92 - [LITERATURE] - LE TASSE [TASSO, Torquato]

[LITERATURE] - LE TASSE [TASSO, Torquato] Jerusalem Delivered, translated into French verse by P.-L.-M. Baour-Lormian Paris, Delaunay, 1819, 3 volumes In-8°. Contemporary brown full calf leather. Smooth spine decorated with gilt and embossed motifs. Title label and volume number label in oxblood-colored glazed calf leather. Covers richly decorated with gilt scrolls and fillets, spandrels, and embossed scrolls. Gilded scrolls along the edges of the inner covers. All edges gilt. Slight wear from handling, 2 crushed corners, and a damaged top cap on volume 3. Foxing. A new edition, largely revised, of this famous verse translation by the poet and Academician Pierre-Marie-François Baour-Lormian (1770–1854). Nicknamed the “classical version,” this reworking of Tasso’s famous epic (dedicated to the First Crusade and Godfrey of Bouillon) enjoyed immense popularity during the Restoration. The first volume opens with a monumental “Note on the Life and Works of Torquato Tasso” spanning nearly 188 pages. The volume is sought after for its meticulous physical presentation, including a frontispiece portrait of the author engraved by Muller after a drawing by Desenne and three separate plates engraved by Leroux, Muller, and Pauquet after drawings by Bergeret, Chasselat, and Desenne. References: Brunet, V, 668; Quérard, IX, 345.