BARBEY D'AUREVILLY (Jules)

Les Diaboliques. Paris, E. Dentu, 1874. In-12, long-grained midnight-blue morocco, double gilt fillet, smooth spine, red title page, gilt edges on witnesses, cover and spine, slipcase (Devauchelle). First edition of the writer's most famous work. The book caused a scandal, and as with Baudelaire and Flaubert's Fleurs du mal and Madame Bovary, Barbey was prosecuted on charges of diabolism and moral outrage. The writer agreed to withdraw his work from sale, and the seized books were destroyed. The case was finally dismissed in January 1875 (cf. En français dans le texte, n°300). The six short stories that make up the Diaboliquess collection are as follows: Le rideau crimsi, Le plus bel amour de Don Juan, Le bonheur est dans le crime, Le dessous de cartes d'une partie de whist (which had appeared in 1852 following L'Enscorcelé under the title Ricochets de conversation), À un dîner d'athées, and La vengeance d'une femme. Washed copy, with cover marked second edition.