Charles Sorel / Emile Colombey - La Vraie Histoire comique de Francion. Nouvelle édition. [Reliure signée V. Champs] - 1858

A beautiful and rare example printed on vellum paper, entirely untrimmed, and bound in a cover signed by Victor Champs (1844-1912). Executed in half-chocolate morocco, with a spine simply decorated with the title and date in gold lettering. Gilt head and preserved covers (without the spine).

New edition of Charles Sorel's novel published by Delahays in 1858 and annotated by Emile Colombey, adorned with a beautiful frontispiece.

The True Comic Story of Francion is a novel, with its first version written by Charles Sorel in 1623; it is one of the earliest and most significant comic stories and recounts the amusing adventures of Francion, a French gentleman in search of great love. These allow Sorel to deliver a rather sharp satire of the society of his time. For a long time, this text was only known in its latest version. However, the 1623 text was rediscovered at the end of the 19th century by scholar Émile Picot.

'Roman de mauvaises mœurs', 'a fabric of obscenities for some, Francion is, for others, the manual of the perfect libertine. This is because Sorel himself is an imperfect libertine. He would like to go beyond, but feels held back by scruples: seduced by free thought, he is hindered by morality. What he cannot live, he thus chooses to attribute to his character, placing generosity and nobility of soul alongside debauchery, hypocrisy, or bravado in Francion. Although this book aims primarily to be a series of fanciful tribulations, reconnecting with a certain Rabelaisian tone and with its 'hero' having nothing of a mentor, it subtly promotes a deeply innovative philosophy, where the Enlightenment's ideas can already be sensed. We reproduce in this volume the text of the original 1623 edition: therefore, the first seven books of Francion are included here, without the Italian adventures added in 1626 and 1633.

Provenance: Ex-libris bearing the initials A.L. on the front cover.

Charles Sorel / Emile Colombey
The True Comic Story of Francion. New edition with preface and note by Emile Colombey
Adolphe Delahays Paris 1858
Fort volume in-8 (18.5 x 12cm); 539 pages.

Condition: Very good, solid binding of good quality with some white marks on the leather. Interior impeccable, free of foxing, with slight transfer of the engraving on the title page.