Fine French Set

Paris: Armand Magnier, 1898. 2 volume set, 10.25 inches tall. 2 magnificent full morocco bindings by Stroobants. The spine is superbly tooled in the aesthetic manner with morocco onlays, the boards are bound with a natural tan morocco. Gilt top edges. This set in number 3 of 12 copies ,out of a limited edition of 300, on 'imperiales du Japon' with the plates in 4 states and the vignettes in 3. An unsentimental and gripping account of military life with the concept of honour vanishing from the post Napoleonic army. A superb set in pristine condition. In the original French.

Paris: Etiene Ledoux, 1834. 6 volume set, 6 inches tall. A delightful little set with embossed boards, finely gilt tooled spines, dentelles and all edges gilt. An interesting Bookseller's ticket on the pastedown endpaper of the first volume. This set for 'young travellers in France' has an engraved frontispiece, 13 views, a folding map of France and 87 maps of the departments of France. All the maps are hand coloured on outline. The charming department maps have borders illustrating the produce and distinctive characteristics of that region. There is fading to several of the boards. In the original French.

Amsterdam: R. & G. Wetstein, 1712. 2 volume set, 5.25 inches tall. A superb little set in an early 18th century half calf with raised bands, twin labels and gilt floral centre tools. Pink edges. The work is in 12 parts, each having an engraved plate, some with slightly frayed fore edges. There is an extremely faint trace of an owner's stamp on the title page. This great parody of the Aeneid was written by the extraordinary Paul Scarron, first husband of Madame Maintenon, future wife of Louis XIV.

Amsterdam: Chez Pierre Humbert, 1731. 2 volume set, 10 inches tall. A superb early 18th century full French calf with gilt raised bands, twin morocco labels and extra gilt tooling to the panels. Pink edges. Fine full page engravings throughout. Slight foxing to the title page, otherwise clean. From the library of Madame de Simiane at the Chateau de Cirey. A fine set.

Tours: Maison Alfred Mame et fils, c.1900. 4 volume set, 5 inches tall. A delightful little set in full crushed morocco with gilt bands, gilt tooling to the panels, twin labels, charming gilt rolls and swags framing the boards. Watered silk endpapers and all edges gilt. With no inscriptions, a pristine set of these devotional works with their original box.

London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, et Orme, 1809. 4 volume set, 11 inches tall. A magnificent crushed and straight grain morocco with triple gilt and blind tooled raised bands and dense gilt tooling to the panels. The boards have a central straight grain panel framed by very fine and elaborate gilt and blind tooling. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Large Paper deluxe edition with india proof impressions of the plates by Smirke. Offsetting from the plates, otherwise clean. The armorial bookplate of William Strahan. Some rubbing and scuffing to the edges but with no splitting or loss. An exceptionally impressive example of this celebrated edition. In the original French.

Paris: L’auteur des Estampes, 1786-1793. 3 volume set, 12 inches tall. An old tipped in catalogue entry attributes this magnificent binding to Charles Lewis. With wide gilt raised bands, delicate and ornate gilt tooling to the panels, twin labels, dentelles and all edges gilt. Complete with 3 engraved title pages, portrait and 73 engraved plates after Le Barbier. There are an extra 18 stipple engraved plates and 70 highly decorative vignettes. Some speckling and scuffing to the boards. A super copy of this beautiful 18th century deluxe edition.

Paris: Didot, 1803 (AN XI). 5 volume set, 5.5 inches tall. A delightful set in full straight grain morocco with gilt bands, centre tools, gilt roll framing the boards and all edges gilt. In the original French.

Paris: Michel Lévy Frères, 1861-1866. 3 volumes, 8.75 inches tall, Superbly bound in full Victorian calf with gilt raised bands, twin label and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. This collection includes the 1st and 2nd series of Meditations of which a 3rd volumes was published later. In the original French.

Paris: Truttel et Würtz, 1801. 2 volumes, 8.25 inches tall. A beautiful tree calf with gilt bands and labels. Blue speckled edges. Folding portraits. The armorial bookplate of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo. A further 6 volumes were published.

Paris: Chez Ambroise Tardieu, 1821. 4 volume set, 8 inches tall. A delightful full mottled calf by Bayntun of Bath with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. A wide gilt roll frames the boards. Dentelles and all edges gilt. Decorated with 8 engravings by Alexandre-Marie Colin, a student of Girodet. Slight rubbing to the edges and some light foxing. An exceptional set of this licentious novel.

Londres: (Cazin), 1781. 2 volume set, 5.25 inches tall. A fabulous little full morocco set of the highest quality by the great Parisian binder Paul Charles Allo. One of the celebrated editions of Cazin. This work was once attributed to Dumouriez (hence the title on the spine) but is in fact an adaptation of Forteguerri's work. With the red leather bookplate of Leon Rattier. A superb example of this very scarce edition in pristine condition.

Geneva: Paschoud, 1802. 5 volume set, 6.75 inches tall. A fine binding of the period in quarter calf with gilt raised bands, gilt tooling to most panels and splendid blind tooling to the other.First edition in french of Lafontaine's popular novel Leben eines armen Landpredigers.

Paris: (Cosson for) Gosselin and Ladvocat, 1822. 4 volume set, 7 inches tall. Quarter calf with gilt bands, twin labels and charming gilt tooling to the panels. With the binders ticket. One of several French editions of The Pirate published in the same year as the first (1822). Dargan notes that our edition (published in December) was preceded by the edition for the collected works (February) and that an unauthorised anonymous translation (Le Pirate, ou les Flibustiers) also appeared in February.

Paris: (Cosson for) Charles Gosselin and Ladvocat, 1821. 4 volume set, 7 inches tall. Quarter calf with twin labels and gilt centre tools.Waverley first appeared in French in 1818, before Scott attained celebrity in France and therefore now very rare. This reprint is for the first of Gosselin’s collected Oeuvres complètes.

Paris: (vols. 1& 2 H. Fournier; vols. 3 & 4 Firmin Didot for) Ambroise Dupont et Roret, Urbain Canel, 1825. 4 volume set, 7 inches tall. Quarter calf with twin labels and gilt centre tools. Second French edition of The Trials of Margaret Lyndsay (1823), the first French edition being 1823 (both editions very rare). Issued anonymously in English, the novel was is attributed by its French editors to Scots poet Allan Cunningham and presented with a biographical preface. It is in fact by fellow Scot John Wilson, better known as the pre-eminent contributors (with Blackwood and Hogg) to Blackwood’s Magazine (he is credited with over 500 contributions between 1817 and 1854). OCLC lists 2 copies only of each French edition: 1823 (Bn and University of Lille); 1825 (NLS and Lyon)

Paris: (Cosson for) Charles Gosselin, 1826. 4 volume set, 7 inches tall. Quarter calf with twin labels and gilt centre tools. First edition in French. E. Preston Dargan, ‘Scott and the French Romantics’, PMLA, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Jun 1934), 22 (May 24); Garside, Raven and Schöwerling, The English Novel 1770-1829, 1826: 70. OCLC lists several European copies, but only one in the US (Texas A & M).

Paris: [Cosson for] Charles Gosselin and Ladvocat, 1824. 4 volume set, 7 inches tall. Quarter calf with twin labels and gilt centre tools. Some fading and rubbing to the boards.First edition in French of St Ronan’s Well (1824). There are two issues of 1824, one with a De Wincop imprint the other with Gosselin and Ladvocat; Dargan lists only the latter — both are institutionally very rare.

Paris: (Cosson for) Lecointe et Durey, 1824. 5 volume set, 7 inches tall, Quarter calf with twin labels and gilt centre tools. Some fading and rubbing to the boards. Small split to the foot of volume one, but still perfectly solid.First edition in French of The Inheritance (Edinburgh, 1824). Scottish novelist Susan Ferrier's popular second novel, translated by Defauconpret, already established as the translator of sir Walter Scott.