233 - MONTESQUIEU. The Temple of Gnide.

MONTESQUIEU. The Temple of Gnide. A rare edition printed in a very limited run, the first title in the prestigious collection of the Count of Artois, in a charming full morocco binding of the period. Paris, Imprimerie de Didot l’Aîné (by order of the Count of Artois), 1780. In-16, full oxblood morocco, smooth spine decorated with compartmentalized fleurons and the title in gold lettering, triple gold fillet with corner fleurons framing the covers, gilded frieze on the edges and endpapers, endpapers and inner covers of blue marbled paper, all edges gilt (contemporary binding). 76 pages, title vignette featuring the coat of arms of the Count of Artois, a few headpieces and tailpieces. Binding scuffed and stained, title missing from the spine, a few foxing spots in the margins, slight water stain in the corners of the first 10 pages. A beautiful and rare edition forming part of the “Collection of French Works, in Verse and Prose,” commissioned by the Count of Artois and printed at his expense in a small number of copies on fine laid paper by François-Ambroise Didot the Elder. The collection comprises 64 titles, published between 1780 and 1784; Montesquieu’s *Le Temple de Gnide* is the first in the series. Speaking of this collection, Brunet noted that “it would be difficult for typography to produce anything more beautiful than these… small volumes, which will always be counted among Didot’s masterpieces.” This prose work with libertine undertones, composed of seven cantos inspired by mythology and courtly love, was first published anonymously in 1725, to both scandal and success. Described by Montesquieu as a “short novel,” it is presented as the translation of a Greek poem. Its purpose, according to the preface, is to show “that we are happy through the feelings of the heart and not through the pleasures of the senses.” A superb copy.