CAYLUS, Anne Claude Philippe comte de. 
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Book pedlars & hawkers [CAYLUS, Anne Claude Philippe comte de.] Memoires de l'Academie des Colporteurs. [Paris], l'Imprimerie ordinaire de l'Academie, 1748. £1500 €1800 8vo, engraved frontispiece, pp. viii, 319, with 8 unsigned engraved plates in the text, one an engraved title, title printed in red and black; contemporary full red morocco, flat spine ruled, lettered and dated directly to spine, sides with triple gilt fillet, a.e.g., from the collection of Andre Langlois and his red morocco book plate to front pastedown; a fine copy.
First edition of this unusual and attractively illustrated work on Paris street pedlars, hawkers and distributors of pamphlets and books, allegedly published under the auspices of the Paris Guild of Booksellers and Printers. Each anecdote is illustrated with an appealing and competent engraving, executed possibly by Caylus himself. The particularly attractive engraved title, showing a billposter putting up a poster or placard with the title, and partly obscuring it in the process, is, according to Cohen, possibly by Ch. N. Cochin. Caylus (1692-1765) was an amateur engraver, antiquarian and writer from a well-off aristocratic family which allowed him to follow his lifelong interest in the arts and antiquities. He played a prominent role in the Société du Bout du Banc, an informal group of writers and aristocrats who met at the home of the actress Quinault. They published a whole series of oeuvres badins, licentious and playful stories, mostly published under Caylus' name and in fact mostly written by him. This appears to be in the same vein, a collection of histories and sketches relating to the exploits and experiences of book pedlars and hawkers. The work is also interesting in its inclusion (beginning p. 188) of a scheming poet, i.e. Voltaire, who is duped by a fake book pedlar. This is in fact one of the first anti-Voltaire caricatures (Apgar). Cioranescu XVIII 16265; Cohen, c 210; see Apgar, Trois siècles d'iconographie voltairienne.
1800,- EUR
inkl. 7% USt./incl. 7% VAT
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