VATSYAYANA. The Kama-Soutra. Vatsyayana's rules of love. - Lot 321

VATSYAYANA. The Kama-Soutra. Vatsyayana's rules of love. Published in Paris by Chez tous les libraires, s.d. [20s]. In quarto / In-4 format. Brown half-chagrin, spine ribbed, underlined with dotted, gilt and cold-stamped fillets. XXXV and 297 pages, 36 drawings in the text. Binding slightly rubbed, spine uniformly soiled, wetness on pages XV to XVIII, tear on page 9, pencil marks in margins. A unique copy enriched with 36 original saucy drawings, contemporary with the edition, in ink and watercolor, mostly used as headbands and tailpieces. Translation by Pierre-Eugène Lemairesse (1817-1898), polytechnic engineer and scholar-translator of Far Eastern texts. An amusing illustrated copy by a polite amateur.