LA BRUYERE (Jean de). The Characters of Theophrastus, transl - Lot 59

Lot n° 59
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2000 - 3000 EUR
LA BRUYERE (Jean de). The Characters of Theophrastus, transl - Lot 59
LA BRUYERE (Jean de). The Characters of Theophrastus, translated from the Greek. With *The Translated Characters, or the Manners of This Century*. Paris, Etienne Michallet, 1688, in-12, speckled fawn calfskin, decorated ribbed spine, edges speckled with red, gilt roulette on the edges and inside, modern box (contemporary binding).A copy of the first state of the first edition. La Bruyère undoubtedly demanded revisions even before the publisher had time to bind and sell the unboxed copies. Unboxed copies are extremely rare. This copy is almost entirely unboxed. Only the reverse side of folio M5 (p. 274) features the corrected version of the text. It should be noted that the recto of the same leaf (p. 273) corresponds to the original text. The copy in the BNF’s reserve collection exhibits the same characteristic. The De Backer copy exhibits the same characteristic, with the addition of a cardboard cover, The copy would therefore be an intermediate version (attached is a letter addressed to Mr. Delorme by Mr. Benjamin Ravier-Mazzocco, Curator of the Lyon Municipal Library, dated 2019, which supports this interpretation). There is no errata sheet, which confirms that this is a very early printing, like the copy held by the Jean Bonna Library (no. 119, 2007). A fine copy. Some slight wear.
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