François de Callières - Des mots à la mode et des nouvelles façons de parler - 1698

François de Callières (1645-1717). Fashionable words and new ways of speaking. Paris, Michel Brunet, 1698, (4) ff. 271 pp.

A octavo volume (165x100 mm), full calf, decorated spine with raised bands, red morocco title label (binding from the period). Wear and scuffs on the boards and spine, losses on the upper and lower parts of the spine. Interior fresh, no foxing.

Third edition augmented with several ways of speaking and some observations on new words.

A work devoted to the usages of the French language at the end of the 17th century, in which François de Callières observes fashionable expressions, new turns of phrase, and manners of speaking characteristic of the different social milieus.

Through dialogues and remarks on behaviour and conversations, the author examines the differences of language between the court, the bourgeoisie, and the other circles of society. He notes with finesse the affected expressions, worldly pretensions, and the foibles of those who seek to distinguish themselves by their way of speaking.