Charles de Secondat; Baron de Montesquieu — The Temple of Gnidus

London, Vizetelly & Co, [1889]. Cloth. A limited edition copy of this poem in prose by influential French author Montesquieu, complete with plates. A limited edition, being one of six hundred and fifty copies, on hand-made paper, with a single set of plates, for the U.K. This copy is numbered ten.'The Temple of Gnidus' is a prose piece in seven cantos, a love story recounting the narrator's love for the chaste Themire, and the love of his friend, Aristhee, for Camille, set in the city of Gnidus, a city dedicated to Venus.Illustrated with a frontispiece, engraved title, and twelve plates. Collated, complete. By Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, a French judge, political philosopher, and man of letters. His seminal 'The Spirit of Law', published in 1847, influenced the Founding Fathers of the U.S. in drafting the Constitution. With a preface by Octave Uzanne.Engraved by C. Eisen and le Barbier. Undated, dated from Jisc from a copy held at the British Library. Two pages of adverts to both the front and rear. In the original publisher's quarter cloth binding with patterned paper to the boards. Externally, smart, with light rubbing to the spine and extremities. Minor bumping to the head and tail of the spine and to the extremities. Light marks to the boards. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean, with a few scattered spots and handling marks. Engraved title is detached but present. Very Good . Ill.: C. Eisen; Le Barbier. Very Good .