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an old book with a picture of two people on ittwo old books sitting on top of each other on a white surfacean old book with a picture of a man and a woman sitting on a bench
Maître Paul PASTAUD

1144 - [SADE (Jacques-François-Paul-Aldonce, Abbé de)]. Memoirs on …
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Estimate €300 - €400
Sale commission
Description
[SADE (Jacques-François-Paul-Aldonce, Abbé de)]. Memoirs on the Life of Francesco Petrarch, drawn from his works and those of his contemporaries. Amsterdam, Arkstée & Merkus, 1764. 3 volumes in-4, in root-tanned sheepskin, spined with raised bands, title label and volume number in red morocco, speckled edges (contemporary binding). Scuffs and scuff marks. Title vignette repeated on all three volumes and a double portrait of Petrarch and Laura, engraved in intaglio, at the head of the last volume. A rare first edition of this work by the Abbé de Sade (1705–1778), a translator and leading scholar of Petrarch, and tutor to his young nephew Donatien, the ‘divine marquis’, whom he influenced with his personality as a libertine scholar. A high-ranking clergyman, a friend of Voltaire and close to Émilie du Châtelet, he in fact led the life of a man of letters and a grand seigneur rather than that of an austere cleric. Having retired to his château at Saumane, near Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, he devoted himself to the study of literature, history and antiquities. “This work, published anonymously, is a work of pure scholarship and contains research that is as intriguing as it is erudite. It is rare, as most copies have found their way to Italy and England. [...]” Quérard, *France litt.*, VIII, 303. The Abbé de Sade does not merely recount the poet’s biography here: he also reconstructs the political, religious and literary context of the 14th century; he examines the key figures and events of his era, compares the accounts of Petrarch’s biographers and commentators, and corrects numerous errors. His most famous contribution is to have defended the identification of Laure de Sade as Petrarch’s muse and to have clarified the nature of the relationship between them, a thesis that was subsequently widely accepted. Despite a few poetic translations now regarded as modest, his work remains one of the most important studies devoted to Petrarch and his era. Coat-of-arms bookplate of the Count of Schulenburg-Closterroda. (Barbier III, 234.)
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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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