Fables et contes mis en vers par S.P. de Mérard Saint-Just

A Parme, de l'imprimerie de Bodoni", 1792. Two volumes, [164], 168 pp., 19th c. half morocco by Lebrun (signed at the foot of the spine). Very good condition, with some discoloring to the margins in a portion of vol. 1. Ownership inscription dated 1938. One of 25 copies, all on vélin paper.This copy nearly matches one recorded in the BNF, however ours has additional title pages to both parts, both of which carry the author's name, and also has the supplementary pages 25 (bis.) - 44 (bis.) lacking in the BNF copy. First published in 1787, in an edition limited to 15 copies. OCLC locates only a single copy of each edition. Not in Brooks, Edizione Bodoniane, the publication data is likely fictitious. "On trouve des ex. de ces fables avec les dates de 1787, de 1792," Grasse IV, 493. Apparently the text sheets were printed in 1787 & later supplied with new t.-p.'s & preliminary matter when copies were distributed by the author. Simon-Pierre Mérard de Saint-Just (1749-1812) was for a time in charge of the household for the king's brother (Louis Stanislas, the future Louis XVIII); after retiring in 1783 he devoted his fortune to collecting books and publishing his works in small editions.