201 - LONGUEVILLE, Louis de. Letters from M. de Longueville, Public Scribe, to Monsieur ****.

LONGUEVILLE, Louis de. Letters from M. de Longueville, Public Scribe, to Monsieur ****. A rare first edition of this valuable account of the common people of Paris at the time, written in the form of letters by a public writer who proclaimed himself “the people’s advocate.” Published in Amsterdam and available in Paris at bookstores selling new releases and at the Loge de l’Auteur, 1777–1778. 2 parts in one volume. 8vo, full brown grained sheepskin, spine with guilloché raised bands, gilt fleur-de-lis between the bands, title label in red morocco, gilt fillet on the edges, marbled edges, endpapers and inner covers of marbled paper (contemporary binding). 2 unnumbered folios, 24 pp., viii, pp. 25–78, 2 title fleurons, a header, and a few tailpieces. Binding rubbed, scattered foxing. A rare first edition of this collection of letters by Louis de Longueville (1732–1786), who shares colorful observations on daily life and the Parisian social scene of the time. The author worked as a public writer in Paris from his office located on Place Royale (now Place des Vosges). He had proclaimed himself “the people’s advocate” and offered his services free of charge to the most destitute. A close friend of the famous gastronome and literary critic Grimod de la Reynière, Louis de Longueville also distinguished himself through his glowing comments on the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose social ideas he admired and whom he considered the first great writer to emerge from the common people. “There is only one profession I would not wish to practice—that of executioner; my heart, full of love for humanity, promises itself that this horrible profession will one day cease to exist in Europe; when human reason has two or three more centuries, it will be understood that it is possible to put an end to banditry without men taking the life of another man with the approval of the laws.'' (Letter XIV). Three handwritten bookplates: those of Cyprien Lefournier (July 1852) and Jules Bobin (April 1868) on the blank endpaper, and that of Binant on the title page. A fine copy in a contemporary binding.