RESTIF de LA BRETONNE: La Mimographe, ou idées d'une honnête - Lot 43

RESTIF de LA BRETONNE: La Mimographe, ou idées d'une honnête-femme pour la réformation du Théâtre National. Amsterdam, Changuion, La Haie, Gosse & Pinet, 1770. In-8 contemporary marbled fawn basane, smooth spine decorated (tiny defects). First and only edition. Second volume in Rétif de la Bretonne's series of "graphes". The first volume, the most famous of his five, Le Pornographe (traité de réformation de la prostitution) had appeared the previous year (1769), and had been a great success, with a new edition and subsequent counterfeits. According to Rétif himself (Monsieur Nicolas), 2,000 copies were printed. It has never been reprinted or counterfeited. Which led Paul Lacroix to say, "This work is rare, perhaps very rare." La Mimographe, writes Paul Lacroix, deserves a place in a collection of books on the theater, as it contains many historical details and curious particularities (Rives Childs 215-216). A fine copy.