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[Voltaire] — Knowledge of the beauties and defects of poetry — É.O. — 1749.

€480,00 EUR
€480,00 EUR
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[Voltaire] M. D* *** — Knowledge of the beautez [sic] and defects of poetry and eloquence in the French language for the use of young people and especially foreigners, with examples in alphabetical order — original edition — At the expense of society — 1749.

London [Rouen], At the expense of society, 1749. In-12 (10 x 16.5 cm.). 1 f. (table) + 211 pp. Period binding full speckled calfskin. Back to nerves. Boxes decorated with gilding with a floral motif. Title piece in Havana morocco. Gold title. All edges reddened. Golden roulette on the edges. Joint of the second dish split on 1 cm. in line. Cool interior. An ex-libris inscription in ink (Bertrand) on the back of the last page (see photos above).

Very rare first edition. “Work attributed to Voltaire by several critics, but formally disavowed by him in his letters to President Hénault of August 14, 1749 [Besterman n° 3434] and to Koenig, of June 1753 [Besterman n° 4670] ; it was never part of an edition of the Works published during Voltaire's lifetime, but was admitted into the Kehl edition, as having been done "under the eyes of M. de Voltaire by one of his pupils". Beuchot did the same, without daring to comment, but Bengesco concluded categorically that it should be placed among the apocrypha, proposing its attribution to Charles du Molard-Bert. Raymond Naves, in Le Goût de Voltaire , 1938 [4° Z. 3779], returns this text to Voltaire while Besterman attributes it to David Durand, a French Protestant pastor established in London, in his article Note on the authorship of the “ Knowledge of Beauties ” in Studies on Voltaire … Vol. IV, 1957 [8° Z. 33542 (4).]”. In: Catalog of the National Library (Vol. 214 - 2 - 5441).

It is included in the Garnier edition of the Complete Works of 1876.



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