Stendhal

1818 · rif. 031792 — London: Henry Colburn 1818. First English Language Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good. Xi339 Pp. First English Edition And First English Translation 1818 Following The 1817 First Edition Published In France. Half Calf Colored Morocco Spine Labels Gilt One Recent Calf Tips Over Peach Cloth Marbled Endpapers 5 Bands Gilt Spine With Center Tools Top Edge Gilt. Light Wear Fraying At Tips Small Repaired Chip At Lower Left Edge Of Spine Refurbished. Stendhal's Too Frank Travel Observations Scarce In This First English Translation. His Observations At Geneva Begin "The Prudery Of The Women At Geneva Is Incredible And Truly Ridiculous. I Have Observed That They Say Exactly The Same Thing To Every Stranger Presented To Them. To Repeat A Certain Formula Taught Them By Their Nurses. I Would Fain Know Who The Traveler Is That First Asserted There Was Such A Thing As Liberty In Switzerland. At Geneva And Berne There Are Four Hundred Surveillans. If You Offend Them Only By The Manner In Which Your Cravat Is Tied You Immediately Become An Object Of Their Persecution." Further Observations Made The Likelihood Of A Further English Translation Small Indeed: "Nothing Can Equal My Admiration Of The English Legislature Unless It Be The Repulsion I Feel From English Society. They Are The Most Unsocial Of Beings; Perhaps For That Reason The Least Happy. To Be Held In Consideration By An Englishman The Most Perfect Air Of Coldness Must Be Assumed." I Don't See Such Observations In My Michelin Or Lonely Planet Guides Perhaps We Have Evolved Or Perhaps We Are Too Terrified To Speak Out. Henry Colburn hardcover