TÖPFFER (Rodolphe). Les amours de Mr Vieux Bois. - Lot 285

TÖPFFER (Rodolphe). Les amours de Mr Vieux Bois. Very rare first edition of Töpffer's "literature in prints", considered to be the first known comic strip in period condition. Geneva, Frutiger, 1837. In-8 oblong (225x135mm), brown half cloth boards with corners, green percaline boards, the first of which is titled in gold in the center with roulette framing (period binding). Corners worn and dulled, original endpapers. Spine restored. Drawn in 1827, "Les Amours de monsieur Vieux Bois" was printed from autograph by Frutiger, before seeing a second, enlarged edition two years later by Aubert. The work was then translated into English and published in the USA in 1842 as "The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck", as a supplement to Brother Jonathan, a New York newspaper. It is considered the first comic strip published in the United States. Preface inlaid in a philactery on the title page: "Behind begins the true story of the Loves of Mr. Oldbuck, and how, after many vicissitudes, he married the beloved object / Go, little book, and choose your world; for, to foolish things, who does not laugh, yawns; who does not surrender, resists; who reasons, misunderstands; and who wishes to remain grave, is master of them." Unidentified bookplate, bearing motto "Ut Prosim".