Search Results: Titles starting with L from Comellas Rare Books

A Toulouse, imprimerie de Bellegarrigue, 1835. 8vo. 174 pages. Half green calfskin, smooth spine decorated (period binding). Very rare Toulouse edition of this work by a seed merchant from Toulouse, Angélique Prévost, who benefited from the public support of the Royal Agricultural Society of Haute-Garonne, thanks to which her work was successful among the landowners of her region. Intended for southern France farmers, it contains an important catalogue of vegetable seeds and was reprinted several times until 1859. Missing from the BNF catalog which only cites an 1859 edition.

Paris, Comptoir d'Edition, 1891. 8vo. (1 blank leaf). 3 leaves. 343 pages. 4 pages. Printed wrappers preserved. Contemporary full calf, gilt fillets around the boards with the coat of arms of Yvonne de Bray in the center, gilt spine with nerves (Guérin). First Edition of this novel by Paul Vérola (1863-1931), the most famous Nice writer of his time. This account of the descent into hell of a young man infected by a prostitute carrying syphilis (one cannot fail to be surprised at the concordance of such a subject with the author's name), is cited as one of the first examples of prophylactic literature. Born in 1863 into a family of the petty bourgeoisie of Nice, the young author was tutor to the daughter of the Prince of Oldendourg, Alexandra, with whom he fell in love and whom he managed to marry in 1885 despite the difficulties caused by the difference in their social rank. Shortly after the wedding, the couple moved to Paris. Paul Vérola, freed from all constraints thanks to his wife's fortune,… Read More

A Paris, chez Jean Baptiste Deville, 1680. 12mo. 18 leaves. 334 pages. 1 plate. Full calfskin, ribbed spine decorated (Period binding). Very rare treatise on chemistry composed by a woman, Marie Meurdrac (1610-1680), who owned a private laboratory and who composed this work to popularize the chemical knowledge of the time (Sulphur, Mercury, Distillations, Sublimation, Calcination, etc.). 'The last part brings a very original vision, foreign to the classic medical aspects, focusing on the beautification of the face, and bringing together waters, oils, ointments... and red. (...) This preoccupation with embellishment is in favour of the ladies, as the author points out, adding indications on the manufacture of mask linings, or day and night cornettes, recipes for ointments to soften the hands or dyes for the hair' (translated from Flahaut). One folding out-of-text plate. Small repair in the blank of the title page. Scattered foxing and waterstains. Handled but solid copy. See Flahaut Jean, "La chimie… Read More

A Paris, chez Desaint et Saillant, et Durand, 1756. 8vo. Engraved portrait. VIII. 184 pages. 1 leaf. 10 out-of-text engraved plates. Full green morocco, ornate ribbed spine, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, edges painted red (contemporary binding). Original Edition of this famous epic poem composed of ten songs that tell the story of the discovery of "La Colombiade" by Christopher Columbus, the protagonist. It recounts his journey, his encounters with the inhabitants, the customs, the industries, the animals, the landscape and the battles that took place. It's the story of Christopher Columbus himself, in the form of a poem explaining the problems of financing, the adventures of the voyage, the discovery and part of the conquest. The publication of this work earned its author the praise of her most illustrious contemporaries: of Fontenelle, who called her his daughter; of Clairaut, who compared her to Madame du Châtelet; of La Condamine; of Voltaire who, receiving her in Ferney, went to meet… Read More

A Paris, chez Chambon, an XI (1801). 8vo. 84 pages. Full red morocco, ornate smooth spine, gilt roulette around covers (contemporary binding). First Edition. An apparently autobiographical play, published anonymously by the Comte de Barruel-Beauvert (1759-1817), who was the first biographer of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In it, he recounts the persecution of a father orchestrated, during the French Revolution, by his natural daughter, who had denounced him for royalism and who is described in the play as Albertine, "an extraordinary model of falseness, blackness and villainy, with an infinite appearance of candor and honesty. Aged 17". The play's father, a character presumed to represent the author, was named Joseph like him. "Les monstres sont de tous les sexes; mais, dans l'espèce humaine (et certes ce sont les monstres les plus dangereux) ils appartiennent principalement à la nature des êtres faibles: elle a droit de les réclamer; elle les a produits. Telle est l'héroïne de cette tragédie". The… Read More

Paris, Augustin Courbé, 1661. 8vo. 2 leaves. 592 pages. 1 leaf. Full speckled calf, ornate nerve back, triple gilt fillet around the boards with florets in the corners, gilt edges (Charles Smith). First French Edition of the "Garduña de Sevilla" by the Spanish writer Alonso Castillo y Solorzano (1584-1647), a famous picaresque novel that depicts the great style scams of Rufine, courtesan of Seville. The translation was written by Antoine Le Metel, Sieur d'Ouville. In Castillo y Solorzano's novel almost nothing remains of the traditional picaresque hero. Here conceptions such as honor, generosity, the concern to take the right path, are totally outdated. From the primitively honest picaresque hero - even if his honesty is of a particular kind - Rufine and his companions have retained nothing; they are disloyal and cannot but be because of their form of mind. From a literary point of view, the narrative is very vivid, the style attractive, and the descriptions vigorous, intertwined here and there with… Read More

A Paris, chez A. Legrand et Pelletier, s.d. (c.1818). 12mo. Coloured frontispiece. 1 leaf. 84 pages. Red cardstock of the time, golden lace around the boards. A pretty little manual of embroidery composed for the use of young girls, and intended to accompany explanatory plates which were published separately. It is a rare book that is missing from the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and of which the handful of copies listed in institutional collections around the world are never complete with these plates. Charming coloured frontispiece depicting a young girl embroidering under the watchful eye of an adult lady. Nice copy.

Paris, Valade, 1770. 8vo. Portrait. VIII. 155 pages. Wrappers, period cover in decorated paper (spine cracked with gaps). First Edition. The story of Constance de Cezelli, the famous heroine who was the protagonist of a military action at the time of the League (1590), where she showed extraordinary courage. Her husband, governor of the fortress of Leucate, south of Narbonne, being taken prisoner by the Leaguers, she took command and refused to capitulate when the besiegers threatened to slaughter her husband before her eyes, a threat which was finally carried out. Portrait of Madame Du Barry, to whom the book is dedicated and engraved vignette, with the coat of arms of the Du Barry family and its motto: 'Boutez en Avant'. Very rare. Cioranescu misses. Quérard, V, 310.

Au Parnasse, par les Libraires Associés, 1751. 12mo. 2 leaves. 128 pages. Later full red morocco (early 20th century, slightly faded spine). Original Edition of these "erotic fairy tales" composed by the Auvergne writer Louis de Boissy (1694-1758), who entered the French Academy in 1754 with the support of Madame de Pompadour. This work has become a classic of the genre, as evidenced by the various reprints made throughout the last century, including the famous text by Vivant-Denon "Point de lendemain". "Le conte de M. de Simien ou de Louis de Boissy est compris, bien entendu, dans la catégorie des ouvrages libres qui faisoient les délices de nos grand-mères et que nos grands-pères ne dédaignaient pas (…) Egrillard petit conte de fées qui n'a pas été fait pour les enfants" (Bulletin du Bibliophile et du Bibliothécaire). Some stains. Copy bearing the signature and two bookplates of the American scholar Remy G. Saisselin, who notably published several studies on the Age of Enlightenment. "On… Read More

A Amsterdam, et se trouve à Paris, chez l'Esclapart, 1775. 8vo. 10 pages. (1 blank leaf). Modern boards in Bradel style. First Edition of this very rare poem by the woman of letters Elisabeth Guibert (1725-1788), who was notably pensioned by Louis XV. It is an epic parable inspired by the ancient episode of the sacrifice of the Philène brothers, who died for Carthage at the end of the war against Cyrene. Here, Philène and Theanor also visit China and the Russia of Peter the Great. Submitted to the competition of the Académie Française, the poem was republished at the Mercure de France as well as in the Almanac des Muses. "Les ouvrages de Madame Guibert sont marqués au coin de la facilité et de l'esprit" (Fortunée Briquet). This book is so rare that we have only been able to locate a single copy in public holdings (Institut de France), in France as well as abroad. Ancient handwritten corrections. Pretty good copy. Cioranescu, 33006. 1 copy at the CCFR (Institut de France). Not in the BNF… Read More

Londres, 1779. 8vo. 27 pages. Bradel-style boards, circa 1810. First Edition of this "gallant" (to be understood as "courtly") letter from the future Cardinal de Bernis to the Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764), of whom he was one of the leading protégés among poets and writers. An introductory speech pays heartfelt tribute to this "new Cleopatra", who had particularly supported the arts and letters. "Ce qui ne contribua pas peu à la garantir des sarcasmes et de pamflets de ses ennemis, ce fut l'accueil favorable et distingué qu'elle fit toujours au Gens de Lettres. Maîtresse d'un grand Roi, elle pouvait commander en souveraine, et les protéger de tout son crédit. Aussi, peut-on dire à sa louange que, dès l'aurore de son bonheur, la noble carrière fut ouverte aux beaux arts". The letter is followed by several poems and a fable entitled "Les Furies". Este folleto es muy raro. Sólo hemos encontrado un puñado de ejemplares conservados en colecciones públicas de todo el mundo, todas ellas… Read More

A Amsterdam, et se trouve à Paris, chez Durand, 1767. 4 parts in 2 volumes, 12mo. 2 leaves. VIII. 264 pages. And 2 leaves. 348 pages. + 2 leaves. 356 pages. and 2 leaves. 326 pages. Contemporary full calf, ornamented flat spines, gilt fillets around the boards (small defects). First Edition of this epistolary novel by the female writer from Lyon Françoise-Albine Puzin de la Martinière, dame Benoist (1724-1809). A coquettish and voluptuous woman accustomed to Parisian mundaneness, initiated into Freemasonry, she took up the pen to bring justice to her sex and protested with indignation against the men of letters who claimed to be the only ones to know women. "Sa voix devient ainsi symboliquement représentative du sexe féminin qui revendique le droit d'étudier la femme de l'intérieur" (Olga B. Cragg, in the preface of the 2002 reprint of another novel by the author, "Célianne ou les amants séduits par leur vertu"). ["Her voice thus becomes symbolically representative of the female sex which… Read More

2 parts in 1 volume, 8vo. 116 pages. + 1 leaf. 148 pages. 2 leaves. Contemporary quarter-leather, flat spine (minor worming at the foot of spine). First Edition, extremely rare, published in Geneva under the false address of Toulouse, of the "Lettres écrites de Lausanne". It was bound at the time with the continuation, published two years later in Paris under the title of "Caliste" (also in its first edition, while a few copies of the first issue are dated 1787). Isabelle de Charrière (1740-1805), known in her youth as Belle de Zuylen, was a famous pre-romantic woman of letters of Dutch origin, who had settled in Switzerland where she was gathering around her a whole circle of thinkers and writers. Notably linked to Benjamin Constant and Madame de Staël, she represents in fact one of the most important feminine voices of the French letters of her time. "Dans les Lettres neuchâteloises ou dans les Lettres écrites de Lausanne, déjà, Mme de Charrière prenait la défense d'une conception de… Read More

Paris, chez Barba, 1809. 2 volumes, 12mo. 2 leaves. 239 pages. 1 leaf. + 2 leaves. 191 pages. (i.e. 195). Half calfskin, smooth spine decorated (period binding). First Edition. First novel by musician, actress and woman of letters Julie Candeille (1767-1834), who was one of the great female celebrities of the performing arts and letters of her time. Produced on stage from an early age by her musician parents, she was quickly put in touch with the fashionable Paris of the Ancien Régime and took her first steps on the stage with mixed success, despite her unanimously celebrated beauty. It was after the advent of the French Revolution, to which she was favourable, that she obtained her greatest successes. A friend of Olympe de Gouges, she played the role of Mirza in the latter's play about the denunciation of slavery. The present book, which is her first novel, describing the "failed marriages" of a young beauty, is interesting in several respects. On the one hand, it paints a particularly interesting… Read More