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Hôtel des Ventes de Clermont-Ferrand

131 - - [MIRABEAU (Gabriel-Honoré Riquetti de)].
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Estimate €100 - €200
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Description
- [MIRABEAU (Gabriel-Honoré Riquetti de)]. Errotika Biblion. Rome, Vatican Press [Neuchâtel?, Fauche, Favre and Vitel?], 1783, small 8vo, IV pp. – 192 pages. Bound in bronze half-basane, plain spine, blind-stamped. (19th-century binding). - Ex-libris J. Pelletier. Weak hinges, a few small foxing spots or faint stains. First edition, reportedly published at the joint expense of three printers from Neuchâtel to whom Mirabeau is said to have sold his manuscript. It is, however, certain that he wrote this work whilst imprisoned in the dungeon at Vincennes (at the same time as Sade). Pia I, 413 quotes a letter from the philosopher addressed to his mistress Sophie de Ruffey: “I had intended to send you today, my dear little cat, a very peculiar new manuscript written by your tireless friend, but the copy I am sending to Mr B…’s bookseller is not yet finished… These are most amusing subjects, treated with a seriousness that is no less grotesque, yet very decent. Would you believe that one could conduct research in the Bible and antiquity on onanism, tribadism, etc.—in short, on the most scandalous subjects ever addressed by the casuists—and make all this readable even to the most prudish of souls, whilst interspersing it with rather philosophical ideas?” Eleven chapters, whose titles are boldly derived from Greek or Hebrew, deal with bizarre sexual practices, oddities and perversions, examples of which are drawn from the Bible, the Church Fathers or Jesuit theologians; whilst others come from Greco-Roman antiquity, or are even drawn from contemporary events, or from accounts from Africa or Asia. Each chapter is preceded by a half-title included in the pagination. The claim that this edition was printed in a run of 14 copies is false. - (Dictionary of Erotic Works, p. 165 – Drujon, p. 149, for the history of the condemnations; 19th-century editions – Darnton, *The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France*, p. 204).
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About the sale ANTIQUE AND MODERN BOOKS at 11.00 am and 2.00 pm
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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