LA BRUYÈRE, Jean de. Les Caractères ou Les Mœurs de ce siècl - Lot 175

LA BRUYÈRE, Jean de. Les Caractères ou Les Mœurs de ce siècle, précédés des Caractères de Théophraste traduits du grec par La Bruyère. Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1872. 2 vol. in-8. Full red Jansenist morocco, spine with false nerves framed in cold, gold lettering, double fillet on the edges, inner lace, gilt edges. Copy with full margins. 3 blank pages, 4 pages (title, justification, two states of the frontispiece, title), XL (introduction), 383 pp. 3 blank pages; 3 blank pages, 2 pages (title, title), 400 pp. 1 etched portrait-frontispiece in two states (one before the letter) in Volume I. Title printed in black and red, adorned with a vignette. Bandeaux, lettrines and culs-de-lampe. Rubbing with slight loss to spines, headpieces and corners, slight browning and scuffing to boards. Very fresh inside. A fine edition of Les Caractères, illustrated with an etched frontispiece portrait of the author and enlarged with a notice and notes by Charles Asselineau. Copy of the first edition of 25 copies on China paper, this one N°21. The text has been revised from the original ninth edition of 1696. A unique work by Jean de la Bruyère (1645-1696), Les Caractères ou les Mœurs de ce siècle, first published in 1688, contains a series of satirical descriptions of French society at the time, in particular the court of Louis XIV and the upper classes, making up an essential chronicle of the 17th-century spirit. This copy bears the bookplate of Émile Keller, engraved by Stern on a loose label. Luxurious copy on China paper, well established in full morocco.