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All auctions / Books, Maps & Manuscripts / [SADE (Marquis de)]. *Aline and Valcour, or The Philosophica - Lot 159
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[SADE (Marquis de)]. *Aline and Valcour, or The Philosophical Novel*. Paris, Veuve Girouard, 1795. 8 parts in 4 volumes, in-18 format, dark green morocco leather, triple gilt fillet, decorated spine, interior lace, gilt edges on marbled paper (Hardy). A very rare first edition of one of the Marquis de Sade’s great novels. It is illustrated with 16 unsigned copper engravings, some of which are somewhat freely adapted (the licentious plate on p. 216 is placed here at the beginning of Part 4). The novel was condemned to destruction in 1815 both for its pornographic nature and for the social theories it contains. (Pia, col. 14–15; Dictionnaire des œuvres érotiques, pp. 9–11.) A complete copy with all 16 plates, which is extremely rare. It belongs to issue C, with the notation “sixteen engravings” on the title pages, all addressed to Girouard’s widow. Theoretically, there are three editions, but they all stem from the same print run, which began in 1791, was interrupted in 1794 by Girouard’s execution, and was resumed and completed in 1795. These three editions, which by all appearances were put on sale simultaneously, differ from one another only in the content of the title pages—one of which, notably, is still dated 1793: the others were redone—and by the number of etchings, which increases from fourteen in editions A and B to sixteen in edition C. It should be added that the three versions of the title page are sometimes found randomly distributed among the eight parts of a single copy (Gilbert Lely, *Sade: Studies on His Life and Work*, 1967). Unidentified bookplate. The two errata sheets for Parts III and IV are missing. Paper defects on a few leaves without affecting the text; a tear has been restored on leaf Gg1 of Volume III, with no missing material; and a corner restoration on leaf Gg6 of Volume IV.
Estimate:£6,859.05
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Estimate:
£6,859.05
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