Étienne de Jouy - L'hermite en province / L'Hermite de Guiane / Guillaume le Franc parleur ou observations sur les - 1816-1820

7 volumes in-12 (175x115 mm), half calf with corners, richly gilt spine, title and volume labels in red morocco (bindings of the period). Wear and rubbing on the boards and spine. Interior fresh, rare browning.

- Étienne de Jouy (1764-1846). The Hermit in the provinces or observations on the manners and customs of the French at the beginning of the 19th century. Paris, Pillet, 1819-1820, viii-374 pp., 409 pp., 340 pp.

Editions multiples: fifth edition (volume I); third edition (volume II); second edition (volume III) - Missing volume IV to be complete

Jouy undertakes a journey of observation across the French provinces, which he presents in the form of the Hermit’s narratives. He travels notably through the Southwest, the Pyrenees, Languedoc, Provence and Dauphiné, via Bordeaux, Bayonne, Mont-de-Marsan, the Landes, the Basque Country, the Pyrenees, Tarbes, Agen, Nérac, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Albi, Montpellier, Nîmes, Avignon,...

- Étienne de Jouy. Guillaume the Frank-speaking or observations on the manners and customs of the French at the beginning of the 19th century; continuation of the Hermit of the Chaussée d’Antin. Paris, Pillet, 1815-1816, ii-388 pp., 334 pp.

Editions multiples: fourth edition (volume I); third edition (volume II) - Complete in 2 volumes

Jouy here resumes the form of his previous “Hermits” to observe and comment on the French manners of the early 19th century, mainly through Parisian life and current political and social affairs. The character of Guillaume serves as narrator for the author’s observations, anecdotes and reflections.

- Étienne de Jouy. The Hermit of Guiana or observations on the manners and customs of the French at the beginning of the 19th century. Paris, Pillet, 1816, iv-364 pp., 333 pp.

Editions multiples: third edition (volume I); second edition (volume II) - Missing volume III to be complete

Jouy resumes here the formula of his previous Hermits. Volume I opens with the author’s return to France and successively addresses the Constitutions, children, the Stock Exchange, laundresses, the men of law, booksellers, perfume sellers, a bourgeois pension, the Barbary pirates, as well as various scenes of Parisian life. In volume II, the author notably mentions the fools, actors, Sunday in Paris, funerals, or even roller coasters."