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134 - DIDEROT (Denis). La Religieuse.
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Estimate €500 - €700
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Description
DIDEROT (Denis). La Religieuse. An anticlerical work par excellence, La Religieuse is an ode to the freedom to choose one's destiny. Paris, chez Buisson, Imprimeur-Libraire, An 5 de la République (1797). In-8 (19,2x12,3), contemporary full havana calf, flamed and glazed, triple fillet on the boards, smooth spine, decorated with a red morocco piece and rich gilt decoration, scrolls on the edges, red edges. Period binding. (2) f. of false title and title, 411 pages. Missing a fragment of the head cap, corners dulled. Inside fresh and clean, good margins. First edition of "La Religieuse" by Diderot, very rare and sought after. Tchemerzine, II, 969. A novel-memoir begun in 1760, completed around 1780 and published posthumously in October 1796, twelve years after the author's death ? In it, Diderot criticises coercive religious institutions, which are contrary to true religion insofar as they lead individuals to earthly suffering and eternal damnation. The closed world leads to the degradation of human nature. Idleness, social uselessness and promiscuity gradually plunge recluses into morbid or mystical reveries, then into madness, and sometimes leading them to suicide. We know the origin of this novel, a rather cruel joke made by Mme d'Epinay's group, which had just welcomed the Marquis de Croismare. The latter was dealing with a lawsuit concerning a young girl who had been placed in a convent against her will. Diderot was asked to write the young girl's letters to the Marquis and to make him believe that she had escaped. These letters became La religieuse. The novel remained unfinished and Diderot was wary of publishing it. In 1780, he modified and corrected his manuscript. It was not published until after his death, in 1796, according to the manuscript owned by the Grimm brothers.
See original version (French)
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About the sale Prestige sale - Antiquarian and collectible books
Auction location
Auction time 06/15/2026 at 2:00 PM
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