[Simon Tyssot de Patot] — Voyages Et Avantures de Jacques Masse

Bordeaux, Jaques L'Aveugle, 1710 [c1742]. Leather. A very scarce early imprint of this controversial work of enlightenment fiction, being an early example of Utopian fiction and a precursor to Robinson Crusoe in the 'voyage imaginaire' tradition. Rosenberg edition D, with vignette of nude woman to title page and frontispiece portrait of Jacques Masse. Despite title page stating the date at 1710, Rosenberg believes the work to have been published no later than 1742, with the first edition published sometime between 1714 and 1717.Previous scholarship from Professor Storer argued this variant D was in fact the first edition, but this was later proven to be incorrect, with Rosenberg edition A with the celestial globe now widely considered to be the first. Duodecimo. Signatures run a2, *2, A-X12, Y2. *1 incorrectly signed as *2, with *2 unsigned, as called for. Collated complete. In contemporary calf. An early example of the Utopian novel, Voyages et Avantures de Jacques Masse tells the story of a man who upon being shipwrecked discovers paradise. The protagonist learns the local language in order to preach Christianity, but the locals dismiss the teachings, with particular distain towards what they considered to be an unjust God. The work was extremely controversial upon publication, and was quickly banned, notably due to its critique of Catholicism. In contemporary calf. Externally smart with slight loss to spine label. Slight rubbing to joints and extremities. Slight cracking to upper joint, but boards remain firm. Offsetting to endpapers. Internally firmly bound. Pages generally bright and clean with the odd spot and marginal age toning. Very Good . Ill.: Not Stated. Very Good .