Fénelon - Les Avantures de Telemaque Fils d'Ulysse - 1699-1700

FENELON (François de Salignac de la Mothe)
The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Odysseus, or Continuation of the Fourth Book of Homer's Odyssey.
La Haye, Adrian Moetjens, 1699 (vol 2 & 3) - 1700 (vol 1 & 4)

4 small volumes in octavo, pages 1-278; 208-466; 1-318; 1-224.

Brown calf of the period, spine with raised bands decorated with gilded panels, pieces of title in red morocco (volumes 1 & 4).

Copy made in the 18th century by Jean-Charles Ledesme, Baron of Saint-Élix, with slightly different bindings, dated to the original (volumes 2 & 3) and the following year (volumes 1 & 4).

The original edition by the widow Barbin in 1699 was interrupted by authorities during printing, which meant that the Parisian original edition remained unfinished. The subsequent editions were printed from clandestine manuscripts.

The triumph of Télémaque was immediate, quickly leading to numerous editions, especially in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, the continued success of Télémaque throughout the 18th century probably led to the rarity and poor preservation of the first editions, as they were lent out, read, and reread...

Editions from the date of 1699 or 1700 are also very rare.

Binding rubbed with small missing parts. Clean interior. The last pages of volume 3 have been torn out: a note indicates that approximately 60 pages are missing.

Provenance: Jean-Charles Ledesme, Baron de Saint-Élix (1721-1802), Chevalier of Saint-Louis, with his bookplate engraved and enhanced with the ink of time, 'Johannes Carolus Ledesma'. It is therefore likely that he assembled these four volumes.