Les Aventures de Télémaque, Fils D'Ulysse.
Paris: De L'Imprimerie de Monsieur, 1790. 2 volume set, 9 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent full crushed gilt morocco binding by the great Parisian bookbinder, Capé. With gilt raised bands and lavish gilt tooling of the highest quality to the panels and boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Extra illustrated with engraved portraits and suites of plates by Cochin, Marillier and Moreau le Jeune, many in 2 or 3 states. Some foxing to the plate margins. In volume I has a 2ff. autograph LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR TO COUNTESS DE MONTBARON bound in. A few words have been excised and supplied in a different hand. On the reverse of the front free endpaper of volume 1 is the ornate calf bookplate of Léon Rattier. This is a beautiful large paper, extra-illustrated copy of this finely illustrated edition from Didot. The autograph letter from Fénelon, addressed to the Countess of Montbaron, wife of the governor General of Flanders, refers to their correspondence and correspondents (published in: Correspondance de Fénelon, Gèneve, droz, 1989, Vol X, no. 734, p.158). Regrettably there is light water staining to the lower half of much of volume 2. This can be seen in one of the images of the engraved plates in this post and also in the image showing very slight irregularity of the foredge of volume 2.