Recently acquired rare and antiquarian books

Here are a few antiquarian books recently added to the collection:

LENGLET DU FRESNOY, Nicolas, abbé. L’Histoire justifiee contre les romans. Amsterdam, Aux dépens de la Compagnie, 1735.

From the dealer's catalog:

Lenglet du Fresnoy (1674–1755), French diplomat and historian, was the author of books on many subjects, including hermetic philosophy. His writings brought him into conflict with the authorities and he spent numerous spells in the Bastille.

and from The new Oxford companion to literature in French:

‘His De l’usage des Romans (1734) defends novels as providing insights into life and love not offered by standard history.'

GARAT, Dominique Joseph. Memoires sur la vie de M. Suard, sur ses ecrits, et sur le XVIIIe siecle, par Dominique-Joseph Garat. Paris, A. Belin, 1820. 2 vols.

From the dealer's catalog:

First edition of one of the best illustrations of eighteenth century French intellectual life. Garat’s frequentation of Suard’s salon produces a gallery of illustrious portraits, from Montesquieu to Condorcet, Diderot, Alembert, Grimm, Buffon, Raynal, Beccaria and Lavoisier.

and from the Oxford Companion to French Literature

Garat (c.1750-1832) was ‘a deputy to the Etats Generaux in 1789, prominently associated with the Revolutionary newspaper Le Journal de Paris, Minister of Justice under the Convention Nationale in 1792, and a Senator of the First Empire. His Mémoires

historiques sur la vie de M. Suard throws a light on the 18th century ideologues’