164 - MARET, Hugues; BARETTY, Giuseppe; and TALBERT, François-Xavier. *The Italians* [with] *Eulogy of Michel de Montaigne* [with] *Memoir*...

MARET, Hugues; BARETTY, Giuseppe; and TALBERT, François-Xavier. *The Italians* [with] *Eulogy of Michel de Montaigne* [with] *Memoir*... Geneva, and available in Paris, from J. P. Costard, 1773. — London, and available in Paris, from Moutard, 1775. — Amiens, from the widow Godard, 1772. In-12 (16 x 9 cm), contemporary marbled tan calfskin, ribbed spine decorated with panels, coat of arms stamped in the lower compartment (unidentified: a tower surmounted by a marquis’s crown). XII-320 pp. [the table of contents (pp. 321–322) bound between pp. VI and VII of the preface] – 146 pp. – 159 pp. Yellowed paper, a few wormholes. Provenance: Count of Sinéty (bookplate). A collection comprising three texts, including: the first French edition of “An Account of the Manners and Customs of Italy,” a work originally published in English in London in 1768. Baretti wrote it to defend the culture and traditions of his native country against the criticism and disparaging travel accounts of the British surgeon Samuel Sharp. Bound together with this is a eulogy by François-Xavier Talbert (1725–1805) for Michel de Montaigne (spelled Montagne); followed by a treatise by the Dijon physician Hugues Maret (1726–1786) demonstrating the impact of lifestyle habits and social behaviors on the health of the French population in the 18th century.