Anonymous - Le Passepartout Galant - 1704

Extremely Rare.

Title: LE PASSE-PARTOUT GALANT

Author: Attributed to Monsieur **** Chevalier de l'Ordre de l'Industrie & de la Gibeciere (satirical pseudonym)

Place of Printing (False Imprint): A Constantinople

Date / Edition: Imprimé dans la présente Année [undated, 18th century], probably 1704.

Language: French

Detailed Description:

Type & Content: An 18th-century satirical, gallant, and libertine work. It is a collection of anecdotes, scandalous episodes, “adventures,” and amorous intrigues involving figures from the French nobility, clergy, and high society of the period (mentioning personalities such as Marshal de Villars, the Governor of the Invalides, the Princes of Elbeuf, and episodes in the convents of Paris, at the Paris Opera, among others).

False Imprint: The indication that it was published in “Constantinople” is a false printing location, very common in the 17th and 18th centuries, used to evade royal/ecclesiastical censorship in France (probably printed in France or in the Netherlands/Switzerland).

Title Page / Frontispiece: Title page with geometric diamond-shaped typographic ornamentation composed of small fleurons.

Internal Structure: Includes the title page, the “Avertissement” section (warning to the reader), the “Table des Avantures” (detailed analytical index of the stories), and the beginning of the text (“Premiere Avanture”) with a decorated initial.

Condition:

Text Block / Pages: Period rag paper in generally good condition. It shows a natural patina and slight marginal acidification/yellowing (light foxing) consistent with its age. Edges intact. The g

Binding: Single-volume edition. “Contemporary full leather binding”

Note: A very rare and curious work of clandestine and libertine literature from the French Enlightenment, disguised under an exotic imprint (“Constantinople”) to evade censorship. An excellent copy for collectors of rare 18th-century books, typographical curiosities, and gallant literature.

The photographs form part of the description.

Will be shipped carefully packed by express mail.