La principessa di Cleves, trasportata dal Francese da Gomes Fontana e dedicata all'illustrissima & ecc. signora La Signora Lucretia Gradenigo Capello
by Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Madame de La Fayette | translated by Gomes Fontana
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Lowell, Massachusetts, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
A WOMAN WRITES ROMANCE --- [12], 451, [3] p. | 12mo | *^6 A-S^12 T^12(-T12) | 147 x 81 mm --- First Italian edition of this popular, path-breaking novel, "one of the most important novels in the French tradition" (DeJean). And here an early edition, preceded only by the Paris first edition of 1678, English editions in 1679 and 1688, and a second French edition of 1689. Many more editions followed, as the work remained popular well into the 19th century. Commonly cited as one of the earliest psychological novels, and perhaps the first historical novel, the story is set among the court of Henri II and employs as characters some of history's true courtiers. ¶ The plot conforms to many prevailing social norms, but not without subverting others. A mother brings her daughter, the future Madame de Clèves, to court in search of a good marriage. Her match accomplished, if not quite as estimable as hoped, she falls in love with the Duke of Nemours—who is notably not her husband. The Prince of Clèves, who is her husband, discovers her emotional affair. On his deathbed—possibly he died of a broken heart—he implores his wife not to marry Nemours. So in the end, our protagonist faces a heart-wrenching choice between her emotional paramour and a sense of duty to her late husband. In a way, she chooses neither, opting instead to enter a convent. In so doing, she effectively rejects the patriarchy altogether. To be sure, "as several critics have stressed, La Princesse de Clèves is the story of a woman who seeks to control the text of her life. Indeed, the princess's actions can be interpreted as efforts to individualize herself" (McGuire). ¶ The novel invited criticism immediately, and one erotic scene in particular has stirred critics for centuries: that in which the Madame gazes longingly at a portrait of the Duke, unaware that he is watching her. "This is both a rare example of an early woman writer's portrayal of a female protagonist exploring the language of female eroticism and one of the most explicit depictions of female desire in Early Modern French literature…In Lafayette's portrayal of female desire, her insistence on female agency is flagrant: the paintings were commissioned by Diane de Poitiers; the princess herself, rather than her husband, issued the order to have copies made as well as the order to have those copies moved from Paris to the couple's country estate. Lafayette's contemporaries saw this display of female agency as bold indeed" (DeJean). This scene is preserved in the present Italian translation (see p. 359 for the scene's opening, and p. 368-369 for the eroticized art viewing). ¶ Translations published during the author's lifetime are scarce in trade, and we find no copies of this first Italian edition in North America. --- PROVENANCE: Initials "SN" inked on the half-title and title, plus an old illegible octagonal ink stamp on the title page. A few additional early scribbles. --- CONDITION: Contemporary parchment over boards; title handwritten on spine. Head-pieces and initials. Leaf T11 is blank. ¶ Foxed throughout; paper remnant adhered to the half-title verso, perhaps by means of an old wax seal. Front hinge detached from the text block beneath the gutter, though the endsheet still holds it together; small tears at the foot of the spine; parchment quite soiled. --- REFERENCES: Joan DeJean, "X-Rated Removing Madame de Clèves from 'La Princesse de Clèves,'" The French Review 80.2 (December 2006), p. 436-437; James R. McGuire, "La Princesse de Clèves dé-nouant La Princesse de Clèves," The French Review 66.3 (February 1993), p. 388; Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University, 2019), p. 219 (the author was one among a group of noblewomen who "wrote memoirs of court life explicitly to defend their names against gossip and rumor and tell the true stories of their actions")
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Details
- Bookseller
- Patrick Olson Rare Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 00287
- Title
- La principessa di Cleves, trasportata dal Francese da Gomes Fontana e dedicata all'illustrissima & ecc. signora La Signora Lucretia Gradenigo Capello
- Author
- Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Madame de La Fayette | translated by Gomes Fontana
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Italian
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Girolamo Albrizzi
- Place of Publication
- Venice
- Date Published
- 1691
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- literature, romance, novels
Terms of Sale
Patrick Olson Rare Books
We ship UPS or FedEx standard ground to the US and Canada. Default shipping method to other countries will be USPS Priority Mail International (7-11 business days) or USPS Priority Mail Express International (5-8 business days). All shipments are insured and include tracking information. We accept returns, for any reason, within 30 days of receipt. If your item was misdescribed, or if your return is otherwise due to our error, we will also cover the cost of return shipping. After 30 days, returns will be at our discretion. In all cases, returned books must be undamaged.
About the Seller
Patrick Olson Rare Books
Biblio member since 2019
Lowell, Massachusetts
About Patrick Olson Rare Books
We specialize in books from the hand-press period -- those days when Western books were printed and bound entirely by hand. While open to debate, we take this period to begin with Gutenberg (ca. 1454) and end around 1830. We offer a rotating selection of books that we hope you find interesting, important, or otherwise worthy of your consideration.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- Foxed
- Foxing is the age related browning, or brown-yellowish spots, that can occur to book paper over time. When this aging process...
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Parchment
- Pages or book covering made from a prepared animal skin. Parchment describes any animal skin used for books, while vellum is a...
- 12mo
- A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...
- Soiled
- Generally refers to minor discoloration or staining.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Gutter
- The inside margin of a book, connecting the pages to the joints near the binding.
- Hinge
- The portion of the book closest to the spine that allows the book to be opened and closed.