107 - DIDEROT, Denis. Jacques the Fatalist and His Master.

DIDEROT, Denis. Jacques the Fatalist and His Master. Posthumous first edition of Diderot’s famous philosophical novel, preserved in its original bindings. Paris, Buisson, Year V (1797). 2 in-8 volumes (130 x 205 mm), each bound in brown speckled half-basane, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and gilt metal tools, red title label, speckled edges. 2 unnumbered folios, I–XXII then 23–286 pp.; 2 unnumbered folios and 320 pages. The set is rubbed with some missing pages; volume 2 is fragile (the spine is split on the front cover and partially on the back cover), the covers are faded, with scattered foxing and browning; there is a margin loss on p. 163 of volume 1. Posthumous first edition of this travel narrative interwoven with philosophical dialogues, a complex and perplexing blend of genres on which Diderot worked from 1765 until his death in 1784. The work was originally serialized in Melchior Grimm’s *Correspondance littéraire* between 1778 and 1780. Diderot’s original text was not published until after his death, in 1797, based on a manuscript copy likely from Grimm’s library. It is presented here in its entirety in 2 volumes. [Tchemerzine IV, 467]. A rare copy in period bindings, with the pages in good condition.