Estelle, by Mr. Florian...With an Essay Upon Pastoral
by Cummyng, Susanna (translator)
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Pasadena, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Printed for the translator, 1798. First Thus. Contemporary full polished calf with gilt to spine and boards; morocco spine label replaced. Measuring 160 x 95mm. All edges speckled red. Marbled endpapers. Some chipping and loss to spine extremities; joints rubbed and tender, but holding well. Small chip to rear board. Externally pleasing. Armorial bookplate of Charles Henry Rich to front pastedown. Internally fresh and unmarked, without the foxing typical of the era. Collating complete including half title: xii, 147, [1, blank]; [2], 127, [1, blank], 44. The first edition of Cummyng's translation, which was the second edition in English and the second edition translated by a woman (the first being the 1791 translation by Elizabeth Morgan). Both translations are scarce institutionally and in trade, with ESTC recording Morgan's at only 5 libraries and Cummyng's at only 7 libraries. While Morgan's translation has not come to auction, Cummyng's translation has appeared once, over a decade ago. The present is the only copy of either edition on the market.
The first, and apparently the only, translation published by Susanna Cummyng, who released Estelle when she was 18 years old. The book's frontmatter give us clues into who the young woman was, as well as her possible motivations for the project. Likely conducted as a result of her education, Estelle is dedicated to Berkhamsted School headmaster Rev. John Dupre, whom Cummyng thanks for his "disposition to encourage those literary pursuits which have a tendency to promote virtue." And in the preface, Cummyng herself is described as "only eighteen years of age," drawn to translation because the "style and beauty of the following work induced her to engage in it for her own improvement." Certainly Louis Pierre Claris de Florian's Estelle was praised at its 1788 release and quickly gained a reputation as one of the most important pastoral novels in French literature. Drawing on Roman mythology, Estelle is a narrative of female desire, duty, and sacrifice -- one in which the heroine's life path is dictated not by following her own heart, but by giving up her love in order to fulfill a bond of honor between her father and a man who saved him. The novel has all of the qualities the English so often marked as detrimental to young female minds. So it is notable that Cummyng not only chooses it, but works in her paratexts to establish both the story and her efforts to translate it as virtuous and self-improving. Such a justification could protect her reputation, as could Dupre's patronism and the support of all the local subscribers in the list who were likely her neighbors and friends.
An opportunity to see how a young woman strategically situates herself in the literary sphere, as well as to study how her translation centers powerful themes about women's social positions historically and in her own time.
ESTC T114945.
The first, and apparently the only, translation published by Susanna Cummyng, who released Estelle when she was 18 years old. The book's frontmatter give us clues into who the young woman was, as well as her possible motivations for the project. Likely conducted as a result of her education, Estelle is dedicated to Berkhamsted School headmaster Rev. John Dupre, whom Cummyng thanks for his "disposition to encourage those literary pursuits which have a tendency to promote virtue." And in the preface, Cummyng herself is described as "only eighteen years of age," drawn to translation because the "style and beauty of the following work induced her to engage in it for her own improvement." Certainly Louis Pierre Claris de Florian's Estelle was praised at its 1788 release and quickly gained a reputation as one of the most important pastoral novels in French literature. Drawing on Roman mythology, Estelle is a narrative of female desire, duty, and sacrifice -- one in which the heroine's life path is dictated not by following her own heart, but by giving up her love in order to fulfill a bond of honor between her father and a man who saved him. The novel has all of the qualities the English so often marked as detrimental to young female minds. So it is notable that Cummyng not only chooses it, but works in her paratexts to establish both the story and her efforts to translate it as virtuous and self-improving. Such a justification could protect her reputation, as could Dupre's patronism and the support of all the local subscribers in the list who were likely her neighbors and friends.
An opportunity to see how a young woman strategically situates herself in the literary sphere, as well as to study how her translation centers powerful themes about women's social positions historically and in her own time.
ESTC T114945.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Whitmore Rare Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 4752
- Title
- Estelle, by Mr. Florian...With an Essay Upon Pastoral
- Author
- Cummyng, Susanna (translator)
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Thus
- Publisher
- Printed for the translator
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1798
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
Whitmore Rare Books
15 day return guarantee, with full refund if an item arrives damaged or not matching the description.
About the Seller
Whitmore Rare Books
Biblio member since 2009
Pasadena, California
About Whitmore Rare Books
We operate a retail shop in "Old Town" Pasadena open normal business hours Tuesday through Saturday.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine Label
- The paper or leather descriptive tag attached to the spine of the book, most commonly providing the title and author of the...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...