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three red books with gold emblems on them sitting on a white surfacethe front cover of a book with a drawing of a globe on it
ALDE

94 - [NICOLE (Pierre)]. *Les Imaginaires*, or Letters on Imaginar…
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Estimate €500 - €600
Sale commission
Description
[NICOLE (Pierre)]. *Les Imaginaires*, or Letters on Imaginary Heresy. – *Les Visionnaires*, or Part Two of the Letters on Imaginary Heresy. Liège [Amsterdam], Adolphe Beyers [Daniel Elzevier], 1667. 2 volumes, small 12mo, Jansenist red morocco, coat of arms in the centre, linings of long-grain blue morocco, interior lace and gilded foliage branches at the corners, double endpapers, gilt edges (L. Claessens). Collective first edition. This collection comprises eighteen letters (published separately between 1665 and 1666) in the style of Pascal’s *Provinciales*, and, as Sainte-Beuve remarked, ‘quite worthy of following in their footsteps from a distance’. These were published clandestinely by Pierre Nicole (under the pseudonym Sieur de Damvilliers) to defend the Orléans School against the attacks of the Jesuits and their accusations of heresy. The last eight letters, entitled *Les Visionnaires*, are directed more specifically against Desmarest de Saint-Sorlin, the Solitaires’ bitter enemy. A very fine copy in fine Claessens bindings, lined with the coat of arms of the Belgian collector E. Terlinden. It is complete with the rare half-titles, which are almost always missing. Willems himself does not mention them in his collation. The first has a narrower margin than the volume. Willems, no. 1377 – Berghman, no. 364 – Brunet, IV, 68.
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About the sale Fine antique books – A library in the Languedoc
Auction location
Auction time 10/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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