LES BAISERS, PRÉCÉDÉS DU MOIS DE MAI, POËME

Book Description

A la Haye, et se trouve à Paris: Chez Lambert...et Delalain..., 1770.. 119;47pp. Large octavo. Somewhat later full crimson morocco, spine elaborately gilt extra, gilt center and corner devices and borders on boards, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endsheets, a.e.g. Engraved extra- title, plate and 44 engraved head and tail-pieces. Title printed in red and black. A few light marks to binding, occasional minor marginal smudges, but a very good, large, crisp copy, attractively bound. First edition thus. A large paper copy (21.5 x 14 cm) on Hollande, with the title and caption-titles printed in black and red, and exhibiting the many errors in pagination in "Les Mois de Mai" characteristic of the earliest copies. This copy also includes the supplementary section of "Imitations de Pöetes Latins." All but two of the engravings were engraved by various hands after drawings by Charles Eisen, the exceptions being two tail- pieces by Marillier. Salomons describes this edition of Dorat's mildly erotic verse as "one of the most gracefully and beautifully illustrated books ever produced," and Cohen-De Ricci describe it as a "chef- d'oeuvre de XVIIIe siecle." SALOMONS, pp.80-1. COHEN-DE RICCI (VI), p.308-311. RAY (FRENCH) 31.

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