Ah Quel Conte! Conte Politique, Et Astronomique

Brussels: Frères Vasse, 1754., 1754. 8 Parts in 4 Volumes. 12mo. pp. 2 p.l., 211; 2 p.l., 204; 2 p.l., 143; 2 p.l., 184; 2 p.l., 192; 2 p.l., 159; 2 p.l., 222, [blank leaf], [3]errata; 2 p.l., 229 + 16pp.(engraved music). with half-titles. woodcut ornaments & initials. contemporary mottled calf, gilt backs (worn & stained but sound, some joints partly cracked, most spine labels wanting, occasional light foxing). First Edition. "Satirical in tone, using fairies and magical effects in pseudo-oriental settings…Crèbillon fils used to be dismissed as a minor licentious author. Due to the current interest in narratology and the interpretation of ambiguous texts, as well as changes in moral standards, he now attracts more appreciative critical attention. His style, always chaste as to vocabulary, is complex and relies on implications and sous-entendres. The works themselves are often morally ambivalent: while he ridicules promiscuous women and rakes, the scenes of libertinage are written with an engaging zest." (The New Oxford Companion to French Literature). Crèbillon was imprisoned in the Bastille for L’Écumoire, and was exiled from Paris for three months for his scandalous Le Sopha. Paradoxically, given his licentious literary output, he became one of the royal censors in 1759. References in Gay and Quérard to an earlier, 1751 edition, are erroneous. Cioranescu 21750. Martin 54.13 (incomplete pagination). Gay I 46. Quérard II 333.. 1st Edition.