Luis Vélez de Guevara - Le Diable boiteux - 1707-1707

Old, very precise edition of the history of the book. The 'Third edition' of Le Diable boiteux by Alain-René Lesage, published in 1707 in Lyon by Antoine Briasson, is a work especially interesting for bibliophiles.

The original edition (the very first) appeared in Paris at the Widow Barbin at the beginning of 1707. Faced with the phenomenal and immediate success of the novel, several editions followed in the same year. The widow Barbin shared her edition privilege with the Lyon bookseller Antoine Briasson, which is explicitly mentioned in the text of the "Privilege" of this third Lyon edition.

Ouvrage au format In-12. It includes generally 1 frontispiece engraved, followed by 6 preliminary leaves, 318 pages of text, and 3 unnumbered leaves at the end (table/privilege).

The frontispiece found in this Briasson edition is often an unsigned counterfeit of the Parisian original engraving by Magdeleine Horthemels.

Period binding in full leather (probably calf or goatskin) with a spine divided into five raised bands ornamented with gilded lozenges/flowers.
Beautiful inner freshness.

Signature (manuscript ex-libris) at the very top of the title page (‘maldeteste’ or similar).