34 - RETIF DE LA BRETONNE (Nicolas-Edme). The Last Adventure of a Forty-Five-Year-Old Man [sic];

RETIF DE LA BRETONNE (Nicolas-Edme). The Last Adventure of a Forty-Five-Year-Old Man [sic]; A Short Story Useful to Many Readers. In Geneva. Also available in Paris from Regnault, 1783. 2 volumes in one in-12 volume, marbled calfskin, spine without raised bands, decorated with small metal fittings, red morocco title label, red edges (antique binding). FIRST EDITION AND FIRST PRINTING of the 4 frontispiece illustrations based on works by Louis Binet, by Etienne Giraud (known as Giraud the Elder) and Jean-Louis-Charles Pauquet (Childs, no. XXV-1). The story of the affair that Rétif had at the age of 45 with the young Sara, the 19-year-old daughter of his landlady, Mme. Leeman (née Debée), from October 1780 to October 1782: “I composed it as events unfolded. That is what gives it the feel of a diary” (Monsieur Nicolas). A great literary success, Lacroix considered this book a masterpiece, superior, in his view, to *Manon Lescaut*. A VERY BEAUTIFUL COPY, bound in its original binding and in excellent condition. Rives Childs, pp. 282–283, XXV–1. Lacroix, pp. 212–215, XXVI. Cohen, 878.