MONTESQUIEU (Charles de Secondat de). LeTemple de Gnide. ÀPa - Lot 10

MONTESQUIEU (Charles de Secondat de). LeTemple de Gnide. ÀParis, chez LeMire, 1772. Large in-8, (4)-vii-(uneblanche)-104pp. red morocco, ribbed spine cloisonné et fleuronné with morocco piece bearing gilt coat of arms, triple gilt fillet framing the boards with corner fleurons and gilt coat of arms in spandrels, filleted edges, inner gilt roulette, speckled marbled paper lining and endpapers, gilt edges; a few stains on the first board (period binding). Edition entirely engraved on copper. Le Temple de Gnide was first published as a periodical in the Bibliothèque françoise (Amsterdam, second half of 1724). The first separate edition appeared in 1725, and the first illustrated edition in 1742. Magnificent copper-engraved illustration: 10 out-of-text plates (including a portrait-frontispiece) by Nicolas LeMire after Charles Eisen, and two compositions in the text by Nicolas LeMire alone: framed title, and coat-of-arms of King George III of England at the head of the dedication. Copy with Antoine-Louis Blondel's coat of arms (gilded bookplate repeated on spine and boards, not listed in OHR, which reproduces another plate, pl.n°1338). A collaborator and protégé of Turgot, Antoine-Louis Blondel was intendant du commerce (1780), then intendant des finances in charge of the direct taxation department (1787). Provenance: Eugène Vincent (copper-engraved ex-libris vignette), then William Vincens Bouguereau (copper-engraved ex-libris vignette).