DIDEROT Denis / SAUVAGE Sylvain - Les Bijoux indiscrets - 1923

Paris, Editions René Kieffer, Art Binder, 1923 1 volume in-4 paperback (with a small split at the spine) of (8)-256-(1) pages and 25 etchings hors-texte enhanced in color by brush. First and unique printing of the 25 original etchings by Sylvain Sauvage. Edition limited to 600 copies, all on paper specially made for René Kieffer (Papeteries Barjon de Moirans (P. F. B.) with the watermark of Editions René Kieffer). This one, one of the 500 copies with the colored state. The Indiscreet Jewels by Diderot first appeared clandestinely in 1748. It is a small masterpiece of satire and libertinage. This allegory, which is Diderot’s first novel, depicts Louis XV under the likeness of the Congolese sultan Mangogul who receives from the genius Cucufa a magic ring that has the power to make speak the vaginas (“jewels”) of women. Mangogul tries the ring thirty times, revealing the intimate secrets of the women of his court and his realm, usually while they are asleep. He shares the results of his inquiries with his favorite, Mirzoza, who herself is perpetually anxious to avoid becoming the ring’s victim. One must note that few are spared: essentially the court women, with their different temperaments (the prude, the coquette, the gambler, the manipulator), their various backgrounds (from high nobility to the petite bourgeoisie) and their diverse origins (the Englishwoman, the Frenchwoman, the Italian, the Turkish). Describing the court’s morals from the perspective of female desire, the novel presents a picture of a liberated society where partners multiply, appearances are deceptive, and true tenderness is rare. The conversations of Mangogul, of his favorite and of a few characters are sometimes recounted as a kind of assessment of the different forms of love, sometimes unrelated to the plot. A section is also devoted to debates of ideas within the French society of the time: praise of Voltaire, the history of mathematics, the fate of the Jansenists, etc. It is also a satire of Louis XV’s reign and its libertine escapades. Sylvain Sauvage (1888-1948) here again delivers a powerful and spirited work. He was one of the Grand Masters of the Art Deco line.