The Princesse de Clevès.
Translated by Nancy Mitford.
London: Euphorion Books, 1950 Stock Code: 137823
Scarce with the jacket in such lovely condition
First edition, first impression, scarce with the jacket in such lovely condition, of Mitford's translation of Madame de La Fayette's novel, a high spot of French literature originally published in 1678. Mitford undertook the translation after her permanent move to Paris following the success of Love in a Cold Climate (1945).Privately printed, the project was suggested by Nancy's sister Diana, whose husband had recently set up the Euphorion Press; Diana suggested a translation of the memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, but Nancy felt that la Princesse de Clèves would have more appeal to an English audience. Her work was well-received, and Nancy was most gratified by a review in the French journal La Table Ronde, which she conveyed to Evelyn Waugh as "'saying I write wonderful English and am England's gift to France so I've got away with something'".
Description
Octavo. Original brown cloth, titles to spine gilt, decorative endpapers. With the dust jacket designed by Phillippe Julian.
Illustrations
With 6 full-page colour plates.
Condition
Light offsetting to endpapers, mild foxing to edges, a fresh, unmarked copy, near-fine in the exceptionally bright and sharp dust jacket with just a little shelfwear, not price-clipped.
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