VENDU
3 volumes, 8vo (198 x 123 mm) 313 pp., 1 nn.l. (table) for volume I; 292 pp. for volume II; 352 pp. for volume III. Contemporary calf-backed boards, flat spine, gilt lettering and numbering pieces respectively in black and olive green morocco, compartments decorated with a special tool (ppalm-leaf), red speckled edges.
1 in stock
First edition of the works.
Nicolas Germain Léonard (1744-1793), born in Guadeloupe and died in Nantes, was sent to study in mainland France at an early age. At the age of eighteen, the Académie de Rouen awarded him a prize for his play on religious ideas. His collection of moral ideas was published in 1766. Thanks to the protection of the Marquis de Chauvelin, Léonard became secretary to the Prince-Bishop of Liège between 1773 and 1783.
He travelled between Guadeloupe and France on several occasions between 1784 and 1791 before returning to France to escape the troubles on his native island, where he was nearly murdered. He died at hospital in Nantes on 26 January 1793, where he had prepared for a final trip to the West Indies.
A great French imitator of the works of Salomon Gessner, Léonard is considered one of the best idyllic poets of the 18th century. The works begin with the ‘Stances sur le bois de Romainville à mon retour de l’Amérique’, and include his important ‘Lettre syr un voyage aux Antilles’ (volume I, pp. 171-240).
A very fine copy, beautifully bound.
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