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an old book with a drawing of a woman walking down a streetan old book with a picture of a woman walking down the streetan old book with a picture of a man holding a mirroran old book with a picture of a man and a womanan old book with a drawing of a man holding a swordillustration of a group of people playing a game of billiardsan old book with a drawing of a woman and a manan old book with a picture of a group of peoplean old book with a drawing of a group of people on a stagean old picture of a large dining room with a chandelieran old book with a picture of a man and a woman on itthe spines of the books are lined up in a row
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Premium Maître Paul PASTAUD

1134 - [RESTIF DE LA BRETONNE (Nicolas-Edme)]. *Les Nuits de Paris,…
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Estimate €1,400 - €1,500
Sale commission
Description
[RESTIF DE LA BRETONNE (Nicolas-Edme)]. *Les Nuits de Paris, ou Le Spectateur nocturne*. With illustrations. Paris, Mérigot the Younger, 1791. 15 vols. in-12, with 17 engraved plates outside the text, marbled fawn half-basane, smooth, decorated spines with title and volume number labels, edges speckled with red, cloth corners (contemporary binding). Trimmed caps, damaged corners, a split upper joint, pages with foxing or soiling. The spine of volume 15 is lighter in colour and the embossing is different (a tear). This is a reissue, with new title pages, of the original edition of 1788–1790, by the bookseller Mérigot, who had purchased the remaining copies from Restif. It is unlikely to include a sixteenth volume, as this was not published until 1794 and was not included in the sale. This copy is complete with all the engravings. A direct account of Restif’s nocturnal wanderings through the capital, the work offers a striking and valuable portrait of the hidden life of Paris at the end of the Ancien Régime. (Detailed collation available on request.) (Rives Childs XXIV.) A copy belonging to Dr Maurice Vimont, historian of Paris, with an ex-libris vignette pasted onto the front endpapers. Handwritten ex-libris by Jean-Baptiste Rogeris.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 3 of 4 – Nos. 1085 to 1642
Auction location
Auction time 08/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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