Le Procès Sans Fin,

Book Description

Londres [but certainly Paris]: Chez J. Nours, 1753. ou, l’Histoire de John Bull. Publiée sur un Manuscrit trouvé dans le Cabinet du fameux Sire Humfroy Polesworth, en l’année 1712. Par le Docteur Swift. xxiii, [i], 248pp., 12mo. A few spots and stains, tiny extreme blank corner off the tip of the title-leaf. Contemporary sheep, spine gilt; extremities worn and chipped, but structurally entirely sound. First edition in French of Arbuthnot’s splendid John Bull pamphlets, which Macaulay called “the most ingenious and humorous” in the language, in a translation attributed to Paul Francois Velly. It seems a little odd that it took so long for a French translation to appear, and from the title the reader is left to wonder if this appeared because of Swift’s growing reputation or because the translator found some intrinsic interest in the subject - or both. NCBEL II, 1050.

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