The works of Francis Rabelais, M.D. Now carefully revised, and compared throughout with the late new edition of M. Le du Chat, By Mr. Ozell. Who has likewise added at the bottom of the pages, a translation of the notes, historical, critical, and explanatory, of the said M. du Chat, and others: in which notes, never before printed in English, the text is not only explained, but, in multitudes of places, amended, and made conformable to the first and best Editions of this learned and facetious author. Adorn'd with 15 very neat copper-plates Full calf - 1737

London: printed by J. Hughs, near Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, for J. Brindley, bookseller to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, at the King's-Arms in New-Bond-Street; and C. Corbett, at Addison's Head, against St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet-street, 1737. First Edition thus. Full Calf. Fine. A gorgeous set of the first complete, scholarly edition in English, with explanatory notes, in five volumes, of this burlesque romance. 12mo: iii-xxii,iii-viii,cxxxiv,135-384; iii-x,11-251,[1]; xx,367[2 misnumbered 22],[5]; iii-xc,281,[13, including two final advertisement leaves]; lxiv,267,[5]pp, with 15 copper-engraved plates (11 of which are folding, one of which is a map), most bearing the signatures of Henry Roberts and Nathaniel Parr; numerous head- and tail-pieces and a woodcut in the text. Beautifully bound by Fitterer in period-style butterscotch cat's-paw calf, spines in six compartments between raised bands ruled in gilt, red morocco lettering pieces gilt, all edges gilt, marbled end papers, title pages (all five of which are cancels) printed in red and black. Lowndes 2033. ESTC Citation No. T13265. The first complete edition of Rabelais's works was published in Lyons, in 1567, by Jean Martin. Sir Thomas Urquhart's English translation of the first two books ("The finest translation ever made from one language into another," according to Charles Whibley) appeared in 1653, followed by Peter Anthony Motteux translation of the remaining three volumes and his revisions of Urquhart's first two in 1693 and 1694. Forty-three years later, in 1737, John Ozell revised (including restoring passages from Urquhart omitted by Motteux) and published our edition, combining the monumental translations of Sir Thomas Urquhart' wth those of Motteux and adding explanatory notes, in an edition that became the standard of the eighteenth and nmineteenth centuries. "For Rabelais—monk, physician, humanist—nothing succeeds like excess. His giant heroes and their hard-living cronies wallow in the socially, aesthetically and politically incorrect. They're sexist, gluttonous, profane, bellicose, cruel, childish, ingenious, disputatious and completely vulgar. You wouldn't want them for neighbors, but they'd be great on your side in a fight." (Michael Dirda, Wash. Post, 2/16/1992) "Principally the story of two giants, a father (Gargantua) and his son (Pantagruel), and their adventures, presented as a connected series of five novels written in an extravagant, satirical vein featuring much crudity, scatological humor, and violence (the censors of the Sorbonne stigmatized the novels as obscene). While the first two books focus on the lives of the giants, the rest of the series is mostly devoted to the adventures of Pantagruel's friends, including Panurge, a roguish erudite maverick, and Brother Jean, a bold, voracious and boozing ex-monk, and others on a collective naval journey in search of the Divine Bottle. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).