Binding: Contemporary crimson
morocco, covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped
leather labels, board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. This volume (complete
in itself) seems at one time to have been part of a set of Marmontel's works,
and bears an (unnumbered) spine label reading “Oeuvres de Marmontel.”
Brunet, III, 1440; Cohen de Ricci, Guide de
l’amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe siècle, 688; Graesse 406; Tchermezine 455.
Binding as above, with edges, extremities, and joints showing minor rubbing. Front
pastedown with bookplates as above; front free endpaper with affixed slip of early cataloguing; rear
pastedown with small chip out of paper. Light spots of foxing, slightly heavier around plates. All
edges gilt. (25776)
This
entry is repeated in the
“M” section of this
catalogue . . .
The Augsburg Confession — 51 Documents
The
First Much Annotated
(A
SIGNIFICANT REFORMATION LANDMARK). Chytraeus, David.
Histoire de la confession d'Auxpourg, contenante les principauls traittez &
ordonnances, faittes pour la religion, quand l'electeur Iehan, duc de Saxe auec
les citez & autres princes protestants presenterent leur confession de foy
(icy inserée) a l'Empereur Charles V. os estats generauls de l'empire,
tenus a Auxpourg, 1530. Anvers: Chez Arnould Coninx, 1582. 4to (24.3 cm, 9.55").
[8], 835, [5] pp.
$2875.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Uncommon sole edition: The first French translation of the Historia Augustanae Confessionis, published in 1578. This collection of 51 documents laying out the chief principles of Lutheran doctrine was edited by Chytraeus and translated into French by Luc le Cop, a Savoyard living in Antwerp.
Provenance: Front pastedown with small bookplate of William Jackson, an important collector whose substantial library was auctioned by the Harrassowitz firm in 1910.
Brunet 22420; Graesse, II, 154. Not in Adams. 19th-century quarter olive morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped author/title; edges and extremities rubbed. Top edge gilt. Front pastedown with bookplate as above; title-page and first text page each with early inked ownership inscription. Four leaves with small repaired tears from outer margins and three likewise
from upper margins, not touching text in any case. Extensive early inked marginalia in first document, scattered examples elsewhere. (23536)
This entry is repeated in the
“C” section of this
catalogue . . .



Histoire des Malheurs
Abelard, Peter, & Heloise. Lettres completes d'Abelard et d'Heloise. Traduction nouvelle precedee d'une preface par M. Greard. Paris: Garnier Freres, [ca. 1890?]. [4], XIX, [1], 408 pp.
$35.00
Click the images for enlargements.
French translation of the famous letters.
Binding: Publisher's red cloth imitating pebbled morocco, covers blind-stamped, spine gilt-stamped; all edges gilt.
Cloth rubbed over corners and spine extremities, with spine slightly darkened. Front pastedown with old (Catholic) institutional bookplate. Pages age-toned. (14203)
Académie
des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres. Choix des mémoires de l’Academie Royale des inscriptions et belles-lettres. Londres: T. Becket & P. Elmsly, 1777. 4to (27 cm, 10.6"). 3 vols. I: [2], iii, [1], lx, 656 pp. (pagination skips 17–32, text uninterrupted). II: [2], iii, [1], ccviii, 495, [1 (blank)] pp. III: [2], iii, lxviii, [1], 696 pp.; 1 fold. plt., 2 plts.
$1250.00

Sole edition thus: Three-volume set of selected pieces from the Histoire et mémoires de l’Académie, a massive collection of French-language commentary and criticism on Greek and Latin classics. The printing of the Histoire et mémoires commenced in 1717 and ran through 1809, with the total number of volumes coming to 51; the present compilation offers especially noteworthy treatises from the beginning of the series through 1763.
Click the image to the left
for an enlargement.
The third volume includes two plates and one oversized, folding plate reproducing two inscriptions and a frieze, engraved by E. Malpas.
Uncommon outside of Great Britain.
ESTC T113913; Brunet, I, 26; Lowndes, I, 5. Contemporary treed calf, spines gilt extra, with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels; leather worn at edges and moderately rubbed with joints cracking. Front pastedowns with private bookplates and signs that a plate was removed on front free endpaper (one vol. endpaper holed); impressions of old pencilled shelf numbers on title-pages (and one lightly inked old date). First two leaves of vol. III with upper margins stained and final leaf browned; some pages with a few spots of faint foxing, most clean and crisp.

Splendors
(Barbaric &
Otherwise) of
the
Russian Empire
[Alexander, William]. Costume of the Russian empire, illustrated by upwards of seventy richly coloured engravings. London: E. Harding et al., 1803. Folio (33.7 cm, 13.25"). [152] pp.; 70 col. plts. (of 73).
$2500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First
edition: Diglot
(i.e., in French and English) hand-colored plate book showcasing the ethnic
garb of Finland, Lapland, Estonia, Kamchatka, the Aleutian Islands, etc. Men,
women, and young children — and a “Female Schaman, or Sorceress,
of Krasnajarsk” — are all depicted in plates engraved by J. Dadley
and elaborately hand-colored; the designs for the plates were taken from a series
of engravings originally done for C.W. Müller's 1776 edition of Georgi's
Beschreibung aller Nationen des Russischen Reichs.
The explanatory text, which is generally attributed to William Alexander, often
includes descriptions of religious beliefs, alleged ethnic characteristics,
and
wedding
traditions. Many of these descriptions are decidedly focused
on the otherness of the practices in question; some achieve a level of
generalization that is rather breathtaking, e.g., “The Lapland women are
short, but often well formed, obliging, modest, and extremely irritable.”
Binding:
Publisher's straight-grained red morocco, covers framed in gilt-stamped Greek
key pattern, spine with gilt- and blind-stamped decorations; all edges gilt.
Lipperheide 1341; Abbey, Travel, 244. Binding overall rubbed and somewhat rough, front joint (outside) starting and back hinge (inside) likewise. Offsetting from plates, instances of light foxing and occasional soiling throughout. Plates 16, 29, and 39 excised some time ago, with faint pencil marks on contents list indicating their absence. An imperfect copy, still offering an array of engaging images and elegantly bound, with its sociologically intriguing text intact. (28807)

He Tries to
Cover It ALL!
Amelot de la Houssaye, Abraham-Nicolas, sieur. Memoires
historiques, politiques, critiques, et literraires. Par Amelot de la Houssaie. Ouvrage imprimé sur le propre manuscrit de l'auteur. Amsterdam: Michel Charles Le Cene, 1731. 12mo. 2 vols. I: 561 pp. II: 462 pp., [11 (adv.)] ff.
$350.00
First edition. Anecdotes of the French court under Louis XIV. Title-page handsomely printed in red and black.
Provenance: From the collection of 19th-century scholar Dr. Johann August Neander (1789–1850), a convert from Judaism who became a leading scholar of Christian church history.
Brunet 18324. Contemporary calf, spine with raised bands, gilt-stamped compartment decorations at top/bottom, and later black leather gilt-stamped labels; covers blind-tooled in concentric compartments. Rubbed with bits of leather lost at extremities; offsetting from leather along margins of endpapers and title-pages. Marbled endpapers, free ones missing in both volumes; front pastedowns each with library bookplate and both title-page versos with call number in pencil. Initial pages of vol. II toned. A good solid set. (21186)
17th-Century French Politics: “François, que faites-vous?”
Anonymous. [drop-title] Cassandre françoise. [Paris: 1615]. 8vo (17.1 cm, 6.75"). 22, [2 (blank)] pp.
$750.00

Anonymous political pamphlet warning of impending disaster for all of France as a result of the proposed marriage between Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, making use of classical analogies for various important figures and events. The title is taken from the header; Lindsay & Neu's main entry for the piece describes the work has having 16 pages, although at least three holdings describe 22 pages as seen here.WorldCat and Lindsay & Neu combine to locate eight copies in the U.S.
Click the images for enlargements.
Lindsay & Neu 3238 (note collation variation). Recent paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label. A few pages institutionally pressure-stamped; inked numeral in upper outer corner of p. 2. Light foxing; pinhole worming in lower margins, not touching text. Two leaves with inner margins reinforced. A nice copy of an uncommon item. (27773)

“Les villages, les chemins, les rues . . . disent de Madame la Mareschalle
choses horribles, que elle est sorciere”
Anonymous. [drop-title] L'italien francois. [Paris?: ca. 1615]. 8vo (17.7 cm, 7"). 8 pp.
$850.00

Uncommon pamphlet examining the accusations against the much-hated Concino Concini, Mareschal d'Ancre, and his wife, including
Madame la Mareschalle's supposed practice of sorcery. The title here is taken from the header.
WorldCat and Lindsay & Neu combine to locate only three copies in the U.S.
Click the images for enlargements.
Lindsay & Neu 3437. Recent paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label. All four leaves pressure-stamped. Clean. (27779)

Limited to 200 Copies — A Polyglot “Song of Moses”
Bargès, Jean Joseph Léandre. Notice sur deux fragments d'un Pentateuque hébreu-samaritain rapportés de la Palestine par M. le sénateur F. de Saulcy. Paris: Imprimerie Polyglotte Édouard Blot, 1865. 8vo (24.5 cm, 9.6"). [6], 91, [1] pp.; 1 fold. plt.
$750.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition: Number 60 out of 200 copies printed, with a folded facsimile leaf showing the Song of Moses in Samaritan, followed by the transcription in Hebrew and translation in Latin. L'abbé Bargès was a distinguished bibliophile and Orientalist who published a number of treatises on Middle Eastern antiquities, including Traditions orientales sur les Pyramides, Temple de Baal à Marseille, and Examen d'une nouvelle inscription phénicienne, découverte recemment dans les mines de Carthage.
Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 locate only five U.S. holdings.
Provenance: Ownership “label”
of George Williams (1814–78), who served as Vice-Provost of King's College (Cambridge)
from 1854 to 1857.
Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with
gilt-stamped red leather title-label. Title-page with small affixed slip bearing ownership inscription as above. Occasional edge nicks and short tears, and a number of leaves with old creases or the odd smudge; last leaf with old, small repairs to margins, and one other leaf with very good repair from blank reverse to an interior tear (no text lost or even affected). (25368)

This Example Worthy of a
Medieval Lady
Bédier, Joseph, ed.
Le roman de Tristan et Iseut. Paris: L'Édition d'art, 1926. 8vo. [8], xii, [2], 222, [8] pp.
$300.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Gorgeously bound version of the beloved Celtic Arthurian legend, here in Bédier's French rendition — an attempt to reconstruct the ideal original version of this oft-retold romance. The text is attractively printed, each chapter opening with a large foliate capital.
Binding: 20th-century hand-painted vellum, front cover with sailing ship between decorative bands accomplished in a style reminiscent of the Bayeux Tapestry, spine with title and decorations, back cover with castle tower and distant ship motif. Publisher's original tan paper wrappers with Celtic motifs bound in.
Binding as above, vellum slightly darkened, clean and tight. Front pastedown with small rubber-stamped monogram “MG.” Pages gently age-toned, else clean.
One of the great medieval romances, and a truly lovely object. (30283)

Voice
of the
Huguenots
in EXILE
Benoist, Elie. Histoire et apologie de la retraite des
pasteurs, a cause de la persecution de France. Francfurt: Jean Corneille, 1687. 8vo (16.3 cm,
6.4"). [10], 286, [8] pp.
$850.00
First edition, attributed by Barbier to Benoist, famed historian of the Edict of
Nantes. The author here defends the emigration of the Huguenot pastors against anonymously
published accusations that the ministers had deserted their charges in favor of self-preservation.
Benoist himself had been pastor to the Protestant congregation at Alençon before taking refuge in
Delft, and responded earnestly to the imputation of cowardice with this careful, thorough
vindication of his fellow ministers' conduct in the face of Catholic oppression.
Click the images for enlargements.
This was most likely a false imprint, probably printed in the Netherlands; no other works
printed by “Jean Corneille” are recorded, and no other works by Benoist were printed in
Germany during the time of his exile.
Uncommon:
OCLC locates only six U.S. institutional holdings, one of which has since
been deaccessioned.
VD17 12:116486H; Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages
anonymes et pseudonymes, 800. Period-style speckled calf framed and
panelled in gilt with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-dotted raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; binding signed in blind on lower
rear turn-in by Grace Bindings. Title-page and last page institutionally pressure-stamped; title-page verso with rubber-stamp “Ex Biblioth. Regia Berolinensi,” with superimposed deaccession
stamp; first page of preface with inked numeral in lower margin; lower (closed) edges rubber-stamped. Front fly-leaf with annotations on Benoist and first portion of volume with inked
marginalia in an early hand. Pages age-toned with light spotting. (25851)

ROMAN Political Science in its
Original State
Bilhon, Jean Fréderic Joseph. Du gouvernement des Romains, considéré sous le rapport de la politique, de la justice, des finances, et du commerce. Paris: Chez Louis (pr. by Pierre Didot l'Ainé), 1807. 8vo (21.2 cm, 8.4"). viii, 312 pp.
$500.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Sole edition, here unopened and uncut in the publisher's paper wrappers, of this treatise on ancient Roman government and economics. Bilhon also published Principes d'administration et d'économie politique des anciens peuples, appliqués aux peuples modernes and Éloge de J.J. Rousseau.
Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 find only eight U.S. holdings.
Goldsmiths'-Kress 19346.100. Publisher's rose paper wrappers, rebacked in paper wrapper edges chipped and hinges (inside) reinforced. Half-title and title-page institutionally rubber-stamped, front pastedown with institutional bookplate and early inked numeral, half-title with small inked ownership inscriptions. Signatures unopened, edges untrimmed; pages age-toned throughout, some with a little foxing; a nice copy. Now housed in a neat rose-maroon cloth clamshell case with gilt-stamped leather title-label. (25268)

Reformation-Era Political Theory
Bodin, Jean. Les six livres de la republique de I. Bodin Angeuin, ensemble une Apologie de Renê Herpin. Paris: Chez, I. du Puys, 1583. 8vo. [12] ff., 1060 pp., [22] ff.; without the “Apologie de Renê Herpin” following the index.
$850.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Bodin (1530–96), a jurist and philosopher, published this, his most famous book, for the first time in 1576. Writing against the background of the late Reformation and the politico-religious strife of France of the last third of the 16th century, he essays the nature of government and the power of the crown. He is a firm believer in the absolute power of the crown (“The sovereign Prince is only accountable to God”) and of the state (“the absolute and perpetual power of a Republic”).
Text in small roman type with side- and shouldernotes in roman and italic. Title-page with du Puys' xylographic printer's device.
Graesse, I, 460; Tchermezine, I, 235; Index Aurel. 120.824. This edition not in Adams. Deep walnut full calf old style: Round spine with raised bands accented with gilt beading, blind-tooled center devices in compartments; old deep red leather spine labels from previous binding reused; fillets extending onto covers from each band to terminate in trefoils and covers framed in blind double fillets. Small brown stain in upper margins of pp. 800–1050, not into text; a few pages with light pencil underlining. Bodin's text complete, but volume without the “Apologie de Renê Herpin” that should appear after the index; priced accordingly. All edges carmine. Really, a rather nice copy of an important Renaissance text. (27688)
Boileau
Despréaux, Nicolas. Œuvres diverses du Sieur D*** avec le traité du sublime ou du merveilleux dans le discours, traduit du Grec de Longin. Paris: Claude Barbin (pr. by Denys Thierry), 1674. 4to (25.3 cm, 10"). π2A–R4S8T–Y4Z2π1*4a2-4b–o4; Frontis., [4], 178, [12], [3]–102, [10 (index & colophon)] pp., 1 plt.
$4000.00
Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
Early edition, following the first of 1670; this is the first edition to appear under the Œuvres title, and contains nine satires, the first four epistles, L’art poëtique, and a number of other shorter pieces, followed by the Traité du sublime ou du merveilleux dans le discours, translated from Longinus. The handsomely printed volume has much of its text set in italic type, decorated with woodcut tailpieces, typographic and woodcut headpieces, and ornamental capitals. Margins are generous, layout is attractive. P. Landry designed and engraved the classically themed frontispiece, with the plate preceding Le Lutrin having been done by F. Chausseau.
Binding: 19th-century signed binding by Léon Gruel: Oxblood morocco framed in gilt double fillets containing a background of gilt-stamped fleurs-de-lis around a central ornamented cartouche. Spine gilt extra, with elaborate gilt-stamped inner dentelles over silk endpapers. All edges gilt over marbling. Silk bookmarker woven with binder’s information!


Provenance: Front fly-leaf with armorial bookplate of New York attorney and book collector Frederic Robert Halsey, and with decorative medieval-inspired bookplate of “G.E.” Volume with laid-in handwritten note signed by Gruel, on Gruel-Engelmann letterhead, dated 1892. Later in the collection
of Mary MacMillan Norton . . . a woman who knew how to pick books!
Brunet, I, 1056; DeBacker, Auteurs du XVIIe siècle, 1020; Tchemerzine, II, 271. Binding as above, nearly perfect save for just a touch of rubbing to the spine extremities, in cloth-covered slipcase, worn, with cloth starting to split over edges. Frontispiece and title-page separating from binding; title with red-tinted signs, near edges, that the marbling process did not go entirely smoothly; upper margins of several other leaves with hints of very faint waterstaining. Otherwise, clean and quite lovely.

A Jesuit Pioneer in
India & Japan
Bouhours, Dominique. La vie de Saint François Xavier, de la Compagnie de Jésus, apostre des Indes et du Japon. Nouvelle édition. Paris: Chez Guillot, 1787. 12mo (16 cm, 6.5"). 2 (of 2) vols. I: 24, 442, [2] pp. (lacks frontis.) II: [4], 418, [1] pp.
$900.00

Later edition of this French Jesuit's biography of Saint Francis Xavier, in two volumes; first pu blished in Paris, in 1682, it is here complete in six books, with a “Table des Matières” at end of second volume. Per Sommervogel, it is the “edition du P. Brolier, qui a mis on tête la lettre de Condé au P. Talon sur cette Vie et l'a fait suivre d'observations.”
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia notes that Dominique Bouhours (1632–1702) was best known to English readers as the author of this much-reprinted work and an earlier life of Ignatius of Loyola; for a long time these were “the most widely circulated biographies” of the two saints. Bouhours also achieved prominence for his anti-Jansenist writings.
The pair of volumes were nicely printed, with some nicely engraved head- and tailpieces. The text offers sidenotes.
Rare. A search of OCLC records only two copies, of which this is one, now deaccessioned.
De Backer-Sommervogel, I, 1904–1905; Cordier, Bibliotheca Japonica, 146. Recent full calf, covers framed and panelled with single gilt fillets and with gilt-stamped corner fleurons; spines gilt extra, with gilt-ruled raised bands, gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels, gilt publication date at foot, and elaborately gilt-tooled floral decorations in compartments; marbled endpapers. Tear in outer margin of pp. 269/270, just barely touching sidenotes; very occasional foxing; offsetting from leather of previous binding affecting first and last leaves at margins, including title-pages. Ex-library, with faint penciled notations on verso of title-page and at base of following page in each volume. Vol. I lacks the frontispiece portrait. Faults noted, still a good copy and in an attractive binding. (24526)

Living
Wisely
Boutauld, Michel. Les conseils de la sagesse, ou le recueil des maximes de Salomon les plus necessaires à l'homme pour se conduire sagement. Paris: Sebastien Mabre-Cramoisy, 1697. 8vo (16.3 cm, 6.4"). Frontis., [8], 278, [2], frontis., [54], 244, [4] pp.
$175.00
Click the images for enlargements.
“Nouvelle edition . . . Reveûë & augmentée par l'Autheur”: an early, uncommon edition of this popular book of maxims, originally published in 1677. Much esteemed in its day, this collection of nuggets of practical and meditative wisdom on how to conduct one's domestic, civil, and religious life was at first attributed to Fouquet but was actually written by a Jesuit preacher. The present example includes the follow-up La Suite des conseils de la sagesse, with the same copper-engraved frontispiece (Solomon at work with quill and tablet, visited by an inspiring angel) appearing before each part; the text is printed with a number of decorative tailpieces.
DeBacker-Sommervogel, II, 45. Contemporary vellum, spine with early hand-inked title; vellum with small spots of staining and rear pastedown gone, binding overall clean and tight. Frontispiece with shallow chip to lower edge not into plate area; pages slightly age-toned with some very faint spotting in the second part, otherwise clean. (29267)
Burlamaqui,
Jean Jacques. Principes du droit naturel. Geneve: Chez Barrillot
& fils, 1747. 4to (24.3 cm, 9.55"). XXIV, 352 pp.
$850.00
First edition of this lucid examination of the philosophy of natural law, written by a Swiss jurist. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says of Burlamaqui that “his fundamental principle may be described as rational utilitarianism” (IV, 836); his writings served as important source material for the political theory underpinning the Declaration of Independence.
This may be a later issue of the 1747 first edition; the last line of p. 7 here begins with “de l’esprit” and the first line of p. 223 with “tage au préjudice.” A companion volume to the present work, Principes du droit politique, was to be printed posthumously in 1754 and it is not present here — this volume being a very satisfactory stand-alone, arriving at a conclusion describing the “heureux accord de la lumière Naturelle & Révélée.” (Conceiving of the two works as vols. I and II of a larger whole is an anachronism in period to 1766 when de Felice was to bring them together for the first time.)
Not in Brunet. Recent quarter calf over marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather labels and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. Pages age-toned, with light foxing in spots; outer and lower edges of title-page showing offsetting from original turn-ins.
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