258 - POPE, Alexander. Complete Works Translated into French.

POPE, Alexander. Complete Works Translated into French. First French edition, sought after for the delicacy of its engravings, in beautiful, decorative full calf bindings of the period. Paris, published by the Widow Duchesne, 1779. 8 volumes in-8, full fawn porphyry calfskin, smooth spine with fleurons within a double gilt border, author’s label and volume number in havana morocco, triple gilt fillet framing the covers, guilloché caps and edges, all edges gilt, interior frieze, marbled paper linings and endpapers (contemporary binding). Approximately 300 pages per volume, 1 portrait by Kneller as the frontispiece of Volume 1 and 17 figures in a separate sheet, engraved after Marillier, headpieces, initials, and tailpieces. Some scuffing, two damaged caps, a few holes and incipient tears on three joints, very rare foxing in the margins and on the verso of certain plates, a small water stain in the margin of the frontispiece. First French edition of the complete works of Alexander Pope (1688–1744), compiled by Abbé Joseph de La Porte (1714–1779), who gathered texts from various translators and placed the English text alongside the best pieces. It is distinguished by the delicacy of its illustrations, consisting of a portrait by Kneller, embellished by Pierre-Clément Marillier and engraved by Lebeau, and 17 figures by Marillier, engraved by Dambrun, Duflos, Gaucher, Godefroy, Halbou, Ingouf the Younger, Lebeau, Macret, Ponce, Romanet, and Trière. The last two volumes are devoted to the author’s correspondence. Complete with the list of subscribers at the beginning of Volume 1. [Brunet, IV, 817; Cohen, 466] A very fine copy, complete in 8 well-bound, uniform volumes.