The memoirs of Ninon de L'Enclos. With her letters to the Marquis de Sevigné and Mons. de St. Evremond. by Douxménil

Philadelphia: Printed by T.S. Manning, for Tho. Palmer 12mo. 312 pp.. 1806 First American edition. Apparently mainly a translation of Douxménil's "Memoires et lettres pour servir à l'histoire de la vie de mademoiselle de L'Enclos." The letters to Sévigné are the spurious ones ascribed to Louis Damors (d. 1788). The translation is by Elizabeth Griffith ((1720–93). Ninon de Lenclos (1620–1705) was a scandalous woman: French author, courtesan, and patron of the arts. She is said to have said: "A woman who has loved but one man, will never know love." The work was published anonymously in London in 1776.

Contemporary quarter red calf, gilt spine (much dulled), with marbled paper sides. Binding dull, rubbed overall and to the underlying boards at edges; text with stains and age-toning. Old bookplate. Only a good copy.