Lettres de Madame la marquise de Pompadour

Londres [but Paris?]: chez G. Owen; Fleet-Strett [sic]; & T. Cadell, dans le Strand, , 1772. References: Quérard, La France Littéraire, I, 173; Weller, Die falschen und fingirten Druckorte, II, 189.. Very Good. 12mo (16 cm); 2 volumes in one. [12],179,[1] ; [4],163,[17] pages. Bound in contemporary vellum over boards with paper title label on spine. Red-spotted edges. Binding a bit soiled but sound and entire, hardly worn. Paper a little toned at edges. but unblemished. Owner's pen marks on front blank.

A fictitious collection, generally attributed to the Marquis François de Barbé-Marbois. The imprint date and place are probably false. There were several "Londres" editions of the Letters published at the end of the 18th century. According to authorities at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, "this one is probably very close to 1772 and is less flagrantly (but almost certainly) of French manufacture." Querard notes that the collection grew by accretion, acquiring two more volumes over time. (These are almost always catalogued separately.) By 1811, at least 20 editions had appeared.