148 résultats
2012réf. 1357045Cairo Egypt: ARTOC 2012. Deluxe Edition. Hardcover. Octavo 475 pages; VG/VG; spine navy with white lettering; housed in VG- navy and pictorial slipcase; mild shelf wear and scuffing; paper lifting at upper edge of slipcase spine; DVD loose within; typed letter signed flat by Gabr loose within; profusely illustrated in full color; pages clean; shelved Above case 4. 1357045. Shelved Dupont Bookstore. ARTOC hardcover books
1999réf. 51516Paris: Revue Noire 1999. First English language edition. Hardcover. Fine. Thick quarto 12-3/4" x 9-1/2". 432pp. White dust jacket spine lettered in black over blind stamped black cloth. Illustrated with 500 photographs about 1/5 in color. Outline map of Africa. A fine as new copy. Contents: Approaches -- Beginnings -- Portrait photographers -- The awakening of a vision -- The official agencies -- Images of reality -- In search of an aesthetic -- Indian Ocean -- Diaspora -- Photographers' biographies. OCLC. Revue Noire hardcover books
2011réf. 215747Paris: Editions du Patrimoine Centre des Monuments Nationaux 2011. First edition and first printing. Hardcover. 335 pages. Retrospective monograph on French artist Richard Texier. Text in English and French. Features contributions by Zeon Bianu and Pascal Bonafoux. Includes numerous color illustrations and biographical information. A tight near fine copy with some bumping to the bottom right corners and to the bottom of the spine and in a near fine dust jacket with some minor wear. Signed inscribed and with a full page drawing by Texier in the year of publication. A very nice copy as the recipient was the director of Marlborough Gallery. Please note that this is a heavy book and will require extra shipping. Editions du Patrimoine, Centre des Monuments Nationaux unknown books
1906réf. 34101Paris: Bibliothéque-Charpentier 1906. 1 vols. 8vo. Full brown crushed levant morocco triple gilt fillet borders on covers elaborately gilt floral spine in 6 compartments a.e.g. delicately gilt turn-ins by Riviere. Front hinge just a little tender else about fine. 1 vols. 8vo. Bibliothéque-Charpentier unknown books
1981réf. 85498Paris: Clivages 1981-84. First Limited Edition. First printings. Each one of 700 numbered copies nos. 456 255 and 569 respectively. Three 12mo volumes. Printed paper wrappers; 111 149 213pp. A fine unmarked and apparently unread set in the original wrappers. Early work by the Prix Goncourt winning novelist for Les Ombres Errantes 2002. An expanded edition of these "Little Treatises" was issued by Maeght in 1990 but these three volumes issued over three years in an edition of only 700 copies are the correct first printings. Texts entirely in French. Clivages unknown books
1704réf. 387436London: Printed by W.B. for A. and J. Churchil at the Black-Swan in Pater-Noster-Row; R. Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holbourn; and J. Tonson at Grays-Inn-Gate in Grays-Inn-Lane 1704. Hardcover. Fair. First edition. Translated by Basil Kennett. Octavo. Contemporary full calf with later endpapers circa 1808. Front free endpaper with owner's name from St. John's College Cambridge dated 1808. Contemporary owner's signature on the title page and front free endpaper. Engraved bookplate of Louis I. Bredvold a noted John Dryden scholar on the front pastedown. Both boards are detached light dampstaining on the outer page margins a fair sound copy suitable for rebinding. One of the earliest English translations of Pascal's Pensées. ESTC T144329. Printed by W.B. for A. and J. Churchil, at the Black-Swan in Pater-Noster-Row; R. Sare, at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holbourn; and J. To hardcover books
1967réf. 152429New York: 101 Productions 1967. First Draft script for an unproduced musical with book by "John and Fran Pascal" who co-wrote the book of the 1968 musical "George M!" with Michael Stewart music by pianist and arranger Milton Kaye and lyrics by composer lyricist and performer Michael Brown. Single annotation in manuscript pencil of "Sandy Farber" above 101 Productions on title page. From the estate of actress Monique van Vooren. An absurdist political comic musical taking place in 1875 Egypt at the fictitious "International Alliance for Prosperity and Perpetual Peace" a hypothetical precursor to the United Nations set in the summer palace in Suez. Red titled Studio Duplicating Services wrappers. Title page present dated October 1967 noted as FIRST DRAFT with credits for Book by John and Fran Pascal Music by Milton Kaye and Lyrics by Michael Brown. 75 leaves with last page of text numbered 2-5-26. Mimeograph duplication rectos only. Pages Near Fine wrapper Very Good with closed tears and chipping at extremities and splitting at spine bound with two gold brads. 101 Productions unknown books
1837réf. 202347Venice: In Insula S. Lazari 1837. Hardcover. Very Good. Signed. Full leather binding with gilt lettering & decoration to spine gilt ruled borders on both boards all edges gilt marbled endpapers engraved frontispiece and title page 6-1/4" x 4” 434 pp. Aucher’s name appears in three different versions on the first leaf: Armenian transliterated Armenian and Latin dated 1847. George Gordon Lord Byron traveled to the Island of St. Lazar where Father Pascal Aucher 1774-1854 taught him Armenian. Together they published Grammar of the English and Armenian Languages in 1819 and contributed to Aucher’s 1821 English Armenian Dictionary. Byron was devoted to the Armenian language writing: “I learned the language of the Armenians in order to understand how and what language the Gods spoke for the Armenian language is the language of the Gods and Armenia is the homeland of the Gods and the Gods come from the Ararat valley.”A translation of twenty-four prayers one for each hour of the day of St. Nerses the Graceful translated into twenty-four languages. This is the culmination of an effort that first had 6 10 14 and then 16 translations. This effort was likely from many of the Mekhitarist monks at San Lazzaro degli Armeni. The monastery was founded in 1715 by twelve monks; when Byron visited there were 70; today there are 12 monks and five novices. Despite the small population St. Lazzaro has been a major center of Armenian studies for centuries and still maintains the third-largest library of Armenian materials in the world. This polyglot prayer book is notable not just for its place in Armenian history and the spread of Orthodoxy but it is also a typographic success in acquiring the various fonts. In Insula S. Lazari hardcover books
1672réf. D18771Paris: Guillaume Desprez 1672. Hardcover. Good. 8vo. 40 365 20. Full contemporary calf worn chipped at head and foot. Early armorial bookplate on front pastedown and attractive engraved bookplate of Leopoldo Halenke to flyleaf. Scarce. Guillaume Desprez hardcover books
réf. 720220 pp. 8vo 198 x 125 mm. modern aubergine cloth head of spine a little worn title on upper cover. Paris: Félix & Regnault-Delalande 1822. An extremely rare auction catalogue inventorying the collection of an obscure painter active at the turn of the century. A contemporary annotator has written in the surname for this anonymous sale on the title-page corroborating Lugt’s attribution. An 1817 almanac of Paris records a painter with the same surname working at rue de Rohan 6. Viglianis also exhibited a landscape at the 1814 Salon — no. 948 in the exhibition livret. 184 lots consisting primarily of prints lots 1-132 by artists such as Bartolozzi Bervic Bloemaert Cochin Le Bas Desnoyers Earlom Green Ingouf Massard Morghen Strange Wille Woollett etc. We then find original engraved plates by a number of contemporary artists. The final section of drawings includes the work of Bruandet S. Gessner H. Robert and “Joseph Pascal Viglianis” presumably the seller. With the list of vacations on the final page. A very rare catalogue in fine condition. In the characteristic binding of the Bibliothèque Heim. ⧠Lugt 10220. unknown books
1925réf. 13893Paris: Librairie Henri Leclerc L. Giraud-Badin 1925-7 First edition of an exhaustive bibliographical study with extensive critical notes by Albert Maire of the Sorbonne. Each volume focuses on an aspect of Pascal's work. Original printed wrappers uncut. . Five volumes octavo. . A few light chips to wrappers. A very good copy of this fragile set in five cloth chemises housed in matching cloth open-end slipcase. Volume I: Pascal savant; ses travaux mathématiques et physiques. Préfaces de m. Émile Picard.et de Pierre Duhem; Volumes II-III: Pascal pamphlétaire; les Lettres provinciales. I. Les éditions. II. Les documents; Volume IV: Pascal philosophe; les Pensées. Les editions les critiques les travaux; Volume V: Opuscules lettres biographie et iconographie de Blaise Pascal. Les éditions les critiques les travaux. Librairie Henri Leclerc, L. Giraud-Badin, unknown books
1684réf. 352175Amsterdam: Chez Abraham Wolfgang 1684. édition nouvelle augmentée de beaucoup de pensées & de la vie du même autheur. 49 3 50 1-107 7 1-9; 253 19pp. Contemporary mottled calf. édition nouvelle augmentée de beaucoup de pensées & de la vie du même autheur. 49 3 50 1-107 7 1-9; 253 19pp. Chez Abraham Wolfgang unknown books
1922réf. 70920Paris:: Jean Fort. Very Good. 1922. Paperback. Text is in French. The author's first book. Frontispiece and illustrations by Martin Van Maèle. Preface by Andre Salmon. First edition paperback. Joseph T. Shipley's copy with his book-plate on the verso of the front free endpaper. One inch tear at the crown of the spine moderate shelf wear and age toning to covers else very good in printed wraps. Rare.; 235 pages . Jean Fort, paperback books
1880réf. 36797Istanbul 1880. Oblong 8vo. 6 x 7 3/4 inches. 10 albumen photographs mounted on thick card and bound in concertina folds as issued length 70 inches. Occasional spotting. Publisher's red grained cloth upper cover tooled in gilt and lettered in French and Arabic. A smaller version probably published at the same time of "Panorama de Constantinople pris de la Tour de Galata." A photographic panorama offering a sweeping view of the city walls and seven towers the great Mosques of Sultan Ahmed and Santa Sophia the 'Green Mosque' and Mosque of Oulon the Golden Horn tower of Galatea and the Bosphorus. unknown books
1657réf. 100589London: Printed by J.G. for R. Royston 1657. First edition in English. 12mo. Additional engraved title by Robert Vaughan. 22 504 405-409 7 pp. COLLATION: A-Y12 Z6 complete with blank A1 and errata and catalogue at rear. Contemporary blind-ruled sheep; rubbed with some surface loss; occassional light staining to text some small paper flaws with flaw on K5 costing a few letters Anonymous translation sometime incorrectly ascribed to John Evelyn of Pascal's 18 Lettres provinciales 1656-1657 an attack on the Jesuits in defense of Jansenism an ascetic reform movement within the Catholic Church that Pascal had joined in 1654. "This is one of the great polemical works of French literature ranging in tone from ironical mockery to angry denunciation and using a number of very successful argumentational devices and tactics" New Oxford Companion to Literature in French. "Pascal's weapon was irony and the freshness with which the gravity of the subject contrasts with the lightness of the manner is an enduring triumph. The vividness and distinction of his style recalls the prose of Milton" PMM. The engraved title uses Pascal's pseudonym Louis de Montalte. REFERENCE: ESTC R203163; PMM 140; Thomason E.16231 Printed by J.G. for R. Royston unknown books
1905réf. 191830Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts Emile Levy 1905. Hardcover. Good overall shelfwear and light soiling to covers; covers are starting at the top and bottom at the spine; bookplates from former owner inside front covers stamps from previous owner throughout each volume lightly age toned but otherwise pages are clean and clear. Four oversized volumes half blue leather and blue cloth boards 5 raised bands and gilt lettering on spines. Each volume contains text pages and bw plates. Four volume set with text in French. Contents: Tome 1 298 S. 152 Taf. Introduction à l'architecture abrégé historique de la Ville de Paris description des principaux édifices du Fauxbourg St. Germain. Tome 2 163 S. Taf. 153-300 Description des principaux édifices du Quartier du Luxembourg avec ceux de la Cité du Quartier St. Antoine & du Marais. Tome 3 153 S. Taf. 301-441 Description des principaux édifices des Quartiers Saint Denis Montmartre du Palais Royal & Saint Honoré. Tome 4 153 S. Taf. 442-500 Description du Louvre & du Palais des Tuileries celle du château parc & jardins de Versailles. 18x13x10" stacked on top of each other. Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, Emile Levy hardcover books
1657réf. 66919London: Printed by J.G. for R. Royston 1657. The first example of French prose as we know it today"-PMM PASCAL Blaise. Les Provinciales: Or The Mysterie of Jesuitisme. Discover'd in certain Letters Written upon occasion of the present differences of Sorbonne between the Jansenists and the Molinists from January 1656 to March 1657. S.N. Displaying the corrupt Maximes and Politicks of that Society. Faithfully rendred into English. London: Printed by J.G. for R. Royston 1657. First edition in English first printed in French at Cologne in 1656-7. Twelvemo. 24 409 1 blank 6 pp. With preliminary blank a post-script leaf referring to the seventeenth letter and two final leaves of errata and advertisements. Added engraved title-page by Robert Vaughan. Eighteenth-century paneled calf neatly rebacked retaining old morocco lettering label. Spine lettered in gilt with decorative gilt board-edges. Eighteenth-century armorial bookplate of John Hustler of Acklam mounted on verso of engraved title-page. Early ink notations at bottom of engraved title-page. Leaves Q thru Q12 have been affected by printer's ink mostly just a little smudging; verso of Q10 is the only page where two lines of text have been affected. Apart from the few flaws this is a fine copy of a famous work. This work is a series of eighteen letters in which "Pascal defended Arnauld and satirized his Jesuit opponents and their theological and moral views. The work was published under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte and were probably the cooperative work of Pascal Arnauld and Pierre Nicole though they were principally Pascal" Edwards P. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy p. 52. Les Provinciales is considered one of the great French literary masterpieces and the first example of French prose. No translator's name ever appeared in any of the English editions and to this day the translator remains unknown. There is however a strong possibility that the work might have been translated by Evelyn. In 1664 a third volume on Jesuitisme appeared and the translation was fully acknowledged by Evelyn. In his diaries he writes: "This day was publish'd by me that part of the Mysterie of Jesuitism translated and collected by me tho' without my name containing the Imaginarie Heresy with 4 letters and other pieces.Evelyn included the book in the list of his works sent to Dr. Plot and though he did not refer to it again in his Diary his interest in the subject remained very active" Keynes John Evelyn pp. 124-126. Printing and the Mind of Man 140. Wing P643. HBS 66919. $2000. Printed by J.G. for R. Royston unknown books
1778réf. 263100London 1778. hardcover. very good. Nouvelle Edition Commente corrigee & augmentee en III Parties. Part I 59 pages part II 95 pp part III 104pp.; 15 page "Discours" by Montesque. Bound along with. THOMAS Eloge de Marc-Aurele. 59 pages. Amsterdam: Moutard 1775. Also bound with SOCRATE Eloge de Socrate; Prononce dans Une Societe de Philanthropes. 8vo marbled edges full vellum worn. Yverdon: Societe Litter 1777. Very good. unknown books
1884réf. 1295No place listed: No publisher listed 1884. Leather bound. Very good. PHOTO ALBUM. Folio; 64 cream-colored mat board leaves; three-quarters black pebbled-leather over dark green textured cloth gilt-stamped title to front board beveled edges; 5 raised band spine blind-stamped ornaments gilt-stamped date "1884"; all edges gilt; gray marbled endpapers; 161 albumen and collotype photographs mounted on cream-colored mat board some signed sizes vary from the smallest 3" x 4" to largest 7" x 9" although most are in a mid-range of about 3 ½" x 5"; laid in is a 10pp manuscript with photograph descriptions corresponding to the hand-numbered mat boards; five mat boards have been removed as evidenced by the skip in pagination from the small pencil numbering of pages in the upper right corner and from the owner's written listing of images; scuffing to boards a few finger smudges one photograph with a creased edge; very good. A large photography album of natural scenery street scenes buildings and bridges and works of art stretching from Vienna to London passing through Germany and Switzerland. Images can be attributed to: Pascal Amarante by his monogram; Albert Bonnier by his initial signature "AB;" Dresden photographer Rudolf Tamme using a blind-stamp oval in the lower right corner of the photograph "F&O Brockmann's Nachf. R.Tamme Dresden" or the Nachflagor or the successor to Brockmann; Photographische Gesellschaft Berlin Berlin Photographic Company with offices in Berlin London and New York using a blind-stamp; German photographer C. Hertel by his printed name; J. Patrick John or James by his printed name; Two Scottish photographers James Valentine by his initial signature "JV" and George Washington Wilson by his initial signature "GWW." Two unidentified photographers have signed their work "X Phot." and "Davis's Series.". No publisher listed unknown books
1890réf. 54541Constantinople: Sebah & Joaillier 1890. First edition. Hardcover. vg- to vg. Oblong small folio. 12 1/4 x 14 1/4". Red pebbled cloth boards with decorative gilt ruling tooling and lettering on the covers. Rebacked maroon leather spine. Gilt-stamped crescent moon and star motif the national emblem of Turkey on the back cover. Taken from the Galata Tower in what is now the Karaköy neighborhood of Istanbul this magnificent panorama displays the skyline and cityscape of Constantinople as it appeared sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s. The panorama is comprised of 10 original albumen photographs mounted on heavy card stock and bound together in accordion style leporello measuring a total of more then 11 feet when completely unfolded. Shot in a southwardly direction the viewer can see Galata Karaköy in the foreground and from left to right across the Bosporus to the Uskudar district on the Asian side and then across the harbor at the mouth of the Golden Horn the Galata Bridge and across to the Pérama neighborhood and the Faith district where many famous landmarks of the city can be seen including the New Mosque Topkapi Palace Hagia Sophia and many others. Each panel measures about 13" wide and 12" tall. The photography is credited to "Sebah & Joaillier" one of the most prominent and prolific photography studios of Ottoman Empire during the second half of 19th century. Originally founded sometime around 1857 in Instanbul by Syrian-Armenian photographer Pascal Sebah 1823-1886 the studio was one of the earliest in the city and all of Ottoman Turkey. By the 1870s Sebah had become among the most prominent Ottoman photographers having also opened a branch of the studio in Cairo. Upon Sebah's death in 1888 the firm was taken over by his 16 year-old son Jean Pascal Sebah who then partnered with photographer Policarpe Joaillier 1848-1904. The firm was renamed "Sebah & Joaillier". Therefore although this panorama is undated it could not have been issued earlier than 1888; most likely sometime shortly thereafter circa 1890. Spine of of the portfolio has been professionally re-backed. Plates with minor to light foxing although the images are still quite clean and vibrant. Binding in very good images in very good- to very good condition overall. A slightly later version of the panorama from Sebah & Joaillier simply titled "Constantinople" is comprised of 12 slightly smaller panels instead of 10 and measures around the same size in total. Bibliographic refences: Jacobson Ken. Odalisques & Arabesques: Orientalist Photography 1939-1925. Quaritch 2007; Özendes Engin. "Photography in the Ottoman Empire"; Öztuncay Bahattin. The Photographers of Constantinople. Aygaz 2003. Sebah & Joaillier hardcover books
1656réf. ST12177-11Paris or Leyden 1656-57; related material 1657-58. 235 x 165 mm. 9 1/4 x 6 1/2". With 16 of 18 letters lacking letters IV and XVIII as well as general title and "Advertisement" leaf. 17 of 19 individually issued parts including the "Refutation de la Réponse à la Douzième Lettre". The original parts bound up in pleasing modern tan crushed morocco blind-ruled border raised bands gilt titling new endpapers. PMM 140; Tchemerzine V 62-63. ◆Light brown stain to head margin of the last quarter of the leaves occasional faint browning or foxing elsewhere more conspicuous on final gathering minor worming in bottom margin of a few leaves otherwise a very good copy internally with nothing approaching a serious defect and in a pleasing unworn binding. In addition to related material normally not included this volume contains 17 of the rare original 19 separately issued letters or "Provinciales" by the French polymath Blaise Pascal 1623-62 a series characterized by PMM as "the first example of French prose as we know it today perfectly finished in form . . . on a subject of universal importance . . . and an expression of one of the finest intelligences of the seventeenth century." Prompted by the Jesuits' condemnation for heresy of Pascal's friend Antoine Arnauld the letters are "a magnificent sustained invective" PMM against the laxity and casuistry of his detractors and at the same time a defense of Jansenism that theological movement and faction within Catholicism that grew out of the writings of Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen 1585-1638 and that emphasized many of the Calvinist tenets of faith human sinfulness lack of free will and the necessity of divine Grace. The additional material apparently collected from a variety of sources comprises letters Pascal wrote to parish priests seeking assistance with the controversy. There is also a copy of Noel de la Lane's "Recit de ce qui s'est Passé au Parlement au Sujet de la Bulle de Nostre S. Père le Pape Alexandre VII. contre les Censures de Sorbonne" ca. 1665. Pascal 1623-62 was a man of many attainments in several fields among them physics philosophy and mathematics. Above all he was a profound thinker a devout Christian and the creator of memorable prose. Written simply lucidly objectively and wittily the "Provinciales" represents a landmark in French literature an early expression of Enlightenment thinking. It was enormously successful dealt the Jesuits a fatal setback and influenced the prose of Voltaire and Rousseau. Not surprisingly the book was put on the Index and ordered to be burned. Originally printed clandestinely by various printers as separate publications at various times during 1656 and 1657 the series is bibliographically complicated but it is clear that our quarto format versions precede the duodecimo printing dated 1657 and obviously those editions with later dates. It is likely given the small parts we are missing that someone assembled the various letters found here as they were issued at the time. A complete set of these letters in first edition--which is rarely seen--would sell for a considerable amount of money. unknown books
1880réf. 729951880. SÉBAH J. Pascal and BÉCHARD Emile et al. Photograph Album. Twenty-two Albumen Prints of Egypt with Views of the Pyramids. Egypt circa 1880. Oblong quarto period style full green morocco gilt raised bands gilt and blind-stamped boards watered silk endpapers; 22 vintage albumen prints each measuring 8 by 10 inches mounted on heavy card stock total of each measuring 10 by 14 inches. $3800.Original photograph album of the Middle East circa 1880 with 22 splendid exhibition-size albumen prints from glass negatives featuring the work of renowned photographers J. Pascal Sébah Émile Béchard Langahi and others including Sébah's images of Alexandria's Column of Pompey Nile yachts and desert vistas Langahi's view of Nubian tribesmen and Béchard's iconic image of people climbing the massive stones of the Great Pyramid. Splendidly bound.Near the end of the 19th century many ""were captivated by photography's capacity to 'take them there' and bring them directly in contact with the long ago and far away"" Parr & Badger I:18. With that Egypt's majestic pyramids and exotic worlds beckoned. This rare album of 22 vintage albumen prints characteristically produced for England and France highlights the work of two highly respected photographers: J. Pascal Sébah and Émile Béchard. The Turkish-born Sébah especially possessed a keen sense of his subjects' ""interaction with one another His outside work involving people is very dramatic: for example the well-known images of camel caravans in the desert where a string of camels and their riders walk across the picture place."" Those very qualities are seen here in Sébah's ""Marshée aux Chameaux"" March of Camels ""Chameliers"" Camels and his images of crowded bazaars and Nile River yachts. In addition Sébah's striking views of Alexandria include one of its catacombs and another of the Column of Pompey one of the best known ancient monuments standing today. Like Sébah French photographer Béchard worked in Egypt in the 1870s and 80s where he was ""known primarily for his photographs of Egyptian antiquities and archaeological sites characterized by a dramatic sense of presentation"" Micklewright and Brassey Victorian Traveler 118-120. One of his most famous photographs is that featured at the close of this album: ""Ascension de la grand pyramide."" With the misleading signature of Sébah's brother Cosimi who ran Sébah's studio after his death Béchard's evocative view of people climbing the massive stones of the Great Pyramid is one of the era's most iconic. This impressive album also features several unattributed prints: a view of the Great Pyramid and Sphinx that closely resembles Francis Frith's distinctive photograph panoramas of Smyrna in Sébah's Turkish homeland and the portrait of an Ottoman soldier together with a print of Nubians astride camels by Langahi and the image of a veiled woman seated on a donkey unclear in-negative caption. With 22 vintage albumen prints from glass negatives each measuring 8 by 10-1/2 inches individually mounted on heavy card stock most with in-negative captions and signatures. See Rosenblum 163. Photographs fresh with only light scattered margin foxing not affecting prints. A rare album of vintage prints in about-fine condition. Beautifully bound. hardcover books
1657réf. 28515Cologne" i.e. Paris: Chés Pierre de la Vallée 1657. First edition first issue the 18 separate letters plus the refutation bound together. 23.7 x 17.5 cm. Letters 1-15 have 8 pages; 16-18 have 12 pages. "Refutation de la reponse a la douziéme lettre" bound before the 12th letter. Full brown morocco gilt a.e.g. by Riviere. Small chip at the top of the spine; joints neatly repaired edges lightly rubbed; former owners' signature and bookplate. Fifth letter lightly browned; small hole repaired with loss of a few letters on 18:7/8. First state of advertisement leaf with spelling"advertisement". "These letters were originally issued clandestinely in eighteen parts as a series of separate publications by a variety of different printers between 23 January 1656 and 15 January 1657. No detailed or authoritative information on these separate issues is available" PMM. "The Lettres Provinciales as they are called are the first example of French prose as we know it today perfectly finished in form varied in style and on a subject of universal importance.Pascal was an infant prodigy whose work in mathematics and natural science attracted considerable attention before he was sixteen. But he will always be chiefly remembered as a moralist more especially as the great apologist for Jansenism the seventeenth-century French ascetic movement of reform inside the Roman Catholic Church.At the end of 1655 the movement had been much under attack from the Jesuits and Pascal was persuaded to write a rejoinder.his counter-attack took the form of a brilliant exposure of the casuistical methods of argument employed by the Jesuits.Pascal's weapon was irony and the freshness with which the gravity of the subject contrasts with the lightness of the manner is an enduring triumph. The vividness and distinction of his style recalls Milton at its best." Printing and the Mind of Man 140. Chés Pierre de la Vallée unknown books
