International Literature – Rare (90 items)

Duras, Ourika.

57. Duras, Claire Duchesse de.

Ourika.

Édition Originale. Paris, Chez Ladvocat, 1824. 18 x 11 cm. 172 pages. Relié plein cuir vert / Beautiful contemporary Hardcover. Intérieur bon état malgré légéres rousseurs éparses. Couverture défraichie et tachée. Provenance: Exlibris: A Debidour (Élie Louis Marie Marc Antonin Debidour) / Premiere edition dans le commerce après la rare édition originale publiée entre 25 et 40 exemplaires en décembre 1823 par l’Imprimerie royale pour les amis de l’auteur. Ce court récit fut rapidement écrit en 1820 lors d’une retraite de convalescence. Sollicitée par Chateaubriand, ami de la Duchesse de Duras depuis 1809, qui avait parti- culièrement aprécier le texte, l’auteur se décida à publier l’ouvrage anonymement. L’histoire de cette jeune sénégalaise, éduquée en France se rendant compte à l’âge de 12 ans des préjudices liés à sa couleur de peau, est considérée comme le premier roman de la littérature française à aborder les problèmes de racisme. / First published edition, following a private printing of 25 copies. A very good+ copy in contemporary paper-covered boards. An anonymously published novel by a French woman who was a close friend of Chateaubriand and who established a well-known salon in London. Her work has been compared to that of Richardson and Rousseau for obvious reasons, but she is perhaps more relevantly understood in the context of the early 19th-century French women’s writing that has only rather recently become a subject of study. Based on the true story of a Sengalese servan, unaware of her race until she overhears talk of it among the French family for whom she works, and thus begins her life as a black woman. In large part the tale recounts her hopeless love for a white man and her eventual retreat to a convent. This is the first European novel featuring a black female protagonist, and according to John Fowles who at least in part based his own The French Lieutenant’s Woman on the work, the first attempt by a European to enter the mind of a black character. An attractive copy of this cultural landmark.

EUR 380,-- 

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Milton, Paradise Lost - A Poem in Twelve Books.

60. 18th century Illustrated Edition of Paradise Lost – Milton, John.

Paradise Lost – A Poem in Twelve Books. A New Edition, with Notes of various Authors, by Thomas Newton [Complete with two Portraits and 12 plates].

Two Volumes (complete set). London, Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S.Draper, 1749. Large Quarto (23 cm x 27.5 cm). Pagination of Volume One: Frontispiece-Portrait of a young John Milton, [18 unnumbered pages of Dedication and Preface], LXI pages of “The Life of Milton”, [5 unnumbered pages of Homage in Verses by Samuel Barrow [Physician to Charles II. and admirer of Milton] and also the important poem on Milton’s Paradise Lost by Andrew Marvell [English Metaphysical Poet and Milton’s ‘Latin Secretary’], 16 pages of “A Critique upon the Paradise Lost – By Mr.Addison” [Joseph Addison], 459 pages with six (6) full-page engravings / Pagination of Volume Two: Frontispiece-Portrait of an elder John Milton (dated 1670), 444 pages including six (6) full-page engravings plus 132 unnumbered pages of Index. Hardcover / Modern, stunning half-leather bound to 18th-century style with gilt lettering and ornament on spine. Both Volumes now in protective Mylar. Excellent condition with only a few signs of foxing. The paper in fantastic condition, illustrations and portraits impressive; wide margins make this a great collectable. A rare opportunity to acquire this important publication in a firm and beautiful binding. The exceptional restoration was done by an english master-bindery.

EUR 2.800,-- 

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